Can Timberwolves keep their emotions under control tonight? Answer will define playoff series

Target Center is going to feel like 2004 on Thursday night, minus Kevin Garnett's primal screams, of course. The building will be packed to the rafters again with decibel readings certain to leave those in attendance with a massive day-after headache.

Timberwolves fans have waited a loooooooong time to cut loose like this.

The question is whether the excitable Wolves will appropriately handle the emotion of playing their first home playoff game in this new era for the organization.

Will they use the euphoria to their advantage and ride that wave in a positive way, or get sucked into a vortex that disrupts their focus and causes them to unravel emotionally and complain incessantly to the officials? We've seen them react both ways.

The Wolves are an emotional bunch. They can reach a boil in five seconds. Sometimes that's to their benefit, sometimes it's a detriment. They walk a very thin line in that regard, especially guard Patrick Beverley and center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Now is the time to harness it. Time for composure and to cut out the silly histrionics that inevitably lead to foul trouble.

If the Wolves believe they made a statement by decisively winning Game 1 in Memphis, they will make another statement about themselves on the heels of their Game 2 fizzle.

The contents of that statement — good or bad — rest entirely in their hands.

The Wolves should feel upbeat returning home after a split in Memphis, but only if they deliver a mature response in Game 3. Be more like the team that pounced on the Grizzlies in Game 1 and not the distracted, lethargic team that was reduced to jacking up contested three-pointers in Game 2.

These Wolves have shown resiliency in snapping back after poor performances. The blueprint this time requires poise and responding with their own adjustments after the Grizzlies tweaked their lineup and defensive schemes.

Coach Chris Finch's task is to solve Memphis' small lineup, which effectively bogged down his team's offensive rhythm. Beyond those mechanics, the basic formula hasn't or won't change: The Big Three must be better and reliable.

Anthony Edwards had a tough shooting performance in Game 2. The guard settled for jumpers too often and didn't attack enough, but there are zero concerns about how he will respond. He's a gamer.

Towns and guard D'Angelo Russell have a lot more to prove. Towns took himself out of Game 2 at a pivotal moment with a needless leg kick-out on a three-pointer that drew an offensive foul, the absolute right call, sending him to bench with three fouls with seven minutes left until halftime.

Towns knew the officials were whistle-happy in the first half after his first two fouls and that his backup, Naz Reid, was struggling. Yet he kicked out his right leg anyway hoping to fool the refs into calling a foul on Memphis, which was never going to happen because Tuesday wasn't their first day on Earth.

Towns tried to defend his actions by saying he has big feet and that he used that shooting form to win the three-point contest at All-Star weekend, which is such an absurd rebuttal that it doesn't deserve one second of reflection. Even Finch called the move "unnecessary."

Foul trouble limited Towns to seven shot attempts in just under 28 minutes on the court. When he manages his emotions and doesn't get sidetracked by how the game is being officiated, Towns often is a force, as he was against Memphis in Game 1.

Russell has been mostly nonexistent the first two games, contributing only 21 total points on 5-for-22 shooting. Russell is capable of catching fire, which he did against the Clippers to save the Wolves' bacon in the play-in game, and now would be a good time for something similar. It's hard to envision the Wolves winning the series if he remains a nonfactor offensively.

Downtown Minneapolis and Target Center will be revved up Thursday night. The elation of playoff basketball being back in town promises a wild atmosphere. The Wolves have home-court advantage in the arena and the series. It's up to them what they do with that.