The Minnesota Timberwolves are limping to the regular season finish line. During the Timberwolves’ 115-112 loss on Tuesday night against the reigning champion Denver Nuggets, a game that may have seeding implications in the Western Conference, they were without three of their best frontcourt players in Karl-Anthony Towns (knee injury), Rudy Gobert (rib), and Naz Reid (head), pressing Kyle Anderson into action as a small-ball starting center with Anthony Edwards having to assume opening tip duties.
Not a single team in the NBA would prefer their best players to be injured. If there was an option to turn off injuries, teams would most definitely opt to do so. But for the Timberwolves, they must adjust based on the hand they have been dealt. For veteran point guard Mike Conley, he is simply looking at this as an opportunity for Minnesota to test out some lineup combinations in preparation for the gauntlet of matchups the playoffs will present.
“I think it’s very helpful. I think it’s a sneak peek of how we might have to play in different matchups, different games in the playoffs. Teams will go small to try and change the lineup with our bigs,” Conley said, per Dane Moore of Blue Wire.
Mike Conley observed that the Timberwolves had to rely more on sharp movement and beating defenders off the dribble without their big men around. Thus, Minnesota is receiving ample preparation for what they might be forced to do against teams that love to go small, such as the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans.
“Usually we have two bigs or one big out there to roam and rim run and do all that, and now we have to drive-and-kick and make cuts and extra passes and really kind of dribble drive everything,” Conley added. “It’s one night, but I thought we did a really good job of adjusting to who we had on the court.”
Indeed, the Timberwolves put up a spirited effort despite being as depleted as they were in the frontcourt. This just goes to show that no one can ever count out this iteration of the Timberwolves, especially when Anthony Edwards is still around to scorch the nets.
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