2 Obvious, 2 subtle moves Chris Finch must make to turn the Wolves into title favorites

It's no secret the Minnesota Timberwolves have reached contending status. The Wolves have exceeded expectations this season, holding onto a top-three seed since the beginning of November.

The key to Minnesota's ascension has been their superb defense. The Wolves rank first in the league in both defensive rating and points allowed per game. They allow their opponents to shoot a paltry 44.7 percent from the floor, three percentage points worse than the league average.

Franchise stalwarts Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns were both selected to the Western Conference All-Star team. The rest of the starters, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley Jr., and Jaden McDaniels have also been essential to Minnesota's success.

Seemingly everything has gone right this season in Minneapolis. The only unfortunate news came about a week ago when it was reported that Towns suffered a torn left meniscus and would remain out for an extended period.

Despite the injury, the Wolves must keep chugging along. Of course, Minnesota must adjust post-Towns. Here, we point out three obvious moves and two subtle moves that head coach Chris Finch should make to better the Wolves' chances.

Obvious: Shoot more threes

One would assume that a team connecting on the fourth-highest clip of 3-pointers would launch quite a bit of triples. That's not the case with Minnesota. The Wolves knockdown 38.7 percent of their three-point looks, yet attempt the sixth-fewest in the league.

Among the top five players in terms of 3-point percentage, all of whom shoot it better than the league average. Several of these players, including Towns, Reid, and Conley Jr. should all be shooting it more often.

While Towns is out, his reserve, Reid, should be required to hoist at least six attempts per game. In four games sans Towns, Reid has connected on 13-of-28 threes. He's shooting a remarkable 46.4 percent and launching seven triples per contest.

As a team, the Wolves have averaged just 33.5 3-pointers per game over their past four. Consequently, Minnesota is 2-2. While shooting more threes won't directly correlate with wins, it's certainly a step in the right direction for such an accurate squad.

Now with Gobert as the only non-shooter, a four-out, one-in approach will likely be employed. The Wolves' newest starter, Kyle Anderson, doesn't prioritize the three-ball, but he does offer guard-like playmaking.

If Anderson could find the same confidence he found last season when he shot a career-high 41.0 percent from beyond the arc, Minnesota's volume problem may soon disappear.