Jordan McLaughlin may be forcing his way to more minutes

Nothing was going right for the Timberwolves Monday afternoon against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks took complete control in the second quarter. The Wolves were getting killed on the glass. Shots weren’t falling.

By the middle of the third quarter, the Timberwolves were in a 22-point hole. So, coach Chris Finch turned where he’s turned a number of times for a spark: Jordan McLaughlin. And did McLaughlin ever provide that much-needed spark.

McLaughlin got a couple steals. He knocked down a 3-pointer. The 22-point lead was down to 16 by the end of the third quarter. Then the Wolves opened the fourth on an 8-0 run. Thanks to McLaughlin’s spark, they eventually whittled the Knicks’ lead all the way down to four, although New York eventually held on for a 112-106 home victory.

But what stood out more than the loss or a terrible second quarter was the impact of McLaughlin, who in 12 minutes had nine points, three assists, two steals and a rebound. McLaughlin did not commit a turnover and had a team-best plus-minus of plus-13.

It was a similar showing to the last time McLaughlin saw minutes: a 129-106 loss at the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 26. McLaughlin had two points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in 14 minutes of action. He was minus-8 that game, but that was the best plus-minus mark of any Timberwolves player that played more than five minutes.

Finch has been tinkering with the ninth spot in the rotation, so there haven’t been consistent minutes for the likes of McLaughlin and Troy Brown Jr. this season, particularly McLaughlin. An MCL strain did sideline him for a month earlier this season, but McLaughlin has only played more than five minutes in four games this season and has played in just 12 games in all.

But McLaughlin, 27, consistently makes good things happen for the Timberwolves in his limited minutes.

“He’s now played in three of the last handful of games and every single time has come in and had a super positive impact,” Finch told reporters in New York postgame Monday. “At halftime it certainly felt like a J-Mac game because we needed that juice. And we thought that position, or we still believe that position could be situational.

“But if somebody comes and takes it, then somebody comes and takes it, and it looks like J-Mac’s on his way to doing that right now.”

Finch is signaling that there could be an increased role coming for McLaughlin, who had larger roles in Finch’s rotation in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. McLaughlin played a career-high 62 games in 2021-22, averaging 14.5 minutes per game. 

He averaged 15.8 minutes per game in 43 games in 2022-23, but he missed 39 games that season, mostly due to a calf injury and saw little action in the Timberwolves’ first-round playoff series, which they lost 4-1 to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets.

The year before, McLaughlin was an impact player in Minnesota’s first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies. Although the Grizzlies won the series 4-2, McLaughlin scored 16 points in a 119-118 Game 4 victory that at the time evened the series at 2-2. He averaged 6.2 points, 2.6 assists, 2.4 rebounds and one steal in 16.4 minutes per game. He had just two turnovers in the five games he played that series. 

Now it appears McLaughlin could be in for an increased role once again. If his play this season, and in seasons past, has told us anything, he'll be more than ready for whatever is thrown his way.