Wolves Coach Chris Finch Says Team May Need to “Start Flopping”
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DENVER — Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch voiced displeasure Monday night over the 16 free-throw attempts awarded to Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray during Denver’s Game 1 victory, suggesting his own players might have to embellish contact to receive similar calls.
“Maybe we gotta start flopping, too,” Finch told reporters in his pregame media availability before Game 2.
Finch argued that a league-wide pattern rewards ballhandlers who “spill away” after initiating contact, while players who power through contact, such as Minnesota’s Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards, are less likely to draw whistles. Randle and Edwards combined for nine free throws in Game 1, a contest in which Denver shot 33 free throws to Minnesota’s 19.
“Julius is not a flopper. Ant is not a flopper,” Finch said. “They play through the first line of contact. A lot of times if you were to spill away, you get a foul. But if you keep going, [officials] take a play-on mentality.”
Nuggets head coach David Adelman rejected the notion that Murray benefited from lenient officiating, noting that four of Murray’s 16 attempts came from a flagrant foul on a three-pointer and a technical foul. “So it was 12,” Adelman said. “And he got fouled. It’s the playoffs. Everyone politics after games, but let’s list out the 16 free throws and what actually happened.”
Finch conceded, “Some of them were fouls,” but maintained that not every whistle was justified after reviewing game film. He contended that fouls are “rewarded up the floor and not in and around the paint.”
The exchange added fuel to a rivalry that intensified when Minnesota ousted Denver in a seven-game series during the 2024 postseason. The teams are meeting again in the first round of the 2026 playoffs, and both coaches acknowledged the physical nature of the matchup.
Adelman pointed out that Denver often faces high free-throw totals from other stars around the league. “There are nights where we play Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] or somebody who shoots a lot of free throws, and I don’t go back to clips saying, ‘I can’t believe he got all these calls,’” Adelman said. “I go: ‘Why are we fouling so much?’”
The Timberwolves will seek to even the series in Game 2, with Finch hinting that his players might adjust how they sell contact to officials.
Source: ESPN
