At age 38, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley might feel a little sore as he prepares for the second game of a back-to-back set.
Then again, Conley’s adrenaline might still be flowing after he made one of his biggest shots of the season late in the fourth quarter Saturday night.
Conley, who helped to lift the Timberwolves to a comeback win over the Boston Celtics, will look to stay hot as Minnesota hosts the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday evening in Minneapolis.
“That’s the value of him,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He can make big shots, make smart plays, understand what it takes to close out a game.”
The prize for the victory is a quick turnaround against another tough opponent.
San Antonio travels north after winning two games in a row and five of its past six contests. The Spurs are coming off a 139-136 victory on the road against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, which followed a 13-point road win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Spurs guard Devin Vassell will draw attention from the Timberwolves defense after he torched the Nuggets for 35 points on 12-for-17 shooting. De’Aaron Fox (15 points, 12 assists) and Julian Champagnie (25 points, 10 rebounds) are coming off double-doubles.
San Antonio is succeeding despite the injury absences of Victor Wembanyama (left calf strain), Stephon Castle (left hip flexor strain) and Jordan McLaughlin (left hamstring strain). All three players have been ruled out for Sunday’s contest.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said the players on the court have established a rhythm over the past six games.
“This group has had a little bit of time together, finally,” Johnson said. “We had a lot of guys in and out. Victor’s obviously the biggest puzzle piece, but we’ve had guys in and out all year. So as you have the constant revolving door, the continuity, the chemistry, the execution is hard to find. And it feels like this group has kind of settled in for a short amount of time.
“We’ll be very happy when Victor, Steph and Jordan are back. It’s been great to get Dylan (Harper) back in the fold, I thought he had some great minutes (Friday). It’s just something that we want to keep building upon and grow into our identity and play into it.”
The Timberwolves also are looking to re-establish their identity, particularly on defense.
Conley said the team has plenty of talent on offense, and sometimes it leads to a focus on scoring. But he said the Timberwolves need to build a reputation as a headache for any opponent that takes the court against them.
“If you want to be one of the better teams, you’ve got to do both,” Conley said. “And that’s what we’re trying to do.”
This is the first of three regular-season meetings between the Spurs and Timberwolves. They will meet again in Minneapolis on Jan. 11, and they will wrap up the regular-season series on Jan. 17 in San Antonio.
