Veteran NBA referee Tony Brother had to be held back from confronting Timberwolves coach Chris Finch in a shocking scene Friday night during Minnesota’s home 115-108 Game 3 loss to the Spurs.
Finch then called out the veteran official for his actions.
“Pretty unprofessional, huh?” Finch said.
The tense moment happened with a little more than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter with the when Finch attempted to call a timeout with his team trailing, 102-100.
Finch believed Brothers delayed in granting the timeout with 5:09 left and voiced his displeasure, walking toward the referee and giving him his thoughts.
Brothers did not back down before being intercepted by a Minnesota player.
“I wanted the timeout. I had called it three seconds earlier and I wanted the timeout. I said, ‘I want my three seconds back,'” said Finch, whose team fell in a 2-1 series hole. “He clearly heard me. He looked my way, ignored me, went on with the play and then almost cost us a turnover.”
During the timeout, Brothers stood near the Minnesota huddle and Finch said something to him that resulted in Brothers attemping to walk his way.
Chris Finch (mid-right, holding blue paper) says something to referee Tony Brothers. @BleacherReport/X One Minnesota staffer and players prevented Brothers from getting face-to-face with Finch and a potential combustible situation.
“He lost it,” Finch said. “Then, I went to ask him where the ball was going to be taken in and he screamed at me for that. Completely unprofessional behavior by him.”
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards indicated that Brothers’ actions did not surprise him.
Brothers screams back and is restrained by others. @BleacherReport/X “We didn’t really hear what was going on. It’s competition at the highest level, man” Edwards said. “We wanna win, Finchy wanna win. And Tony Brothers is Tony Brothers. We all love him, so it’s all good.”
This is the second notable interaction between a player and referee in as many days, with the Lakers’ Austin Reaves accusing John Goble of yelling in his face Thursday, which left him feeling “disrespected.”
The 76ers’ Joel Embiid also alleged that the referees had some bias in Game 3, with the Knicks attempting 32 free throws to Philadelphia’s 16, saying: “I guess it’s good when New York wins.”
