Timberwolves' emotions 'were all over the place' in two home losses to Nuggets

'You got to have a zen about you in these games, you just have to weather the storm.'

May 12, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) speaks | Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Timberwolves let their emotions get the better of them in the two home losses that evened their Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets at two games apiece.

"I thought our emotions were all over the place, whether it be, maybe, we were feeling too good about ourselves coming into Game 3 to we [were], kind of, a little over amped for Game 4," coach Chris Finch said in a Tuesday guest appearance with Paul Allen on KFXN-FM 100.3.

Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 series with a pair of impressive road wins against the defending champs. That form did not carry over as the Nuggets dominated the Wolves in a pair of games at Target Center. Finch said the team "laid an egg" in the 27-point Game 3 loss to the Nuggets.

"It was a difficult couple of games for us at home," Finch said. "You got to have a zen about you in these games, you just have to weather the storm. This is a really, really, really good team, championship DNA, they're not just going to beat themselves."

With the series tied at 2-2, the two teams return to Denver for Game 5 Tuesday night. On how his team regains momentum and comes away with a big Game 5 win Tuesday night, Finch says it's down to "playing at a super focused [level]."

"I didn't necessarily like our focus the last two games — focus on game-plan execution is what I'm talking about," Finch said. "Game-plan execution focus has to be high. We got to stay on an even keel, like our mindset has to be pretty zen, stay in the moment."