Why NBA Ref Tony Brothers Had to Be Held Back from Timberwolves’ Chris Finch in Heated Spat

NBA referee Tony Brothers had a heated moment with Timberwolves coach Chris Finch in the fourth quarter of Game 3’s loss to the Spurs. | Screengrab on Twitter/@BleacherReport

The Timberwolves couldn’t take care of business at home in a Game 3 loss to the Spurs made even more sour by a heated confrontation between Minnesota coach Chris Finch and NBA referee Tony Brothers.

In the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 115-108 loss on Friday night, Brothers, one of the game’s senior officials, was seen engaging with Finch in an escalated argument. With Minnesota trailing by two, Finch allegedly tried to call a timeout but Brothers, who was standing nearby on the half-court line, failed to give it to him immediately, instead waiting about three seconds to do so. As a result, Finch went onto the court to chastise him.

Brothers wasn’t happy about Finch’s emotional outburst and was then seen walking toward Finch as the two exchanged heated words. At one point, Bones Hyland and a Timberwolves assistant coach stepped in to keep Brothers away from Finch, and play resumed shortly after.

Tony Brothers had to be HELD BACK against Chris Finch 👀 pic.twitter.com/GgeC0nNQGV

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2026

What happened between Chris Finch and Tony Brothers in Game 3 of Timberwolves-Spurs?

Finch later explained his spat with Brothers in his postgame press conference, calling Brothers’s on-court behavior “completely unprofessional.”

“Yeah, I wanted a timeout,” Finch said. “I had called it three seconds earlier, and I wanted the timeout, and I said I want my three seconds back. Because he clearly heard me. He flipped my way, ignored me, went on with the play and almost caused us a turnover. And then, he lost it. Then, I asked him where we were taking the ball in, and he was screaming at me for that.”

Anthony Edwards, who witnessed the confrontation unfold on the court, gave Brothers a little bit more grace in his postgame presser.

“It’s competition at the highest level. We want to win. Finchy want to win. Tony Brothers is Tony Brothers. We all love him. So it’s all good here,” Edwards said.

Brothers was entering his 32nd season reffing in the NBA with plenty of playoff experience under his belt (216 postseason tilts, including 19 NBA Finals games). True to what Edwards said about Brothers, he appears to be a very well-liked ref according to an anonymous NBA player poll conducted by The Athletic in 2023.

With the Finch-Brothers drama now in the rearview mirror, the Timberwolves are licking their wounds after a narrow loss to DPOY Victor Wembanyama (39 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks) and the Spurs, who were able to steal their first game on the road and improve to a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 will take place in Minneapolis on Sunday night.

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