Wolves, Warriors take issue with officiating after Game 1 - ESPN
MINNEAPOLIS — Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said his team submitted clips to the league office that showed what he believes was egregious contact made against center Rudy Gobert in Minnesota's 99-88 Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, none of which was called by the officials.
«On defensive rebounding, they do a lot of fouling, shoving, holding, pushing and tackling Rudy,» Finch said after practice Wednesday. «That's clear. We sent a bunch of those clips into the league. In fact, I'm not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy's pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten on the way he is. And so, we've got to address that one way or another.»
Minnesota was dominated on the glass 51-41, with Gobert grabbing 11 rebounds — a steep drop-off from the 24 boards he had when the Timberwolves closed out the Los Angeles Lakers on April 30 in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Finch cited one sequence as being particularly unnerving, as Gobert was whistled for a foul in the second quarter when the Warriors' Brandin Podziemski «clearly grabbed him» first and the Wolves big man tried to free himself from the Golden State guard's hold on him.
«We'll certainly try to take justice into our own hands whenever we can — I think that's the nature of a physical sport — but by the same token, my god, you should see some of these clips,» Finch said. «They look like pulling guards and linemen out there just taking shots at Rudy.»
Minnesota was called for 21 fouls in Game 1, as compared to 18 for the Warriors. (However, the Wolves attempted more free throws, 17-15.)
The complaints about the officiating weren't one-sided, though.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said the Warriors were upset there weren't more