Timberwolves coach Chris Finch will have surgery on Wednesday to repair the ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee, a source told the Pioneer Press.
ESPN first reported the surgery date.
Finch suffered the injury late in Minnesota’s series-clinching victory over Phoenix on Sunday. He was hurt when Mike Conley was hip-checked off the court by Suns guard Devin Booker, which sent the Conley into Finch, who was standing on the sidelines. Finch immediately went down in pain and had to be helped off the floor.
The Timberwolves are expected to practice the next couple of days in Minneapolis in preparation for their second-round series against the Denver Nuggets, which is scheduled to start Saturday at Ball Arena. Finch’s chances to participate in those practices figures to be slim to none, though he did have Monday and Tuesday to put together the plan for the week with his staff.
The Wolves flew back from Phoenix on Monday afternoon, and ESPN reported that Finch should be able to fly with the team to Denver on Friday. Whether he will be able to coach from the sidelines is another question.
Post-patellar tendon surgery patients must keep their leg immobilized, usually for a number of weeks. That likely rules Finch out for front-of-bench seating for awhile. That’s a position assistant Micah Nori likely will fill for the time being.
Minnesota could potentially create a setup where Finch sits in the second row behind Nori, and Nori hinted at that possibility during an interview with KFXN-FM 100.3 on Monday.
“A worst-case scenario that I need to be prepared for is that he would have to sit maybe behind the bench with his leg, crutches or whatever,” Nori said. “Essentially, he would be the maestro pulling the puppet strings, and I would be Pinocchio — the front man. But he would tell me what to do and what to say.”
But whether Finch will be that close to the floor in Game 1 of Minnesota’s second-round series in Denver on Saturday — just three days removed from major surgery — remains to be seen. The first few days following this surgery are the most painful.
ESPN reported if Finch isn’t able to “park” on the sidelines to start the series, he is “likely communicating to the bench from the locker room.”
Game 2 will be played Monday in Denver, with a full three days off following that contest prior to Game 3 next Friday in Minnesota.
