Film session is the time for every team to analyze and own up to its mistakes.
At Timberwolves' film session on Friday, coach Chris Finch wanted to own up to one he — and many national pundits — said he made during a 21-0 Grizzlies run in the second half of Game 3: not calling a timeout.
"Of course I look at all these things and in hindsight, I should've called a timeout, and that's on me," Finch said.
Finch said he told the team as much on Friday, even if he's not entirely convinced timeouts stop runs. He called two timeouts during a 15-0 Memphis run at the end of the second quarter and they did nothing to slow down the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies rallied to win Game 3 on Thursday night at Target Center to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series entering Saturday night's Game 4.
"Do timeouts really stop runs? I don't know," Finch said. "But we still have to execute, we've still got to put the ball in the basket, we've still got to get stops. But yeah, for sure, it's a regretful mistake, I've got to own that. I told the team in film."
Another disruption
For the third time this postseason and the second time at Target Center, there was an interruption caused by a protester at a Wolves game. And this time, it involved multiple protesters.
Early in the third quarter, a woman seated in the second row, directly behind Becky Taylor — wife of Wolves owner Glen Taylor, who was seated to Becky Taylor's left — got up from her seat and stepped on the floor, where she was quickly tackled by a security guard and removed.
As that woman was being removed, another woman seated near the Taylors also was apprehended and taken away by security. A group called Direct Action Everywhere issued a press release taking responsibility for the protest, calling attention to how a chicken farm owned by Glen Taylor has allegedly handled an outbreak of avian flu. Taylor also owns the Star Tribune.
In the Wolves' play-in game against the Clippers, a woman in the second quarter attempted to glue herself to the Target Center floor. Then in Game 1 of the Wolves-Grizzlies series in Memphis, another woman chained herself to the stanchion. Both of those incidents were protesting Taylor's farm as well.
Edwards' knee issues
Anthony Edwards came out of Game 3 momentarily because of left knee soreness after he collided with another player.
Edwards received some attention from the athletic training staff on the sideline for a few minutes before he was able to come back in the game. He wasn't on the injury report ahead of Game 4.
"I don't really know what happened, I just know I was trying to turn and run and he was there, but yeah, I'm feeling better," Edwards said.
Edwards missed time during the season because of left knee tendinopathy, a condition that required him to play through discomfort some nights. But Edwards said what happened in Game 3 wasn't related to that.
He also has no problem playing through pain when it appears.
"It's the playoffs, everybody playing through something," Edwards said. "So it's no complaints there."
In the first quarter Saturday, Edwards briefly left or the locker room after grabbing his right knee — but he returned before the end of the quarter.
Getting Towns more active
A lot of talk before Game 4 revolved around the Wolves trying to get Karl-Anthony Towns more active offensively after he had just four shot attempts in Game 3.
Finch said when teams double and triple team Towns, it's foolish to try and have him score through those. Towns should pass the ball, and Finch compared that situation to another sport.
"It's akin to an intention walk at times. If they're going to put you on base, you got to go on base," Finch said.
Meaning, if teams double Towns, he has to make the right play and find open teammates.
Is there a way to get Towns involved before the double teams hit?
"We just have to find him in the flow a little bit more," Finch said. "We can get him into more strategic positions for sure, then when he draws a crowd, we just have to make the right play and generate a lot of good looks when he does. That's the most important thing. Maybe get some on the offensive glass, get some in transition."
