Wolves' Chris Finch calls out Tony Brothers for confronting him - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch called it «completely unprofessional behavior» for official Tony Brothers to confront him on two occasions during a fourth-quarter stoppage Friday night.

With about 5:12 remaining in the Timberwolves' 115-108 Game 3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Finch tried to call a timeout to reset a sloppy offensive possession. Brothers, standing near Finch at the half-court line, didn't grant the timeout until the 5:09 mark as Finch stomped onto the court in displeasure.

«I [told him] 'I want my three seconds back,'» Finch said. «He clearly heard me [call a timeout]. He looked my way, ignored me, went on with the play. Almost cost us a turnover.»

Brothers, who didn't appear to appreciate Finch's demonstrative reaction, walked toward the Minnesota huddle to share a few retaliatory words. Timberwolves center Naz Reid intercepted Brothers and temporarily broke up the argument.

But Finch went back to talk to Brothers a few moments later, telling reporters postgame he wanted to ask Brothers where the basketball would be inbounded and Brothers again advanced toward Finch and the two had words.

«He lost it,» Finch said.

Timberwolves guard Bones Hyland and assistant coach Pablo Prigioni stopped Brothers before he got all the way to Finch and eventually the interaction cooled. Anthony Edwards was standing next to Finch during the final stages of the yelling match.

«Competition at the highest level,» Edwards said. «We wanna win. Finchy wanna win. Tony Brothers is Tony Brothers. We all love him.»

This was the second straight night in the NBA playoffs that an exchange with an official entered the spotlight. Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves called an interaction with official John