LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers escaped by the skin of their teeth on Tuesday in what turned out to be a real nail-biter against the Minnesota Timberwolves. There were some high stakes on the line in the Play-In Game, and with neither team willing to give in, the contest needed an extra period to decide a winner. In the end, it was the Lakers who emerged victorious, 108-102, thereby booking their spot as the No. 7 seed in the West.
If you ask Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, however, he believes that the referees played a pivotal role in Minnesota's tough loss. In particular, Finch is pinning the blame on the game officials for taking Karl-Anthony Towns out of his groove due to foul trouble:
“He was in a heck of a rhythm until they whistled him to the bench,” Finch said, via Timberwolves beat reporter Chris Hine of the Star Tribune.
The tides turned in favor of LeBron and the Lakers in the fourth quarter after Towns was called for his fifth personal foul and was forced to sit on the bench. LA completed their comeback in the final period, and they should have actually won the game in regulation had it not been for Anthony Davis' foul on Mike Conley's last-second game-tying 3-point attempt. Conly ended up sinking all three of his free throws to force the game to OT.
In his mind, however, Finch seems adamant that Towns would have been able to lead his team to victory had it not been for the intervention of the referees. The Timberwolves shot-caller wasn't shy about letting his true feelings known either.
Follow Us
Subscribe