After 43 games, the Minnesota Timberwolves had only won two more games than they had lost. They were hit by injury but that wasn’t killing. Internally, they just didn’t look like a team. On several occasions, Anthony Edwards called himself and his teammates ‘soft’ because they couldn’t understand each other. Maybe they didn’t try. And all that was needed was a resonating voice.

Chris Finch was at the core of the Wolves’ raging development last year. However, with Karl Anthony-Towns gone and new additions in, he saw a breakpoint within the team. Hence, right before facing the Suns in late January, he had a passionate talk with the team. At that time Edwards said his head coach chose “violence” when he woke up, particularly against him. Other teammates kept the same energy.

But Finch didn’t want to vent his frustrations. The aim of his strong tone was to drill a message, one that the Wolves are now understanding. “Finchy had a great meeting man. Hey, y’all either we are going to come together as a team and push for the playoffs or we are going to keep looking for individual stats and accolades and not be a team and lose the games we are supposed to win and be fighting for the playoff position. So I think we all like locked in right now. It looks good,” Ant-Man said about his coach.

The change wasn’t immediate as their record hovered around the same difference till the end of last month. But the teams’ intentions had fully changed. Now the Wolves wanted to play like a team as opposed to not even being able to communicate properly. “We’re all on the same page right now, and that’s what’s making us play better,” Donte DiVincenzo said after winning against the Nuggets.

Right now, the Minnesota Timberwolves look unstoppable. Tonight’s win against the Utah Jazz saw them win an eighth straight game. They never had a streak of five wins this season before their active run. But this game was sweeter than the others. Finally, the team got to give Coach Finch a present for his commitment to the team.

Chris Finch goes into the Wolves history books

A Utah team that many question don’t want to win wasn’t going to challenge the Timberwolves’ hunger to do so. The pack tore into the low-seeded team, beating them by 24 points. Anthony Edwards dropped 41 points in his surgical performance to lead the lines. It gave the blistering talent another franchise crown.

This was the seventh time in this season that Anthony Edwards had scored 40 points or more. No other player in Minnesota Timberwolves history stands above Edwards. However, as far as the game ball was concerned, that didn’t go to him. He opted to choose a greater record and honor coach Finch.

In the locker room, Ant-Man and the team found out the win was Chris Finch’s 200th win as a Timberwolves coach. It ranks him as the second most prolific coach in franchise history. And for all that he had gone for the team just this season, they presented him with the game ball to commemorate the moment.

But Anthony Edwards may have made it better with his heartfelt confession. “That’s the best relationship I’ve ever had with a coach throughout my basketball career. He lets him players play. He coach everybody. I think that’s the best thing about him. He’s going to coach everybody hard and critique everybody and then when you got it going and you playing well, he going to let you know,” Edwards said about Finch.

As a coach, Finch is able to communicate and reach his players in ways some coaches can’t even dream of. His passion on the sidelines may leak out at times. But to his players, that’s an indication of how much he cares. 200 wins seem to be just the beginning for him as he has revived the culture and fight that existed in the Wolves last year.

And with eight straight wins under them, they are looking or take off.