Minnesota Timberwolves Could Turn to Rookie For Spark In Conference Finals

The Minnesota Timberwolves are down 0-2 in the Western Conference Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This marks the second straight stripe to the Western Conference Finals for the Timberwolves, they hope it ends better than last season's trip which was ended prematurely by the Dallas Mavericks. Though, after dropping two straight to open up the best-of-7 set, Game 3 is a must-win for Minnesota.

Searching for a spark and stops, the Timberwolves should turn back to rookie defensive-ace Jaylen Clark.

Admittedly the UCLA product adds next to nothing on the offensive end, but for a laboring offense, it is clear that Minesota is going to have to rely on grinding these games to a halt and winning in the mud to get back in this series.

Clark was tossed into the Timberwolves rotation this season in part due to injuries, and in a pair of games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the guard gave superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fits. Matching up with the League's scoring champ and holding him to substandard outings.

After playing just six minutes total in the first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs, Chris Finch deployed Clark for six minutes in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals before not returning to him in Game 2.

With two straight ice-cold shooting nights from beyond the arc for the Minnesota club, leaning all-in on the defensive side of the floor and seeing if the first-year guard can luck into a bucket or two isn't the worst plan. It also changes the look on Oklahoma City, which Denver routinely did possession to possession and game-to-game against the young Thunder to disorient the Bricktown ballers offense.