Have you ever felt the urge to throw shade when you are on the losing side of something? Well, there is no better time than that to do it, so that you can still find some comfort at a moment of disappointment. Take inspiration from the world of the NBA, which is filled with such moments. From Tom Thibodeau choosing to diss the referees after a loss back in April 2024, to Doc Rivers taking a dig at Indiana Pacers fans just earlier this week, such instances are certainly not rare. Now, Chris Finch has also added himself to the list by taking a dig at not the referees or the fans of a rival team, but the rival team itself. Yikes!

The Los Angeles Lakers recently redeemed themselves by defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of the ongoing playoff series. After JJ Redick highlighted how “We just have to do a lot of things better”, LeBron James and co delivered by putting on a defensive play that ended the team on a 94-85 score. In its aftermath, Chris Finch participated in the customary presser. The Timberwolves coach admitted to lapses from his players’ side, but did not choose to believe that the Lakers defense was that good. In fact, his exact words were “I mean, our execution was not good. They didn’t really make a ton of like tactical adjustments. They just were super physical, holding on a lot of the screens and, you know, being aggressive, trying to jump out on a lot of screens, and pressuring the ball a lot more”.

In other words, Finch might have meant to say that “They were not that good. We were just bad”. Once again, yikes!

The Los Angeles Times described the Lakers’ movement in the recent matchup as quite physically demanding. Reporter Dan Woike’s exact words were “The only thing that moved slower than the Lakers was the clock”, since the focus was on defending rather than scoring. Attendees at the Crypto.com Arena saw how Los Angeles’s energy on defense was evident from the opening tip, as the LA squad kept putting pressure through different means, like placing two on the ball whenever Anthony Edwards got it. All of it threw the Timberwolves off their game. The Lakers held Minnesota to just 5-18 shooting in the first quarter, ensuring to keep the Wolves off the glass. Anthony Edwards and co attempted only 25 3-pointers in Game 2, with only five of them connecting.

With Jaxson Hayes being absent after playing just 9 minutes, the Lakers were able to focus on small-ball play instead. In the end, LeBron James and co proved that the young Timberwolves squad shall not get the better of them now.

Placing emphasis on physicality was something JJ Redick was quite open about right after Game 1. After all, after the Timberwolves’ win, the 40-year-old coach admitted that “I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense. And really, when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond to meet that.” Therefore, it was no surprise that the Lakers placed emphasis on physical defense rather than good old offense.

The situation had even become predictable for the Timberwolves, since Julius Randle revealed that “We knew they would come with high intensity, with energy. We knew it was going to be physical”. Despite that, the Timberwolves lost. Therefore, knowing that his team could have let a predictable win slip from their hands, Chris Finch had to take the blame while, at the same time, downplaying the Lakers’ strength. Along with all of this, the Timberwolves were also willing to throw two of his players under the bus.

Chris Finch pins the blame on Dante Exum and Naz Reid after loss

In the larger context of things, the Lakers’ defense would not have mattered have the Timberwolves had been efficient on the offensive front. Both Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle made major strides to get through, while the Lakers emphasized small ball. Edwards made 25 points by shooting 10-22 (45.5%) field goals, 2-8 (25.0%) 3-pointers, and 3-4 (75.0%) free throws, while Randle recorded 27 points through 9-17 (52.9%) field goals, 2-4 (50.0%) 3-pointers, and 7-9 (77.8%) free throws. Unfortunately, while these two covered for the Timberwolves, Dante Exum and Naz Reid could not cover for them efficiently. The same was visibly noticeable to Chris Finch during the game.

“Foul trouble, obviously, from Dante and Naz” said Finch during the same presser. “Kept them from really trying to find a rhythm in the game, and, you know I didn’t think we did a really good job of finding uh open shots tonight”.

A significant portion of the Timberwolves’ rotation struggled with foul trouble, but not so much as Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo. Both had 4 personal fouls apiece at the end of the game. Knowing that Reid was a primary offensive option off the bench, the Lakers might have intentionally placed the player in trouble. As expected, losing Reid made the Timberwolves struggle on offense. Without Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo, another star scorer who was fouled out, the Timberwolves looked lost. The team had to rely on Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle to bail them out with isolation basketball, which did not turn out well.

Both teams have now seen what they bring to the playoff stage. This will make Game 3 all the more interesting. What steps will be taken after learning from each game’s mistakes now remains to be seen.