MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Earlier this season, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch found a precise if unusual way to describe why his deep, experienced and well-rounded team had slipped into another funk: moodiness.
The bad vibes are back, and with the NBA playoffs fast approaching, the timing is not good.
“It feels like we’re a million miles away from the team that we can be and that we are,” Finch said after Minnesota's fourth loss in the past five
games, at home against Charlotte on Sunday. “We've got to get that back with our connectedness and our spirit. We’ve got to have some guys just play better.”
The Timberwolves (46-32) have frittered away an opportunity to secure home-court advantage for the first round and fallen three games behind fifth-place Houston in the Western Conference with four games remaining in the regular season.
They're still three games ahead of seventh-place Phoenix, but they've yet to secure a spot in the playoffs by avoiding the play-in games.
After reaching the conference finals in each of the past two years and recently bolstering their rotation with the addition of guard Ayo Dosunmu and forward Kyle Anderson, this is not the position the Timberwolves expected to be in down the stretch.
“I know guys can get down individually if things aren’t going their way, and we do have an emotional team and it can spiral if it gets too crazy," said guard Mike Conley, whose presence on the team this season is more for leadership and support than for on-court contributions. “It’s just about trying to keep everybody’s spirits up and understanding that we’re a really good team. Just because we hit a tough stretch with injuries or whatever we’re dealing with, we have a lot in the tank.”
With superstar Anthony Edwards sidelined for eight of the past 10 games because of lingering pain in his right knee and ace defender and third-leading scorer Jaden McDaniels out for the past five games with a left knee injury, the Timberwolves have been dealing with a legitimate setback over the past few weeks. What's more, sixth man Naz Reid has been playing through shoulder trouble and, whether it's related or not, struggling to rediscover his form. Reid shot 3 for 14 from the floor on Sunday.
Minnesota plays at Indiana on Tuesday, at Orlando on Wednesday and at Houston on Friday before finishing at home against New Orleans on Sunday. The Magic are playing for seeding, still seeking a top-six finish that would keep them out of the play-in games in the Eastern Conference.
The Timberwolves would secure a tiebreaker by beating the Rockets, but for that matchup on Friday to truly matter, Houston would need to lose at Phoenix on Tuesday and at home to Philadelphia on Thursday. The Rockets finish at home against Memphis on Sunday.
Finishing sixth is hardly a death sentence for a deep postseason run, considering that's the seed Minnesota had last year before beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round and Golden State in the second round. The Lakers are limping now, too, and would make for a favorable matchup for the Timberwolves if they stay in third. But Denver has won eight straight games and appears to be a good bet to pass them.
The Timberwolves are sixth in the league in 3-point shooting rate (36.9%) this season, but since the All-Star break they rank just 21st. Over the past 15 games, they're 25th.
“I think a lot of them are pretty good looks, to be quite honest with you,” Finch said. “Just got to stay confident in those looks, keep generating for each other.”
Without the creation and skill that Edwards and McDaniels supply, the offense will naturally suffer some. But there should be enough left on the court to help steer the Timberwolves out of this skid, too.
“We’ve got to make all the little plays, the gritty plays, stay in it,” Finch said. “Then we start gambling on defense and lose our discipline. That’s when stuff snowballs.”
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