Timberwolves aren’t matching the quality of play shown by the best Western Conference teams

Over the past week, the teams the Timberwolves are trying to beat in the Western Conference put on a show for basketball fans.

On Saturday night, the Thunder and Spurs squared off in the semifinals of the NBA Cup. With Victor Wembanyama back in the fold, the Spurs handed the Thunder just their second loss of the season in a game that had all the drama of a May playoff game.

Two nights later, the Rockets and Nuggets played a breathless game that featured clutch shot making and high-level execution down the stretch from both teams in a game that went overtime.

Then the Timberwolves took the Target Center floor Wednesday, and they gave one away they’d like to have back in a 116-110 loss to the Grizzlies.

Yes, the Wolves were without their leading scorer Anthony Edwards and floor general Mike Conley, but that was no excuse for them to lose to a Memphis team that had more injury attrition (down Ja Morant, Zach Edey and the suddenly surging Cam Spencer, among others) than they did.

While the Wolves are 17-10, it’s been rare that they have reached the heights their Western Conference peers reached over the last few nights, even when they are at full strength.

One exception was their win over Golden State on Dec. 12, when the Wolves executed their offense at a high level without Edwards and Conley, and they came away with their most impressive win of the season. Wednesday wasn’t their most head scratching loss (hello Phoenix and Sacramento), but it was one that re-affirmed this team’s flaws instead of highlighting what can make them great.

In Wednesday’s game, they lost thanks to what coach Chris Finch called a “horrendous” night offensively. They shot 40% from the field, 30% from three-point range with the team lamenting some of its decision making, like the choices to attack former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. inside multiple times down the stretch.

The Wolves learned their lessons in this one a little too late.

“Our offensive decision making was awful,” Finch said. “From shot selection to turnovers to execution it was just not very good.”

The Wolves committed 17 turnovers, and the only starter to shoot above 50% was Rudy Gobert (6-for-8, 16 points, 16 rebounds). Julius Randle had 21 points on 21 shot attempts while Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid both went 6-for-16.

“It’s less about making or missing shots. It’s more about just trying to play with speed, play with pace and make quick decisions,” DiVincenzo said. “We could’ve been better at that. You make a couple shots, it’s a different game.”

That’s a habit that won’t cut it come playoff time, and it certainly bit them in the Western Conference finals against the Thunder a season ago. The Wolves are just coasting along this season. They aren’t playing badly enough that they have to hit the panic button, but they’re not happy with the consistency they show on a nightly basis.

Finch admitted they were “bored” to start the season, and while that could be human nature coming off back to back Western Conference finals appearances, you couldn’t help but think while watching those other teams recently that the Wolves hadn’t played games like that since last postseason.

They’ll have a chance Friday when Oklahoma City comes to town for their second matchup of the season. In order to do that, the Wolves will have to deal with the Thunder’s physicality better. The Grizzlies flustered the Wolves with that on defense — now comes the ultimate test of overcoming that.