It’s become abundantly clear Mike Conley is important to the Timberwolves. It became even more evident after an ugly loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
Conley was ruled out again ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena in Washington due to an illness. That meant the Timberwolves were left to recover from Monday’s disappointing loss — which Conley also missed for a rest day — without their starting point guard in the lineup.
The Timberwolves were able to close a game without him, beating the Wizards 118-107, their first win over Washington since Nov. 2, 2019. At the same time, his presence was missed as Minnesota struggled to find an offensive rhythm, particularly early on.
Still, the win put an end to a three-game losing streak.
The Timberwolves (31-13) came up empty on their first two offensive possessions while the Wizards (7-36) got two quick dunks to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Chris Finch, clearly not liking what he saw early on from his team, called a quick timeout.