Timberwolves coach Chris Finch sat Anthony Edwards Monday night in a loss to Oklahoma City because the group that was on the floor was helping lead a late Wolves charge.
The same thing happened Friday night, as Finch sat Edwards while the Wolves made a comeback against Houston. This time, the Wolves pulled out a 107-101 victory over the Rockets by shutting Houston out for the final 7 minutes, 31 seconds and going on a 22-0 to close it.
If there's one thing Finch has made clear in his short tenure, those who are playing well will get to close out games.
"Listen, we don't have the luxury of having a closing lineup right now," Finch said. "We're just going to have to go with guys who played well that night and earned their moments in the last five, six minutes."
That wasn't Edwards on a night he shot 4 of 17 for 12 points. Finch had said the plan was for Edwards to come back in, then the Wolves started making a run that never stopped.
"He was going to get a couple minutes, finish the game but the game was in control of the guys who were on the floor," Finch said. "He still played the second most minutes of the night [33], had plenty of opportunities to impact that game."
Finch also discussed where Edwards could have been better Friday night, and that was using his dribble and quickness to beat defenders to spots.
"He has to turn corners quicker, he's got to try to beat the coverage with the dribble,' Finch said. "I thought he was aggressive early but just because he's not been successful getting to the rim for the finish you can't stop going. We talked to him throughout the game about that."
This is all a product of Edwards drawing more attention from opposing teams, Finch said. That, in itself, is an adjustment for Edwards to make, but also a sign of how dangerous he can be.
"In the beginning of the season, I guarantee at shootaround and game preparation our opponents were not talking a lot about him," Finch said. "I guarantee you now they're spending a significant amount of time about how to stop him and this is part of his growth period. He has to learn to see what's in front of him and then make the next adjustment."
Towns addresses violence against AAPI communities
Toward the end of his Zoom press conference, Karl-Anthony Towns was asked if he had any response to the mass shootings at three different massage or spa businesses in Atlanta that recently claimed the lives of eight victims, six of Asian descent, and more broadly the increase in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Here was his answer:
"It's so sad. There's so many great people in this world and the situation is sad because to be discriminated like that, it doesn't belong in this world. It doesn't belong in society. I send all my prayers and condolences to all the families affected and everyone in that community. You know, it's sad, it's just one of those things, you can't comprehend.
"You know the devil is working overtime all day, every day to try to hurt us, but there's just moments you have to sit back and think. I don't even have kids, but when I think about my niece, nephew, sister going outside, you just never know.
"When I see those things it makes me want to call my family more, tell them I love them. You just never know what life has for you. You never know when time is run out in your life. I can't say it enough and I appreciate you asking the question to give me a chance to say I send all my prayers, my condolences, my family, we talked about this, it's such a disgusting thing to happen in society.
"I got to use my platform better to help at least spread awareness and help protect people. I want to thank you again for asking the question. It gives me something to think about tonight, finding ways I can help use my platform for the safety of others and just try to spread awareness and end the kind of violence that's been happening recently. It's nasty and it doesn't belong in society at all. We have such a great platform as NBA players to make change. This is one of them that we got to work on."
