The spirit suffers when it is most needed
Coach Chris Finch made it clear at the beginning of the campaign: sometimes the problem is simply bad mood. And it seems that that ghost has returned to haunt the Minnesota locker room just when the schedule is tight.
“It feels like we’re a million miles away from the team we can be and that we are,” Finch acknowledged after the fourth loss in five games.
The situation is delicate. At 46-32, the Wolves have let home field advantage slip away for the first round. They are only three games ahead of Houston, the fifth place, with just four games left to play.
They have not yet secured their direct ticket to the playoffs. Avoiding the play-in should be the minimum for a team that reached the conference finals the last two years.
The sixth place is defined this week
The calendar does not forgive: Indiana, Orlando, Houston and New Orleans. Four rivals in six days that will decide everything. Friday’s game against the Rockets could be decisive… if Houston stumbles first.
Mike Conley, whose voice in the locker room is worth more than his minutes on the court, tries to stay calm.
“I know guys can break down individually,” the veteran guard explained. “It’s about keeping our spirits up and understanding that we are a really good team.”
But the losses are heavy. Anthony Edwards has missed eight of the last ten games because of that unforgiving right knee. Jaden McDaniels, their defensive specialist, has been absent for five. Naz Reid is playing with shoulder discomfort and his shot is not quite flowing.
Without Edwards and McDaniels, the offense suffers. The three-pointer’s numbers since the All-Star are worrying: they have fallen to 21st in the league. In the last 15 games, even the 25th.
“I think a lot of them are pretty good shots,” Finch analyzed the missed shots. “You just have to maintain trust.”
There are four games left to regain that confidence. To shake off the bad mood. To show that this team, when complete and connected, can surprise again in the postseason as it did last year from sixth place.
The tank still has fuel, as Conley says. But the spark needs to be lit.
