Chris Finch 'proud' of Karl-Anthony Towns' 'small, winning plays'
The Timberwolves battled back to take a one-point lead with just under two minutes remaining Monday night against the Heat in Miami, but the game was far from over.
With his team holding a 103-102 advantage, Karl-Anthony Towns got the ball on the left baseline, shook off Jimmy Butler and nailed a jumper to push their lead to three.
Not even a minute later, now with his team leading 105-104, Towns grabbed a rebound away from Butler after an Anthony Edwards misfire, threw a lob to Rudy Gobert and Gobert did the rest, throwing down an emphatic dunk that left the crowd at Kaseya Center speechless.
There were several other plays that stood out in Monday's win, but those two in particular were key to Minnesota’s 112-108 win. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was asked about those plays and about Towns by Paul Allen on Tuesday on KFXN-FM.
“Two huge plays. Very composed,” Finch said. “What I’m most proud of KAT this season is he’s making a ton of those small, winning plays.”
Indeed. The way Towns has fit into this Timberwolves team is why Minnesota touts an NBA-best 20-5 record.
He understands his role alongside Edwards, he’s been efficient — Towns is the only player in the NBA this season with 50/40/90 shooting splits among those who’ve played at least 750 minutes — and he’s making the right plays, even if they're not necessarily the flashiest.
“He’s been doing a lot of really little things, a lot of winning plays with his defense, with his rebounding, offensively, his ball movement,” Finch said.
And Towns’ winning plays have translated to Timberwolves' wins.
Briefly
The Timberwolves assigned forward Josh Minott and transferred guard Daishen Nix to the team’s G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, on Tuesday.
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch talks with center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the second half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Boston on March 27, 2022.
Winslow Townson / USA TODAY Sports
