Chris Finch Called Timberwolves ‘Losers’ At Halftime To Trigger Big Game 4 Win

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch’s halftime speech inspired his team to a 117-110 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 4. Minnesota now has a commanding 3-1 series lead.

The Warriors took a two-point lead into the break and Finch could sense his team wasn’t at the required intensity.

“We came out like we had won the game already, like we had won the series already,” Anthony Edwards said postgame. “We came in at halftime and coach told us that, ‘We’re playing like some losers, we got a losing mentality right now.’ We wasn’t being aggressive on defense, we wasn’t being aggressive on offense, we was just playing so loose.

“Wasn’t attacking the ball or attacking the basket, so, just had to pick it up.”

When asked what those words did for him and his team, Edwards admitted they had a galvanizing, motivating effect.

“It lifted it,” Edwards said of his group’s competitive spirit after Finch’s comments. “He told me I wasn’t defending at a high level, I needed to be better offensively, create for my teammates, create for myself and be more aggressive. So, I came out and tried to do that.”

Edwards Gave His Own Halftime Speech To Timberwolves

Fueled by Finch’s words, Edwards gave his own speech to fire up his teammates.

“I told them, ‘We only got two wins,'” Edwards said. “I’ve never seen a series end 2-1. I told them we have to get two more wins and right now, we’re playing like we already got four wins. … We had to figure it out because if we would have kept playing like that, we would have lost tonight.”

The Warriors are in desperation mode and that difference in compete level was evident during the first half. The Wolves are clearly more talented than Golden State, which is without Stephen Curry, and needed the wake up call.

“He was one of the guys that was most vocal at halftime,” Finch said of Edwards. “[He] realized what was going on out there and we needed to be better. It started with him, really, and setting the tone.”

Minnesota will have the opportunity to close out the series on its home floor Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EST.