Sunday afternoon had the feeling of a playoff game. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, who have met in the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, entered with matching 37-23 records.
With the West standings so tight, it almost seemed like a must-win game for the Timberwolves. Chris Finch coached like it was, and it was the first time all season that Minnesota only utilized eight players in a game.
Timberwolves beat reporter Dane Moore asked Finch about the importance of Sunday’s game.
"We talked about the importance of it yesterday. We basically flagged it as a playoff game for us. They have the tiebreaker, so we gotta keep our nose in front of them. We were mad at ourselves on Christmas. We had kicked that one away. We were really itching to get back here and redeem ourselves, Finch said.
Finch shrinks rotation for big regular season gameÂ
An excellent second quarter helped pave the way for the Timberwolves to pull out a 117-108 victory in Denver on Sunday. The win helped elevate Minnesota to fourth in the Western Conference, just percentage points behind the Houston Rockets for third.
It was a nice revenge game for Bones Hyland as he scored 15 points in the first half against his former squad. He was also just one of three players to see action off the Timberwolves’ bench, along with Naz Reid and Ayo Dosunmu.
In what was their 61st game of the season, it is also the first time all year that the team used fewer than nine players in a game. That further shows the importance of the game for Minnesota.Â
Losing the first three outings against Denver this season, they have already lost the tiebreaker to them. Minnesota would love to finish the year ahead of its Northwest Division rival after the Nuggets finished one game above them each of the last two seasons.
The Timberwolves' playoff rotation is starting to become clearer
Only going eight deep in a game like this is something that Finch normally does come playoff time. If you recall, for much of the last two postseasons, Minnesota has only utilized three off the bench.
Last year, it was Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Terrence Shannon Jr. was inserted in the rotation in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals). In 2024, it was once again Reid and Alexander-Walker, along with Kyle Anderson.
Now, once Kyle Anderson joins the team, Finch will likely find minutes for him. It will help give him a better idea of whether he wants to use Slo Mo in their playoff rotation.
Still, Terrence Shannon Jr., Mike Conley, and Jaylen Clark were amongst the players who didn’t see the floor on Sunday. It was a game that Finch and the Timberwolves felt like they needed to win, and that’s exactly what they did.