NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT: TIMBERWOLVES vs CLIPPERS

April 12, 2022

Chris Finch

Timberwolves

Press Conference

Q. Chris, Taurean was added late. What's his status?

CHRIS FINCH: He'll be out tonight.

Q. Is that something that's come on?

CHRIS FINCH: Yeah, it's basically come on the last 48 hours, right before the Chicago game the other day.

Q. He's been playing some 4 for you; do you like Jaden in that spot?

CHRIS FINCH: Yeah, it certainly gives us more Jaden, gives us an opportunity for some J.O.

Q. One person we haven't talked to you about this week is Malik Beasley. What do you feel the importance of his role is in this game?

CHRIS FINCH: Well, Malik is hugely important for us. He's played so well the back half of the season. His defense has been outstanding as we've talked about a lot. But we know the attention that cat is going to get, and it'll be two guys on him, sometimes more than that, and so that's going to free up some looks for shooters, and he's going to have to -- he's going to get a lot of good looks. We feel confident in that.

Q. What has been the key to Malik just being a better defender and kind of getting in on that side of the floor?

CHRIS FINCH: Just locked in on that side of the floor, just values it a little bit more. He doesn't get caught up so much on what's going on with his offensive game. He stays consistent in his approach. His competitiveness, his physicality, his game plan and understanding have all taken a big step forward. Really proud of him and what he's been able to do at that end of the floor.

Q. They can put out lineups where they have five legitimate scorers. What type of pressure does that put on the defense?

CHRIS FINCH: It puts on a lot. At the end of the day, they've got one of the highest iso rates in the league. Our competitiveness on the ball is going to have to be key for us tonight. You've got to win that battle as much as you possibly can.

Q. When you look at how your team has played fast all year, shot a lot of threes, the Clippers tended to play a lot slower, especially lately. How do you plan on controlling and dictating the pace of the game specifically?

CHRIS FINCH: Well, you know, you're going to have to get stops. If you want to play fast, it's always easier to play fast off of defensive stops than it is out of the net all night long. But we're going to maintain our identity as best we can, get it up, move it around, try to get to the heart of the defense and create as many open looks as we can. That's how we like to play.

Q. Do you feel like the postseason or the postseason setting, if you will, changes how fast-paced teams can play?

CHRIS FINCH: You know, that used to be the old adage. I think the Golden States of the world proved that you can still play fast and maintain an identity of playing fast. A lot of teams are just playing faster in general.

The game is still about chasing easy baskets. It's still about -- it's going to -- of course we know it's going to slow down at times, but we feel confident we've got guys we can throw it to in those situations, as well.