The Washington Wizards game on Saturday wasn’t for the faint of heart. Washington beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-103, snapping their 16-game losing streak. While Minnesota’s five-game winning streak ended on Sunday, the Wizards game offered a glimpse into the Wolves’ future.
Anthony Edwards missed the game with an illness, Julius Randle continues to battle a groin injury, and Donte DiVincenzo has turf toe. Naz Reid left the game in the third quarter with a sprained finger. Minnesota’s youth had to carry the team with their top four scorers out.
Before the game, Chris Finch was nearly clairvoyant on how the game would play out.
“We’re going to lean on people,” Finch said. “We’re going to lean heavily on Mike Conley, for sure. With the blended lineups, we’ll just kind of see. We have zero problem calling Luka [Garza]‘s number, Naz’s number, probably put the ball in Jaden [McDaniels]’ hands more.”
McDaniels led the Wolves with 23 points in 40 minutes, and Reid had eight points before leaving the game with an injured finger. Conley had 16 points in 34 minutes and played the entire fourth quarter.
After the game, a reporter asked Finch why he didn’t use Dillingham in the fourth quarter, allowing Conley, 37, to rest. The reporter also wondered why Finch didn’t use Garza more with Reid out.
“I didn’t think they were very good in the second half,” Finch said bluntly. “I gave them a bit of a run, and then I was trying to save all our guys to the fourth if I possibly could, just more for matchups than anything else.”
Garza scored 16 points in Utah the game before, but he was 0 for 6 against the Wizards. Dillingham had six assists in the first half. However, he committed three fouls in seven minutes in the third quarter, and Finch rode Conley to close the game.
“Maybe could have gone back to [Garza and Dillingham] in the middle of the fourth,” Finch offered. “Maybe [it] could have given us a spark. I thought Rob was really good in the first half, but in the second shift, I didn’t think he got a lot accomplished.“
Nobody will have qualms about sitting Garza, even with Reid out. However, Dillingham is like a human lightning bolt. You hear the thunder from the crowd, and Dillingham injects the court with a jolt of energy immediately after.
Dillingham strikes at the defense with quickness and agility, spraying the ball around the court. However, he occasionally moves too quickly, rushing shots or forcing passes. He’s like Bambi on ice, only if Bambi had better hand-eye coordination and more sudden east-west movement.
Lightning strikes contain vital energy but can also be destructive. Benjamin Franklin harnessed the sky’s power using a kite and key. Finch is trying to channel Dillingham’s energy using a carrot and stick. He’s given Dillingham more playing time when he’s productive and scaled it back when he’s shorting out Minnesota’s system.
“He’s probably more comfortable as a player who’s kind of an aggressive-to-score guy who can really pass, you know?” said Finch. “That kind of fits…what we needed of late. We don’t want him to go out there and try to be some John Stockton-like guy who’s not really. We want him to be himself.
“He’s done a better job of calibrating what that is in the last couple of weeks.”
The Timberwolves have an exciting young core they’re only recently starting to put on the floor. Garza could complement Reid as a backup with a similar skill set. Finch immediately trusted Jaylen Clark after his return from injury, and Terrence Shannon Jr. should get playing time once he’s in condition.
However, Dillingham possesses the most upside. If the Wolves fully tap into his power, he can form a dynamic backcourt with Anthony Edwards. Dillingham has already shown he can move the ball and break defenses with his speed. Still, he must learn to direct his current because the Timberwolves didn’t move Karl-Anthony Towns only to deal with another kind of stray voltage.