Chris Finch regrets the way he handled the first half of the game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves' 2025-26 campaign ended in devastating fashion at the hands of a 139-109 elimination game loss to the San Antonio Spurs and head coach Chris Finch not only sees what went wrong with the game, but what part he played in how things turned out.
The Spurs came out swinging with a 74-point first half and from then on, no matter what kind of fight that the Timberwolves put up, it wasn't going to be enough to make up for the gap that the Spurs had created.
That first half was critical and when he was pressed about what exactly went wrong that allowed the Spurs to take such an advantage, Finch took the blame for his decision making that created such an opportunity for San Antonio.
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch speaks to the media before game four of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at Target Center. Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images"I think I'll take the blame for for the start of the game. We flipped the matchups around. We tried to do some things there that maybe slowed down their start, but it allowed Stephon [Castle] to get hot early," Finch said (via Timberwolves). "That certainly wasn't the plan."
How Do You Plan Around Wembanyama?
To Finch's credit, clearly something had to change in the Timberwolves' game-planning considering that they suffered a blowout in Game 5 as well. In that game, Victor Wembanyama was the star of the show and the Timberwolves shifted their focus on to him even more than they had before to try and slow him down.
In that respect, it worked. Wembanyama scored just 19 points and six rebounds, a far cry from the dominance that he'd showed earlier in the series. As a consequence, though, Stephon Castle was often left wide open on the perimeter with clean looks, and he made those looks count.
Castle scored a game-leading 32 points while shooting 11-16 from the field and knocking down five three-pointers.
Leaving Castle open to get those shots off was a calculated risk on Finch's part and a necessary one considering what Wembanyama has shown he's capable of and why he would warrant so much defensive attention, but Castle simply took that risk and made it hurt.
Simply Outmatched
When playing a team like the Spurs which have a complete roster crafted to complement Wembanyama in every way, there's only so much game-planning that can be done.
Limiting Wembanyama was the right move, but with the other weapons the Spurs have at their disposal, San Antonio was always going to find a way to be effective.
Finch at least was quick to take responsibility, a trait that any head coach should have, but the Timberwolves as a whole simply found themselves outmatched as the series wound down.