Chris Finch Blasted for Rotation Decisions in Wolves' Awful Loss to Jazz

The Timberwolves put together one of their worst losses of the season on Tuesday night against a bad Utah Jazz team playing without leading scorer Lauri Markkanen and a few other rotation players. The 127-122 defeat is right up there with their blown lead in Phoenix in November, their no-show in Atlanta on New Year's Eve, and a couple others. This one might just be the worst, considering the Jazz were 0-10 without Markkanen and the Wolves entered the night on a two-game losing streak.

There are all kinds of reasons why the Wolves lost the game. Anthony Edwards scored 38 points but wasn't as efficient as usual, needing 28 shots to do it. Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo, and Naz Reid needed 59 shots to score 65 points. There was a lack of focus and effort on defense for most of the night, perhaps best exemplified by Randle and McDaniels standing at halfcourt while Rudy Gobert battled at the rim on the play that led to Keyonte George's dagger.

We also have to talk about Chris Finch and his rotations. Finch is frequently patient with his lineups and resistant to change. Sometimes that can be a good thing, but sometimes it's maddening. On Tuesday, Finch made a couple very odd decisions regarding playing time that arguably hurt Minnesota just as much as the performance of their top players.

Mike Conley played 15 minutes and some change, didn't score, and was a -5. That came on the heels of Conley playing 21 scoreless minutes on Saturday in San Antonio. It's become pretty clear that the 38-year-old point guard needs to be taken out of the rotation. Meanwhile, Bones Hyland — who had an incredible breakout game last week against the Bucks — played just one four-minute stint in the second quarter. Finch absolutely should've gone back to Hyland in the fourth quarter when the Wolves needed some sort of spark on offense.

Another player who was inexplicably buried on the bench was rookie center Joan Beringer, who had been excellent in his first couple opportunities to crack the rotation due to Gobert missing a couple games recently. Beringer entered the game to start the second quarter, scored four points and grabbed three rebounds, then came out after less than five minutes and didn't see the floor again. His defensive activity almost certainly could've helped in the second half.

Finch is an easy target for criticism after Wolves losses, and sometimes he doesn't necessarily deserve it. This isn't one of those times. He deserves the heat he received on social media following the loss.

Not a good night for Chris Finch. Needed more Beringer, more Clark, maybe more Bones. Lineup to start the 4th was terrible. Mike is really struggling. Will be a long plane ride home.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) January 21, 2026

I think that was the worst finch game of the season by a very wide margin
— Jake Paynting (@JakePaynting) January 21, 2026

Finch is far too inflexible with his lineups. The lack of young player development from the Wolves is abhorrent and will absolutely hurt them in the long term.

Most times the results make this reality pretty palatable. Other times it stings a bit, and this was one of those.
— TwolvesBlog (@TwolvesBlog) January 21, 2026

Ya this one is on Finch. His obsession with Mike and why isn’t Joan playing in the second half? Just makes zero sense.
— 10,000 Howls (@10kHowls) January 21, 2026

A week ago, the Wolves were right behind the Spurs and Nuggets for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Now, after an 0-3 road trip, they find themselves sitting in the No. 7 seed, which means they'd be in the Play-In Tournament if the season ended today. This is the second half of the season, and every game matters when the West is as competitive as it is. Moving forward, the Wolves need more from their best players and they need more from their head coach.

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