Chris Finch is back on the sidelines but he is far from recovered. Since the incident in Game 4 against the Phoenix Suns on April 28, the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach, who suffered a ligament injury in his right leg after colliding with Mike Conley on the sideline, has been forced to sit in the second row. Following the recent public humiliation faced by Anthony Edwards and other Wolves players, Finch’s on-court presence is needed now more than ever.

Coach Finch’s injuries have been jeopardizing his presence on-court. For a month now, he has been relegated to the benches and forced to take a step back while assistant coach Micah Nori took over.  His frustration has been palpable during the Western Conference Finals. Here’s how Finch has been handling the situation.

Tensions rise in Game 4, Coach Finch takes over

Game 4 was pivotal for the Minnesota Timberwolves. If Dallas had taken the win, the Mavericks would have advanced to the finals. But the Wolves turned the series around in their favor in a 105-100 win. This was also the first time Finch was awarded a technical foul since his injury.

It happened when Minnesota’s forward, Karl-Anthony Towns, elbowed Mavs star, PJ Washington, in the face and earned his fifth foul. This whistle was Coach Finch’s last straw. Even though he had been restricted from being on the court, he rushed to the court to reason with the referees and earned himself a technical foul. The Coach knew at that moment that the team needed him. He dispersed assistant coach Nori and took over the teams’ huddle as well. In a post-game interview, when the coach was asked how important he felt his presence on-court was, he replied, “My job was to inject the motion into the game.” Whatever it was he did, his active presence made a difference. The Timberwolves came back with a bang.

In a later report, he told The Atheltic, “I mean, listen, I took over the huddles simply because I was able to do that now. I’m able to get up and stay in front of them. I’m still not able to be up on the sidelines, just because of safety reasons. But yeah, I was wanting to make sure that the team’s gonna fight, and I’m gonna fight for them. And I’m gonna make sure we’re trying to get everything we can out there.” But Finch’s troubles don’t stop here. Minnesota is still far from victory.

Minnesota struggles to fight back

The Timberwolves are still falling behind 1-3. The recent taunts do not help either. As the players were returning to their lockers after Game 4, people from the crowd threw spiteful comments at them. In a video posted by Overtime on Instagram, a person shouted at ANT, “You’re going home in two days,” implying that the Wolves would be losing in Game 5. It did not end there. They shouted the same thing in Rudy Gobert’s face and then proceeded to call KAT, “the zestiest player in the league,” in an attempt to humiliate the player.

Their complaints with the officiating crew are another issue the team is grappling with. The Wolves racked up 23 fouls in Game 4, with 6 to KAT’s name. In a post-game interview, Coach Finch said that the calls were “frustrating to say the least.” The Coach had also expressed disappointment with referees after Game 3 when he felt that they were ignoring the Mavs’ “illegal” moves. He will not stand for this. Finch told reporters, “Even with me not being able to be upfront coaching, I still want my presence felt out there. I want to make sure that we’re getting all the respect (from the officials) that we deserve.”

Chris Finch and the Wolves believe that they have not played their best basketball in the series yet. Game 5 will be just as crucial as Game 4 because Minnesota needs another win to stay in the series. If the Wolves don’t show up to their potential, they might have to say bye to their title ambitions.