Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards strive to improve in clutch time

MINNEAPOLIS — No team played in more “clutch” time games last season than the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Wolves played in 46 such games during the regular season; they are defined by the NBA as games that are within five points in the final five minutes.

Diving deeper into those numbers, there wasn’t much good news for the Wolves. They were 20-26, with a net rating of minus-8.4, 23rd in the league. Their offensive rating (106.4 points per 100 possessions) was 9.3 points lower than their overall offensive rating for the season. Their defensive rating (114.8) was four points higher than their season average.

Their expected win-loss record for the season, according to the website Cleaning the Glass, was 53.7, given their underlying metrics.

They won 49 games, however, because of their struggles late in games. If they had won 53, they would have been the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs instead of No. 6.

The Wolves were a worse team in those final five minutes than they were for the first 43. For all their talk of getting out more in transition this training camp and re-dedicating themselves to the defensive end of the floor, late-game situations are one area where they have a lot of room for improvement to stay above the fray in a deep Western Conference.

The season opens Wednesday night at Portland.

“We really struggled much of the year with crunch time,” President Tim Connelly said. “We’re a team that … we had a lot of lulls in our ability to get things done late. I thought we answered a lot of those questions at the conclusion of the season.”

There’s good news behind these numbers. Their late-game troubles ultimately didn’t cost them. They still advanced to the Western Conference finals, and in that series, they had just one of their four losses in clutch time (Game 4). Otherwise, Oklahoma City just overwhelmed them.

They went 4-1 in the five clutch games they played in the playoffs. They now have a body of work to evaluate and figure out where they went wrong.

“Certainly we went through a lot of lessons,” coach Chris Finch said.

Edwards on ball

Since early in his career, All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards said he wanted the ball in his hands during crunch-time scenarios. He got what he wished for in the past few seasons. He quickly found out teams like to double-team him in those scenarios, making him give up the ball at the prime moments when he wants to score. He would give it up at times; other times, he might force a shot.

He shot 42.6% in the clutch last season and 32.3% from three-point range, well below his 39.5% mark for the season. Those numbers shaped how he attacked his offseason in developing more of a post-up, midrange game. Edwards hopes operating in those areas will open the floor in different ways for him and his teammates.

“It’s going to be hard to gauge it, because we haven’t played games this year, so I’ve got to see how teams are going to play me. Most teams double-team me in the clutch anyways, so I’ve got to get off the ball. But I think playing closer to the rim would be the answer [to improving those numbers].”

To point guard Mike Conley, there’s a shift in how Edwards is thinking about the game in these situations in camp — from how can Edwards get a good shot for himself to how can he set up an open shot for the team, regardless of who takes it.

“His command of the offense is something that has been the journey for him, his understanding what works for our team,” Conley said. “Not necessarily what always works for himself, individually. So late game, you’re going to have the ball, you got to have three or four different simple plays, or different things that you can get to different actions that can make our offense run smoother, or you get a good look, or somebody else get a good shot. Those are things that I’m seeing him be more vocal on.”

“... I think before he would just hoop and be amazing the way that he plays the game, but him thinking the game more is going to help our late-game offense.”

Edwards off ball

Finch wants to vary what the Wolves do late in games, which means playing through Julius Randle more in the clutch, given Randle’s playmaking ability. He also mentioned using more Conley-Rudy Gobert pick-and-roll action in those moments. That has been a staple of the Wolves offense whenever they may need to generate a quick shot throughout a game, but not something they turn to often in the clutch.

“[We’re] leaning on the things in the past that paid dividends for us,” Finch said.

Finch also said the team has to work on its clock management and the best way to optimize two-for-one situations late in quarters. They could also work better on how to handle the swings of a game in the final minutes.

“Just poise and patience, understanding that situationally just because, let’s say somebody hits a three on you, you don’t got to hit a three back,” Finch said. “You got to play out the entire string.”

Deep West

The Wolves have had a relatively smooth training camp, and that has meant good things under Finch in the past. The continuity they had two years ago launched them to a 56-win season.

But the Western Conference runs deep. Not many teams are coming into this season with the idea of tanking. At the top, the NBA champion Thunder return all of their weapons from last season’s title run. The Nuggets retooled with the additions of Cam Johnson, Bruce Brown and Jonas Valanciunas, giving them a deeper roster that Nikola Jokic has lacked since Denver won the championship three years ago.

The Clippers, Lakers and Warriors all figure to be in the mix as the old guard of the league (players such as LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler) are out to prove they are not done yet.

The Rockets now have Kevin Durant and an ascending star in Amen Thompson, while the Spurs might have the skeleton key for the league’s future in the form of Victor Wembanyama, to go along with a core of talented backcourt players.

There figure to be plenty of close games for the Wolves this season. Late-game offense isn’t something that’s easy to drill in training camp. The pressure is hard to replicate. But they have familiarity, continuity and a playoff run to show they’re capable of being better than they were a season ago. They will need to be if they want to be true contenders.

“Our guys are certainly fueled by competition,” Connelly said. “We’re not going to duck anybody. We can’t wait to see where we stand up in this kind of historically stacked Western Conference.”

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