To close out 2024, the Minnesota Timberwolves went to Oklahoma City and gave the now 27-5 Thunder a hard-fought battle. The Wolves showed fight and had some positive moments against arguably the best team in the NBA right now, but a third quarter plagued by turnovers for Minnesota sparked a 43-point output for OKC before the start of the fourth.
Even despite the loss, there were some legitimate positive takeaways for the Timberwolves. They hung with a squad led by the player Anthony Edwards considers the MVP of the league, even clawing back within four points in the closing minutes of action. Minnesota could not earn their fourth consecutive win, but the signs of their progress is evident.
One thing we were looking for coming into this game was more of a scoring mindset from Mike Conley. Out of all the players on the roster, why Conley, you might ask? The answer lies in Chris Finch's words from earlier this week. When speaking about the scoring troubles the starting lineup has had, Finch revealed that he was hoping his veteran point guard could pick up some of the slack, noting that Mike always responds when he asks something of him earnestly.
Mike Conley looked aggressive as a scorer
"We need him to score in that first six minutes," said Finch. "I got to talk to him about that, every time we have asked him he has responded. We got to get him on the ball a little bit at that time.” To no one's surprise, Conley addressed this concern the very next game. Against Oklahoma City, he logged his highest point total since November 27 with 16 points on 50% shooting and a 4-for-7 mark from three-point range.
From the eye test, it was evident that Mike was being empowered to find his own rhythm scoring-wise. A quarter of the way through the third, Conley showed no hesitancy in pulling up for three consecutive threes, the last of which put Minnesota up by double digits.
It has been a noticeable trend that Conley's shooting numbers are down this season, but perhaps part of the reason for that is simply because he has been looking for his own shot less. Mike has been taking over one shot per game less this season compared to last, and his scoring numbers are of course lower.
Now, with he and Finch being on the same page about how much he should be looking to score, perhaps the Timberwolves' starting unit will have just a bit more juice offensively. What we saw in the Thunder game was certainly a promising sign.