Mike Conley may miss more games for the Timberwolves. How can they survive?
Nov 25, 2024
After missing each of the Timberwolves’ last two games, starting point guard Mike Conley remains questionable for the team’s home bout Tuesday against the Houston Rockets — the third of four NBA Cup group-play contests — with a toe sprain.
At practice Monday, Minnesota coach Chris Finch said Conley is “day to day” with the injury. Finch said Conley was set to meet with medical people on Monday to discuss the injury.
Conley has already missed three games for the Wolves this season. Minnesota is 0-3 on those occasions. The offense has largely sputtered in each defeat.
Should Conley miss more contests, Minnesota needs to find more consistent offense sans its floor general.
Finch noted everyone must carry a “make the right play mentality.”
“It just unlocks shots for others,” Finch said. “Sometimes, the ball – of course we want it in (Anthony Edwards’) hands, we want it in (Julius Randle’s) hands early – but they’ve got to still trust the actions of the offense to get everybody else involved, and it’ll come back enough times. It just gives us a different look, as well.”
Donte DiVincenzo started the Boston game for Minnesota in Conley’s stead, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker has started the other two games Conley has missed. Neither is a true point guard by any stretch, and both seem to have to sacrifice themselves to a degree when they take on the bulk of the point guard responsibilities. Outside of Conley, rookie Rob Dillingham is the only other point guard on the roster.
He has received more run of late, and played the best game of his young NBA career on Sunday in Boston. Dillingham scored 14 points on 6 for 10 shooting in 16 minutes.
“Offensively, I thought it was really the first time he saw the whole game,” Finch said. “We look different when he’s on the floor. He gives us a change of speed. He was instrumental in helping us get back into the game. This is all part of the growth.”
That growth, the coach noted, has been continuous for the 19- year-old, who has also shown an impressive level of competitiveness on the defensive end in spite of his small stature. Still, Dillingham doesn’t figure to be a 30-minute solution when Conley is out. It’s not the role Minnesota envisions for him on this team this early in the rookie’s NBA career. The slack for Conley’s absence will need to be picked up by the collective.
If that occurs, Rudy Gobert said the team can be better for it in the long run.
“Obviously, we miss Mike and obviously everything he does on the floor for his teammates is valuable for us,” Gobert said. “But I think when he’s not there it’s a big opportunity for us to get better in those situations and even to require us to be more aware and connected, because he’s somebody that connects everyone and is unselfish. So I think playing without Mike now can probably help us for later. Keep getting better and pushing everyone to keep getting better.”
That connectiveness — the willingness to make a play for someone else — is something Gobert conceded has been lacking when Conley misses games.
“We realize that when we don’t do that, we can’t be as good,” Gobert said. “Ant has been amazing the past few games making the right play or putting us into our actions. I think that’s the key for us just trusting the action, trusting the team, trusting all our strengths. We’re a very talented team so when we do that, good things happen.”