The San Antonio Spurs took down the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-108 at Target Center on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals. While Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was frustrated by the loss, he was also upset with crew chief Tony Brothers.
Brothers confronted Finch twice during a timeout with 5:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the official had to be held back by Naz Reid first and then Bones Hyland and Timberwolves assistant Pablo Prigioni. It was a bizarre scene, and a reporter told Finch postgame that he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen players hold a referee back from their head coach.
“Pretty unprofessional, huh?” Finch said, via the Timberwolves.
Finch was then asked for his side of the story, and he placed all of the blame on Brothers.
“I wanted the timeout,” Finch said. “And I had called it three seconds earlier, and I wanted the timeout, and I said I want my three seconds back… Because he clearly heard me. He looked my way, ignored me, went on with the play, and then almost cost us a turnover. And then he lost it.
“Then I went to ask him where the ball was going to be taken in, and he was screaming at me for that,” Finch added. “So, completely unprofessional behavior by him.”
You can check out the incident below.
TONY BROTHERS & CHRIS FINCH EXCHANGE WORDS. 🍿👀 pic.twitter.com/qmWLD48jdB
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 9, 2026
You’d imagine Finch isn’t a very popular figure among officials. The 56-year-old has gone after a fair few of them during his time in the NBA. Finch had an outburst for the ages against the officials during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder back in December 2025. He was the one who had to be held back by his assistants on that occasion.
Finch was ejected that night, but he wasn’t even given a technical foul here. Considering Brothers’ reputation, that is a surprise.
This is actually the second night in a row that the spotlight has been on a crew chief. Austin Reaves ripped John Goble during Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Thunder on Thursday. Reaves then called out Goble after the game, too, for disrespecting him.
It’s not a good look for the NBA that we have had a player and a coach go off on officials for disrespecting them on back-to-back days. There has been nonstop complaining about how these playoff games have been officiated as well. It’s just a mess.
Getting back to this game, the Timberwolves looked to be in trouble when they fell down 14-1 in the opening minutes. It was Anthony Edwards who helped dig them out of that hole with 13 points in the first quarter. Edwards’ play meant the Spurs’ lead was just 23-22 at the end of the period, and we now had a ball game.
The teams were then tied at 51 at halftime, but the Spurs would regain ascendancy after the break. They were up by nine points with about 10 minutes left in the fourth, and it seemed like they might end up cruising to victory.
The Timberwolves weren’t throwing in the towel, though, and cut that lead down to 99-98 midway through the period. They now had the momentum, but Victor Wembanyama ensured there would be no comeback.
Wembanyama finished Game 3 with 39 points (13-18 FG), 15 rebounds, one assist, one steal, and five blocks. This was probably the best playoff game of his young career, and the timing couldn’t have been much better.
The Spurs have regained home-court advantage with this win, and suddenly all the pressure is on the Timberwolves in Game 4. They will look to Edwards to deliver, and he was excellent here, with 32 points (12-26 FG), 14 rebounds, six assists, and one block. The four-time All-Star was also asked postgame about the Finch-Brothers altercation and downplayed it.
“Competition at the highest level,” Edwards said, via the Timberwolves. “We wanna win. Finchy wanna win. Tony Brothers is Tony Brothers. We all love him. So, it’s all good.”
There might not be a lot of love between Finch and Brothers at this point. That was probably the right response, though.
Edwards, who was questionable for this game with a left knee bone bruise, also made it clear he is just fine despite playing 40 minutes. He had played less than 30 minutes in each of the first two games of this series, and revealed that he had told Finch he’d play as many minutes as he wants. You have to admire the mindset.
Game 4 will tip off at Target Center on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will take some Edwards magic to tie this series at 2-2.
