Now it’s a playoff series.
An old saying suggests a series isn’t a series until the road team wins a contest on the opponent’s home floor. That actually occurred in Game 1, when the Warriors won at Target Center.
But a truer indication that things are up and running are what occurred Wednesday, when both head coaches started to complain about the officiating.
That didn’t take long.
Wolves coach Chris Finch fired first. Asked about Golden State’s rebounding the day after the Warriors grabbed 10 more boards than Minnesota, Finch said the Warriors “do a lot of fouling, shoving, holding, pushing and tacking Rudy (Gobert.)“
“That’s clear. We sent a bunch of those clips into the league,” Finch said. “In fact, I’m not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy’s pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten on the way he is. And so we’ve got to address that one way or another.”
Finch said the Timberwolves will “try to take justice into our own hands whenever we can.”
“I think that’s the nature of a physical sport, but by the same token, my God, you should see some of these clips,” Finch said. “They look like pulling guards and linemen out there just taking shots at Rudy.”
Throughout the Lakers series, Finch noted Minnesota wasn’t going to worry itself with the officiating. But that’s easier done when a team is in the driver’s seat of a series. The second a coach senses a disadvantage, he’s likely to bring it to the forefront.
When made aware of Finch’s comments Wednesday, Golden State coach Steve Kerr jokingly responded, “I didn’t see a single foul on any of those plays.”
“No, yeah, there’s a lot of physicality in the lane, for sure,” Kerr added, “and they definitely could have called a couple of those.”
But Kerr has his complaints, as well. The coach noted he was upset for the opening 10 minutes of Tuesday’s bout as he watched Minnesota get ultra-physical with Steph Curry as the star guard tried to move away from the ball, a continuation of what Houston did to Curry during Golden State’s first-round series.
Kerr said Curry “hasn’t had any freedom of movement” throughout the playoffs.
“Everybody’s fouling each other. I just feel like (the officials) have a really hard job because playoff basketball is — yes, it’s physical and they’re going to allow more, but I think they could have called a foul six, seven straight possessions with them guarding Steph. So, I’ve got my complaints, too. Trust me. We all do,” the Warriors coach said. “And this is how it works in the playoffs.
“We watch the tape, we see all the fouls on them that aren’t called. They watch the tape, they see all the ones on us that weren’t called. It’s a physical game. It’s just going to be, and both teams have to adjust. I’m getting ready to send my own clips in to the league.”
Kerr said he watches teams consistently “bear-hugging” Curry, and there is no whistle. He also cited a play in which Donte DiVincenzo was constantly bumping Jimmy Butler when Butler was posting up on the interior.
“I’m sure Chris’ complaints are warranted, just like mine are,” he said. “Both teams are going to have a lot to complain about at the end of every playoff game. I don’t know what the solution is, other than what I just said: Can you call stuff early to set a tone and try to get both teams to understand where the line is? And that’s the best that the officials can do because, like I said, you call every foul, it’s a parade to the foul line, nobody wants to watch that, either. So, they have a very difficult job.”
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