Karl-Anthony Towns has long gone and settled into his new franchise. But the Minnesota Timberwolves are still in their “moving-on” phase, desperately struggling to find their footing. After all, what was the secret recipe that propelled them to a successful season last time? Head coach Chris Finch just can’t seem to recall. To make matters worse, the team faced 17 losses so far. Frustration boiled over on Tuesday night when his players showed signs of giving in again, this time to the Pelicans. That’s when he burst out in anger and slammed the clipboard. What happened next? Well, the T’Wolves finally won the game and surprisingly the players didn’t mind Finch’s action.

Following the 104-97 victory, reporters asked Rudy Gobert how often Chris Finch gets to him. The French DPOY smiled and replied, “He’s a pretty emotional guy. So, every day.” When inquired about the clipboard incident, Gobert added, “He has passion, so yeah, he’s good.” Gobert was clearly pretty understanding about the coach’s reaction and so was the newcomer.

Cameras also followed Donte DiVincenzo to the locker room to get his thoughts on the matter. “I love to see it,” he said. Not only that, but he also believed that’s what the team sometimes needs. “I think that’s sometimes what we need. You know, forget all the x’s and 0s. Slam the clipboard, do whatever you need to do. Just get into us a little bit because, you know, our guys feed off of that. We feed off energy. We feed off of, you know, talking with another, getting into it, and going from there.”

Finch was frustrated with his team for giving Zion Williamson openings and making turnovers. In a heated moment during a timeout, everyone around got a glimpse of his anger. In the postgame press conference, he explained, “We needed to wake up, you know, get back in the game.” And that outburst actually worked.

Chris Finch’s reaction leads to surprising win for Anthony Edwards and Co.

Taking the lead last night was certainly necessary for Minnesota. However, with Zion’s return, the Eastern side grew strong enough to get under their skin. To everyone’s surprise, after seeing the side of Chris Finch, the Timberwolves regained the passion that had been lacking earlier and took control of the game.

While the scores were tied at halftime, things shifted in the third quarter with Minnesota taking an 8-point lead. Ultimately, the Pelicans failed to cut the deficit. The one dominating at both ends of the court was Anthony Edwards, who added a game-high 32 points, along with 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

Helping him on offense was of course Rudy Gobert with his 14 rebounds, while Naz Reid grabbed 12. And Finch couldn’t have been more proud. “Guys did a great job of responding,” he said in the presser.

Since showing his emotion and passion worked in favor of the team, Finch could try applying it differently in every game to keep the Timberwolves on track. Maybe, just maybe, this was the secret recipe after all. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts!