Wanna see a human kick in the ass?
I raise you Chris Finch running onto the floor six minutes into the Minnesota Timberwolves’ nationally-televised duel with the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center on Friday night. The most time Finch has likely spent running on the hardwood and taking contact since his playing days, the party that Friday night eventually turned into on the Wolves home floor started with a single no-call on Julius Randle early on in the first quarter.
Finch’s first ejection since last season in Phoenix, the Wolves head coach saw a game clearly going in a direction seen before. Previously commenting on the lack of foul calls that OKC can sometimes get while being unable to play Shai Gilgeous-Alexander physically, Finch flew off the handle and got out in front of the issue early on.
“I’m f*ckin’ with it,” Anthony Edwards beamed to everyone after the game, proud of his coach for the spectacle he was able to pull off that proved effective in the long run.
A result that followed? 47 free throws for the home team juxtaposed to 30 for the Thunder. A tone set for a game that radiated emotions for two and a half hours.
A case study within the week, the Timberwolves headed into Friday coming off of a dastardly offensive performance in a loss against the depleted Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. Plagued with sticky offense, shaky defense, and and overall failure to launch left little hope heading into the end of the week against the now three-loss Thunder. But true to the expected unexpected brand this team has built up over the last three seasons, the Wolves came out crisp offensively and moved the ball well, while also walling up on defense and having one of their better games in containing the ball on the perimeter all season. The shooting percentages may not have reflected and offensive shootout (37 percent for the Thunder to 38 percent for the Wolves) but ball movement was at a respectable level for a Wolves team facing traps in the paint and struggling with stickiness at so many different points throughout the season.
“We’re comfortable playing [OKC]; we matchup well,” interim coach Micah Nori said after the game. “They don’t do anything we didn’t see in the Western Conference finals.”
Translation?
The Wolves, a historically distracted team based on the level of competition or caliber of opponent across the floor from them, were locked into the gameplan and executed as well as they have all season. It’s no coincidence that much to do with that was the team across the floor from them.
Down 107-104 with 53 seconds left, a Jekyll and Hyde Wolves team ranked 17th in the league in clutchtime offensive rating, got to what they wanted to and were able to grind down the defending champions known for their methodical nature down the stretch of games.
Much to do with that? A massive shot by Anthony Edwards with 37 seconds left to pull Minnesota ahead.
A seasoned team that can lack composure in spots, being in different scenarios throughout the last few years has allowed the Timberwolves to find what comes easy later in games when it’s needed.
“Being in these situations more times than not, you know how to handle [it],” Naz Reid said. “Sometimes it can be the other way around, but that’s human nature…more times than not, you know how to take care of business, get in a position to calm down and play basketball.”
Veterans like Mike Conley have spoken throughout the season on the team taking things less serious until it gets to “winning time” late in games; a microcosm of a season in which the Wolves have taken losses like they did on Wednesday to the Grizzlies, or even the late-game woes they’ve had against teams like the Phoenix Suns and injured Los Angeles Lakers.
They show up as their tru selves too little too late.
For this Wolves team, the problem with fans has largely come from not knowing exactly how good they are. A soft schedule to start the year and inconsistent showings mixed with poor bench play and blown leads in many of them have left fans scratching their heads. What does the ceiling of this team look like? Surely, they need to make a move before the deadline in order to have any shot of making a run similar to what they’ve done in the last two years, right?
But what games like Friday night do is set a bar. The loss to the Grizzlies? The barnburners with the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Clippers? The loss to the Kings and uneasy fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards?
That’s not this team at its full capability. We now have the data to say that.
Those games are simply a team that isn’t fully dialed into a gameplan, and who’s deviation gets them in trouble.
“[It’s about] staying together, not getting all sporadic and trying to be ourselves,” Donte DiVincenzo said, noting that the deviation can come from multiple places.
For a team that chronically doesn’t seem like themselves early in seasons year after year, a win around Christmas that can spark a new level has certainly come at the right time.
“We’re a third of the way into the season and have yet to really feel like we’ve caught our groove, for whatever reason that may be,” Nori said. “You can’t always control shots going in, but just your energy and effort…attacking the glass, and winning the possession game.”
Does a game like Friday night magically exempt the Wolves from exploring deadline moves, having roster flaws, and inevitably fielding a few more losses on the year that they shouldn’t?
Absolutely not, and something could very well happen. But any concerns about this team “not being good” or “not good enough to be a contender” at this point can be put to bed. We all watched 48 minutes of a grind-it-out, detailed win against the reigning NBA champions that were previously on pace to break the NBA wins record in a season.
The only question to ask from here on out is simple. It’s not a matter of can they win…
How bad do they want to?
