Micah Nori might be Chris Finch's Pinocchio in second-round series

Where will head coach Chris Finch be positioned when the Timberwolves take on the Nuggets or Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals?

The series will start Saturday or Monday, and Finch will likely be wearing some sort of brace following a likely surgery this week to repair the ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee that he suffered late in the fourth quarter of Minnesota's Game 4 win to advance past the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.

Finch typically walks the sideline in front of the bench and fans sitting courtside. If he needs crutches, a steerable knee scooter or a wheelchair, will the league allow him on the sideline? What if his doctor's orders demand that he keep his leg elevated, thus forcing him to sit behind the bench?

According to assistant coach Micah Nori, they're preparing for anything and everything.

"I hope that he is able to go about in a normal way, whether he 's got a leg brace or something, so he get up and do can do what he needs to do. I think 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, or whatever, crutches and that," Nori said Monday during an interview with KFXN-FM 100.3's Paul Allen.

"Essentially, he would be like the maestro pulling the puppet strings, and I'd be like Pinocchio, the frontman, but he would tell me what to do and what to say. Unless there comes a time when I act like I don't hear him and I want to try something."

"If you see me standing at midcourt for an elongated period of time, that means that I'm in trouble and I'm trying to get out of earshot from him," Nori quipped.

Whatever happens, Nori expects Finch, who he says is "as tough as they come," to be "just as sharp" and "put us in a position to be successful."

The Timberwolves are likely to face the Nuggets in the second round. Denver leads the Lakers 3-1 and can finish off LeBron and company in Game 5 Monday night. If the Nuggets finish off the Lakers Monday night, the Wolves-Nuggets series will start Saturday in Denver.

If the Lakers force a Game 6, the second-round series will start Monday, in Denver if it's the Nuggets or in Minneapolis if the Lakers pull a shocking upset.