Timberwolves put egos aside as crunch-time lineups change

The closing lineup could be different on any given night for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ego appears to have been thrown out the window, replaced with a focus on the greater good for the team and taking advantage of hot hands and matchups.

The results of late have been encouraging as Minnesota has rattled off three straight wins following a three-game slide against high-end competition in the Celtics, Thunder and surging Pistons. And there's been a clear shift in the way head coach Chris Finch employs the closing lineups in close games.

Since closing the win over Dallas on Christmas Day with Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert, the clutch-time lineups against Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Boston, Detroit, the Clippers and New Orleans have featured a lot less Conley and a lot more Donte DiVincenzo. It's also notable that Randle hasn't been on the floor in crunch time in three of the past eight close games since Christmas.

Closing lineups in the last eight close finishes:

Dallas: Conley, Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Gobert

Houston: DiVincenzo, Alexander-Walker, Edwards, Reid, Randle

San Antonio: DiVincenzo, Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Gobert

Oklahoma City: DiVincenzo, Edwards, McDaniels, Reid, Gobert

Boston: DiVincenzo, Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Reid

Detroit: Conley, DiVincenzo, Edwards, McDaniels, Gobert

Los Angeles: DiVincenzo, Edwards, McDaniels, Reid, Gobert

New Orleans: Conley, Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Gobert

"You just gotta know, if your teammate's in and he's playing well, you gotta cheer your teammate on," McDaniels said when asked about closing lineups after Minnesota thumped Orlando on Thursday night. "We all want to see each other succeed. For me, I don't really care if I finish or not. Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) in, or Donte or Mike in, let them play. That's what I would tell them if I was the coach."

Naz Reid had a similarly unselfish response.

"I think everybody kind of understands that whoever's going has to be in the game. That's kind of how I view it anyway. Unselfishly, I think for the next guy to step up, that's huge for a team," Reid said. "Throughout my career, I haven't seen that a lot. Whether it's me or someone else, stepping up is huge and each player gets a chance to do that and they ge ta chance to play in those opportunities in the last quarter."

How does Randle feel about being excluded from crunch time action?

"I think it's really just, it's tough, but putting your personal feelings to the side and just trying to figure out ways to win games. Make it that simple. Try to take emotions out of it," he said.

Since Christmas, there are three fourth quarter lineup combinations Minnesota has used the most, all of them for a total of 11 minutes of action and one has been much better than the other.

DiVincenco, Alexander-Walker, Edwards, Reid, Randle (11 minutes, +40.9 net rating)

Conley, Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Gobert (11 minutes, -67.6 net rating)

DiVincenzo, Edwards, McDaniels, Reid, Gobert (11 minutes, -24.0 net rating)

Another lineup combination that has been used for eight total minutes of fourth quarter action since Dec. 25 features Conley, DiVincenzo, Edwards, McDaniels and Gobert, and they have a +53.3 net rating.

It's a fluid situation, but Finch and the Wolves appear to be figuring out the best lineups in crunch time — and egos appear to have been put to the side for the greater good of the team.