For Chris Finch, coaching Wolves behind bench was ‘a little surreal’

DENVER – NBA arenas aren't the easiest places for people to get around if they are limited in their mobility. There are ramps, steps and scaffolding in the way, and it's something Timberwolves coach Chris Finch is finding out as he coaches this Western Conference second-round series shortly after undergoing patellar tendon surgery in his right knee.

Before Game 1, Finch climbed up a few steps to take his seat at a pregame news conference, and he was careful to walk toward reporters Sunday after the Wolves' practice. But Finch is making it work, as he did Saturday night when he sat just behind the bench while assistant Micah Nori was the standing coach on the sideline for the Wolves' Game 1 win over the Denver Nuggets.

"It's a little surreal just being that much separated from the action, if you will. But it was great," Finch said. "I felt like I was in a safe place. I have utmost confidence in our staff and their ability. I thought they did an amazing job. Communicated well. Of course, it was all made better by a really good win. It's our new reality. Just got to find a rhythm."

Players said there wasn't much of a difference in terms of the communication even though Finch wasn't patrolling the sideline. As forward Kyle Anderson said: "It worked out better than I thought it would."

Finch was still able to make his voice loud and clear, whether on his own or through Nori.

"It was pretty cool. We still heard Finch. He was still in our ear," forward Jaden McDaniels said. "We were looking at him. It's not like he wasn't out there. Micah does a good job relaying the message and giving us all the confidence. They're basically the same. … Coach is just sitting down now."

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Finch said a lot of the calls were still coming from him and assistant Pablo Prigioni as well as Nori, but Nori added that the Wolves don't call a lot of offensive plays.

Nori joked after Saturday's game that the play calls that worked came from him and the ones that didn't came from Finch. It seems the two are auditioning for a buddy comedy when speaking about each other in their public comments.

"We're very much on the same wavelength," Finch said. "We share a brain. If you know Micah, it's not the type of brain you want to share with most people. But we are very much in sync."

McDaniels doesn't let goose egg bother him

One glance at the boxscore and it would be easy to say McDaniels had a bad game because he didn't score. But upon further review, McDaniels was the Wolves player who made it a hard night on Denver guard Jamal Murray in Game 1, especially late in the fourth quarter after Murray began the quarter with his best scoring stretch of the night.

McDaniels might have let his offensive frustrations seep into his emotional control in past years, but he said he has learned to move on, especially in the playoffs.

"It's different. It's the playoffs now," McDaniels said. "It's [a] win-or-go-home type of thing. Just got to affect the game in other ways. We got plenty of scorers, so I'm not tripping. I scored zero, but I still affected the game on defense. That's what I'm here for. Continue doing what I do."

McDaniels said he has a certain strategy he tries to deploy whenever Murray is involved in a pick and roll with Nuggets star big man Nikola Jokic.

"I just try to not let him reject the screen, and me and Rudy [Gobert] play two-on-two or whoever the big is," McDaniels said. "But the main part is not letting him reject to get to the hand he likes to go."

Edwards' technical rescinded

The NBA rescinded the technical foul Anthony Edwards received in the third quarter for appearing to stare down Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson. The call came after Edwards scored on Jackson with 1 minute, 15 seconds left in the third quarter. The NBA taking the technical away means Edwards has none so far in the playoffs. Players receive a suspension if they get seven technicals in the postseason.