Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves were hoping to take advantage of home court and grab a 2-1 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. Instead, they suffered a 115-108 defeat as Victor Wembanyama delivered another dominant performance with 39 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks.
Minnesota put itself in trouble early after missing its first 12 shots of the game and never fully recovered despite a spirited comeback effort. The Timberwolves managed to cut the Spurs’ lead to just one point in the fourth quarter, but Wembanyama took over late, scoring 16 points in the final frame to seal the game.
The fourth quarter was tense throughout, and emotions eventually boiled over between Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and veteran NBA referee Tony Brothers.
Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
The incident occurred midway through the final period when Finch attempted to call a timeout during a broken possession, but later claimed Brothers ignored the request. Finch said he told the referee, “I want my three seconds back,” but alleged that Brothers instead turned toward the Timberwolves bench and exchanged heated words with him.
Tony Brothers had to be HELD BACK against Chris Finch 👀 pic.twitter.com/GgeC0nNQGV
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2026
Moments later, Finch walked onto the court to ask where the ball would be inbounded from, which sparked another confrontation. Players, including Edwards, stepped in to help de-escalate the situation before it escalated further.
Following the game, Edwards downplayed the incident and described it as part of the competitive nature of playoff basketball.
“It’s competition at the highest level man,” Edwards said. “We want to win, Finchy want to win. Tony Brothers is Tony Brothers. You know, we all love him, so it’s all good”
Finch, however, was far less forgiving in his postgame press conference and criticized Brothers’ conduct.
“He lost it,” Finch explained the moment in the post-game conference. “Then I went to ask him where the ball was going to be taken in, and he was screaming at me for that. So, completely unprofessional behavior by him.”
While the NBA has yet to release an official statement regarding the incident, several figures around the league, including former NBA star Blake Griffin, felt Brothers crossed a line during the confrontation.
“I mean, I thought that was completely wrong,” he said on NBA on Prime. “At a certain point – I know officiating is an incredibly hard job and everybody’s always mad at you – but I’ve never seen an official go at a coach like that. To be honest, I thought Tony was out of line.”
Whether the NBA decides to review the altercation remains to be seen, but the Timberwolves have more immediate concerns as they attempt to even the series against San Antonio. Game 4 is set for Sunday at Target Center.
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