'Old as hell' Mike Conley finding his rhythm at critical time for Wolves

Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said one stat he pays attention to — aside from wins and losses — is plus-minus, a stat that shows the difference between your score and an opponent's score when a given player is on the court.

After Wednesday night's win over the Dallas Mavericks, Finch couldn't remember the exact number of wins and losses, but he knew the Wolves were pretty good when Mike Conley was a positive. He was a game-best plus-19 Wednesday.

"When I looked a couple games ago, we were something like 16-2 when (Conley) was a plus in the plus column," Finch told reporters when asked about his impact when playing at his best. "And that kind of says it all."

When Conley has an even or positive plus-minus, the Wolves are 19-4. When he has a negative plus-minus, they're 4-13. That's already an incredible stat before taking into account that 13 of those games have been decided by three points or fewer and another went into overtime. It's clear Minnesota is at its best when Conley is making an impact on the game.

It's been a trying season for Conley. His field-goal percentage (36.7%) is the worst of any season of his career. His averages in points (8.1), assists (4.3) and rebounds (2.7) are all down from a year ago. It's the first time he's averaged single digits since his rookie season in 2007-08. Conley lost his spot in the starting lineup, returning only with Donte DiVincenzo sidelined indefinitely due to a turf toe injury. But throughout all the struggles, Conley hasn't shown frustration. Even if he wasn't at his best on the court, he was making an impact in the locker room. His even-keel demeanor never wavered.

"No, nah," Julius Randle told reporters when asked if he's sensed any frustration from Conley this season. "Which is crazy because every single one of us in this locker room has been extremely frustrated but (Conley). That just shows who he is as a person, as a player, in this locker room and what he means to this team, how he keeps everybody level headed."

And fortunately for the Wolves, Conley appears to be finding his rhythm on the court, too.

The latest example was his vintage performance in Wednesday night's win. Conley scored a season-high 18 points while shooting 6 for 9 from the field and 4 for 6 from 3-point range. He was moving the ball to the tune of eight assists — his second straight game with eight assists after recording eight or more assists just twice all season before then — and even crashing the glass, pulling down five rebounds. Finch praised his defense in particular; Conley had a pair of steals.

"He was great (Wednesday)," Finch said of Conley. "Scoring, passing, guarding. I think one of the things that's really underestimated about (Conley) is how great of a defender he is. He's just always in the right spot, executes the game plan, competes on his matchup, anticipates well, all that stuff."

Conley told reporters he's trying to get comfortable again, which hasn't always been easy with a changing role — minutes up and down, from a starter to coming off the bench to being back in the starting lineup again. Him returning to form is critical to Minnesota's success, and not just because of the 19-4 record the team boasts when he's in the plus column.

As the Wolves navigate life without DiVincenzo, the onus will be on Conley to pick up those additional responsibilities. And when he's playing like he did Wednesday night, everyone is the beneficiary. An often struggling starting unit was thriving with all five players scoring in double figures, including a career-high 27 from Jaden McDaniels. Minnesota assisted on 26 of its 39 made shots. And Conley was the usual steadying force down the stretch as the Wolves skirted a late collapse.

Conley's impact off the court never changes. And when he's clicking on the court, the Wolves are clicking, too.

"I think he's really starting to turn the corner and find his rhythm," Randle said of Conley. "He's old as hell, so it takes older people a little bit longer. Now that it's game 50, hopefully he's caught his rhythm and we can get this thing going."