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Dave McMenamin
MINNEAPOLIS — Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said his team submitted clips to the league office that showed what he believes was egregious contact made against center Rudy Gobert in Minnesota’s 99-88 Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, none of which was called by the officials.
“On defensive rebounding, they do a lot of fouling, shoving, holding, pushing and tackling Rudy,” Finch said after practice Wednesday. “That’s clear. We sent a bunch of those clips into the league. In fact, I’m not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy’s pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten on the way he is. And so, we’ve got to address that one way or another.”
Minnesota was dominated on the glass 51-41, with Gobert grabbing 11 rebounds — a steep drop-off from the 24 boards he had when the Timberwolves closed out the Los Angeles Lakers on April 30 in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Finch cited one sequence as being particularly unnerving, as Gobert was whistled for a foul in the second quarter when the Warriors’ Brandin Podziemski “clearly grabbed him” first and the Wolves big man tried to free himself from the Golden State guard’s hold on him.
“We’ll certainly try to take justice into our own hands whenever we can — I think that’s the nature of a physical sport — but by the same token, my god, you should see some of these clips,” Finch said. “They look like pulling guards and linemen out there just taking shots at Rudy.”
Minnesota was called for 21 fouls in Game 1, as compared to 18 for the Warriors. (However, the Wolves attempted more free throws, 17-15.)
The complaints about the officiating weren’t one-sided, though.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said the Warriors were upset there weren’t more fouls called with how the Timberwolves defended Stephen Curry, before the star guard left the game in the second quarter with a strained hamstring that will sideline him at least a week. Kerr said he felt the Wolves did what the Houston Rockets employed in the first round by clutching and grabbing Curry off the ball.
“I was upset the first 10 minutes of the game, it was just like Houston all over again,” Kerr said Wednesday. “They were bear-hugging Steph and they could have called six fouls, but the league has established the physicality in the playoffs. Chris talked about it last week, just the overall physicality, to me it’s crazy out there what’s happening. Everybody’s fouling each other. I just feel like [referees] have a really hard job because playoff basketball is physical and they’re going to allow more, but I think they could have called a foul six, seven straight possessions with them guarding Steph.
“And so I got my complaints too. Trust me. We all do, and this is how it works in the playoffs. We watch the tape, we see all the fouls on them that aren’t called. They watch the tape, they see all the ones on us that weren’t called. It’s a physical game. It’s just going to be. And both teams have to adjust. I’m getting ready to send my own clips into the league.”
Warriors players said they felt their first-round series against a very aggressive Rockets team was much more physical.
“I mean, it’s the playoffs. What we just had to go through with the Rockets I think has kind of just rubbed off on us,” Podziemski said. “And what they were doing is kind of similar to what we’re doing now. I don’t know if the Lakers were doing that to the Timberwolves [in the] first round. It’s the playoffs; you’re trying to do anything you can to win. I mean, Rudy’s probably a whole foot taller than me, so what’d you want me to do?”
During his postgame comments Tuesday, Finch took Wolves franchise star guard Anthony Edwards to task for his lack of energy in Game 1. A day later, Minnesota guard Donte DiVincenzo said “there was nobody safe” during the Wolves’ film review of the contest, as players took accountability for their part in the letdown.
That included Wolves guard Jaden McDaniels putting the onus on himself — and not the referees — for securing only four rebounds.
“They were playing harder than us, more physical,” McDaniels said of the Warriors. “They were pushing and stuff, but if the ref don’t call it, there’s no foul. We just got to play through it, not worry about the refs and just go and play like it’s us versus everyone.”
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.
