Red-hot Timberwolves stand to benefit most from injuries

The red-hot Timberwolves are primed to capitalize as teams above them in the Western Conference deal with injuries to key starters.

With their fifth straight win on Sunday, the Timberwolves (37-29) find themselves just four games behind the Grizzlies (40-24) and five behind the second-seeded Lakers (40-22). With the West as bunched as it is, Chris Finch's men could realistically finish the season a top-three seed — if they can sustain their winning ways over the last month. 

Several teams, both above and below them, are wounded. ESPN estimates the Lakers to be without LeBron James (groin) until March 24 and Rui Hachimura (knee) until March 16. The Grizzlies are not expecting Jaren Jackson Jr. (ankle) back before March 17. The Rockets will be without Amen Thompson (ankle) for at least 10-14 days.  

Among the teams below in the play-in group, the Clippers are without their leading scorer, Norman Powell, for another week, and the Mavericks trotted out seven players in their loss to the Suns on Sunday.

Whole again and winning 

Unlike those other teams, the Timberwolves are healthy at the right time, with Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert back in the mix after earlier injuries. In Sunday's win, Randle had an all-around solid game with 14 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, two nights after logging 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a win against the Heat.

Randle has averaged 7.2 assists in the five-game win streak, and his playmaking has allowed Anthony Edwards (25.8 points at 51.3 percent FG) to thrive as the primary scoring option. Even Donte DiVincenzo has found his stroke after his earlier struggles, making a team-high 4.6 threes during the win streak at a staggering clip of 54.8 percent.

"There's just a chemistry, a rhythm, and a pace to how we’re playing," Randle said of the Timberwolves on Sunday, via The Athletic. "Everybody's buying in. It's just making it easy for all of us." 

With the fourth-easiest remaining schedule, Minnesota has the window to leapfrog several teams and avoid the play-in tournament. The latter scenario was not the expectation entering the season after it won 56 games and made the conference finals a year before.