Tony Brothers loses it: Referee clashes with coach Finch in playoff game

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-108 in Western Conference semifinals Game 3 on Friday, but the game was overshadowed by veteran referee Tony Brothers's heated confrontation with Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch.

As there were more than five minutes left in the final quarter and the score was tied at 102-100, Finch called for a timeout, which Brothers apparently ignored. Once the game stopped, Finch lodged his complaint and posed a procedural question regarding inbounding to Brothers. Brothers did not just walk away; he moved closer to Finch and started arguing with him.

Finch remained firm in his postgame assessment. "I wanted the timeout, and he clearly heard me. He looked my way and ignored me, almost cost us a turnover. He lost it," Finch said. "Then I went to ask where the ball was going to be taken in, and he was screaming at me for that. Completely unprofessional behavior."

Blake Griffin criticised Tony Brothers's approach on Prime Video's postgame coverage. "I've never seen an official go at a coach like that. To be honest, I thought Tony was out of line," Griffin said. "An official's job is to de-escalate. Coaches coach, players play, everybody's got their roles."

Dirk Nowitzki echoed the concern. "You can yell one time at each other, but then both go your separate ways. Instead, Finchy came back, and Tony Brothers came back. It's too much a distraction we don't need. Probably wrong on both sides."

In particular, the Spurs' free throws were spared after Tony Brothers did not declare it a technical foul following the argument in a closely contested match. In any case, the Wolves scored only eight points for the rest of the game to lose Game 3 and fall to 2-1 behind.