Wolves Notes: Finch, Conley, Edwards, Reid

The Timberwolves‘ only major injury concern after their first-round series involves head coach Chris Finch, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Finch suffered a ruptured patella tendon in his right leg during a collision with Mike Conley late in Sunday’s game (video link). Conley was dribbling along the sidelines when Devin Booker bumped him into Finch, who fell to the court in pain.

“I didn’t see him at first, I was just trying to push the ball up the floor and Book hip checked me out of bounds,” Conley said.

The injury capped a memorable day for Finch, who finished third in the Coach of the Year balloting, then won his first playoff series as a head coach. He was able to celebrate with the team in the locker room, sitting on a chair as players gathered around him. Finch had to use crutches as he left the arena, and no announcement has been made about treatment plans. The series sweep gives him a few days to rest before the start of the second round.

“Prayers up for him,” Conley said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. We’ll do it for him and we’ll keep it moving.”

There’s more on the Wolves:

• Anthony Edwards has been considered a future star, but his performance against Phoenix shows he’s in that category already, observes James L. Edwards of The Athletic. Edwards scored 40 points on Sunday to finish off the Suns, and he served as the team’s emotional leader throughout the series with a mixture of highlight plays and trash talking. “He’s the face of the league,” Karl-Anthony Towns told reporters after the game. “He hates when I say it, but it’s true. Like I said, ‘Future so bright, got to put the sunglasses on.’”
• It took time for Edwards to earn Finch’s trust, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Although he was the top pick in the 2020 draft, Edwards’ game was unrefined when he entered the league, which caused friction with his coach. “Imma be honest. At first it was like, up and down,” Edwards said. “He don’t want me doing this. He want me to do this. We fighting. Which is like a regular coach-player relationship. … But probably the end of my second year, going into those playoffs, we gained each other’s trust. We took off ever since then.”
• Naz Reid was honored to be selected as Sixth Man of the Year earlier this week, Krawczynski tweets. It’s a significant accomplishment for a player who never averaged more than 20 minutes per game before this season. “To get this award is a monumental moment for myself,” Reid said, “just to see how far I’ve come since I started this journey.”