Victor Wembanyama may have made NBA playoff history on Monday night, but the Minnesota Timberwolves believe many of his big defensive plays shouldn’t have counted.
The Spurs champion recorded 12 blocks in San Antonio’s 104-102 Game One loss in Minnesota, setting a new NBA playoff record. But despite the loss, much of the post-game discussion quickly turned to whether a number of those blocks were goal scorers.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch didn’t hold back after reviewing film Tuesday morning.
“At least four of them were scoring goals,” Finch said. “Maybe even the fifth. To me, it scares me that none of them have been called.”
Finch seemed intent on drawing attention to the issue before the second game, questioning how officials could miss so many calls involving one of the league’s most unique defenders.
“Here’s a general shot blocker, who’s 7-foot-6 and follows everything, and there’s no advanced knowledge that these blockers can be a goalie?” Finch asked. “The third point of the game was a goal, and it looked clean.”
The play in question for Finch came early in the first quarter when Wembanyama intercepted Terrence Shannon Jr. Replays appeared to show the ball touching the spine before Wembanyama made contact, which often leads to a goal-scoring break.
Minnesota players expressed their frustration with their coach after the game.
“He hurt me in the first one,” Rudy Gobert said. But if you look at them, maybe three or four [goaltends].”
Gobert, who plays with Wembanyama in the French national team, also made a joke about the separation of the players after completing one block himself.
“I wish I had that kind of treatment,” he said.
Finch later emphasized how important the missed calls were in the two-point game.
“Let’s say there were four [goaltends],” said Finch, “That’s eight points. Do you know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It’s big. That means 33% of his blocks were uncalled goals. If I could increase it by 33%, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Great value.”
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