Mike Conley's call to arms spurs Anthony Edwards, Wolves to Game 1 win over Suns (2024)

One by one, Minnesota Timberwolves players and coaches filed into the small room right next to head coach Chris Finch’s office, sitting in the chairs they normally occupy when they break down the video from a previous game.

It was two days after their most recent of three wipeouts at the hands of the Phoenix Suns — the same Suns waiting for them in the first round of the NBA playoffs — and Finch wanted the team to gather to set expectations before the most important three days of practice they’ve had all season.

He addressed the team for a few minutes, emphasizing the sacrifice and the whatever-it-takes mentality that would be required if they were going to turn the tables on a matchup that had been all Suns in the regular season. As Finch wrapped up his remarks, the players and coaches started jostling in their seats and preparing to head out to the practice court to get individual work in before the real practicing began on Tuesday.

Just before they all got up to leave, Finch told them to sit tight for a second. Mike Conley had something to say.

From the front row of the room’s stadium seating arrangement, the Timberwolves’ quiet leader twisted in his chair to look at the rest of the team. Conley has been in Minnesota for 14 months, ever since coming over in a trade from Utah last season that unlocked their audacious, two-big roster experiment. In that time, he had never asked the Timberwolves for anything.

But at that moment in the film room with the possibilities for a deep playoff run or a first-round disaster both on the table, Conley looked his teammates and his coaches squarely in the eyes and asked them for everything.

“I told the guys that, selfishly, do it for me, man,” Conley said. “Help me out. Meet me at my level right now because I don’t have long. Y’all got forever, it feels like.”

Hearing the most selfless member of the group use the word “me” so often hit home like a thunderbolt to these Timberwolves, who responded with one of their most ferocious performances of the season in a 120-95 victory over the Suns in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Saturday night.

They outrebounded Phoenix 52-28, outscored them 20-6 in second-chance points and 41-18 off the bench and suffocated them with their No. 1-ranked defense.

“His pitch was pretty much: This might be one of the best teams he’s been a part of,” said Anthony Edwards, who had 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists in his latest playoff eruption. “He thinks we’ve got a chance, and we can’t take that for granted.”

Conley read the locker room after a demoralizing loss last weekend dropped the Wolves to 0-3 against the Suns in the regular season. He knew that there was no more time to be polite and he understood that this might be the most talented team he has played for in his 17 seasons in the league. He wasn’t about to let it go to waste by biting his tongue.

Conley told them that when he made the Western Conference finals as a 24-year-old with the Memphis Grizzlies, he figured that was the first of many deep playoff runs, that an NBA Finals appearance and a championship were the next natural steps. He also told them he hasn’t been that far again in the 12 seasons since then, and that there is no telling what kind of adversity could hit this team in the coming years to derail what feels like the start of a long run of contention.

The Timberwolves went 56-23 against the rest of the NBA this season, a hungry, determined team that was in first place in the West for much of the regular season. They went winless against the Suns, looking outclassed and unable to keep up with their trio of scorers, which made them the underdogs in Las Vegas for this series despite holding homecourt advantage and the better seed in the No. 3 versus No. 6 matchup.

It is not Conley’s style to make it about himself. There have been plenty of coaches throughout his time in the league who probably wish he would have been more vocal, and that he would have capitalized on the respect he has earned. This team is too good for him to keep his thoughts to himself. He may have just signed the extension, but time is too short for him to just hope that his teammates get it. There is too much for him to lose if he doesn’t grab their attention.

“It kind of just hit me. There’s so much I don’t want to regret in this situation,” he said. “There have been plenty of times where I might not say something. I’ll be quiet about it and I do it by my work on the court, in practice and things like that.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’m not going to leave anything to chance right now.’ I’m not going to miss out on any opportunity to say what I feel.”

He has not asked Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns for more shots. He has dutifully put the responsibility for moving the ball and making sure the offense doesn’t get stagnant on his shoulders, passing up his opportunities so he can get others going.

He has not asked Finch for fewer minutes. He is 36 years old and it would be understandable if he wanted to sit most of the second nights of back-to-backs and asked for other rest days to preserve his legs. But he almost always answered the bell, playing 76 games and pushing through the aches and pains that tend to hurt just a little bit more at his age.

He has not asked Timberwolves ownership for more money. He is making $24 million this season. Given his importance to the team and the lack of options at his position for the future, Conley could have exerted leverage and forced the Wolves’ bursting-at-the-seams salary cap situation next season to skyrocket even further with a big ask for an extension. Instead, he took a two-year deal that will pay him $11 million next season, believing this was the best place for his family and his chances to compete for a title.

Every decision he has made and every action he has taken has been with the collective in mind. He has been biding his time to cash in all of that equity. When a player who has been so selfless finally turns the tables, when he stands before the team and tells them how much this moment means to him on a personal level, the punch that it delivers …

“It was almost the scene out of a movie, very sentimental, heartfelt because when you have the connection that we have as a team off the court and your brother comes to you in a way of, hey man, this is important, I need you guys,” said Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who scored 18 points and was a plus-28 in 28 minutes on Saturday. “You almost feel as if it’s your duty and everybody’s duty to play for each other and play the right way because he’s humbling himself in a very vulnerable moment.”

And Conley did need them on Saturday. He missed his first six shots in the game, finishing with four points on 2-of-12 shooting, seven assists and five fouls. It was one of his worst games of the season, but his teammates had his back, the same way he has had theirs.

Towns had 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and his 13 in the first half helped keep the Wolves offense moving while Edwards dealt with foul trouble and Conley kept missing.

Game One KAT. 😼 pic.twitter.com/yKyDYYgakh

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 21, 2024

Rudy Gobert held down the paint, scoring 14 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and hitting 6 of 7 foul shots. But he also extended his defense out to the perimeter, bothering Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant on switches and contesting their jumpers.

Æ, CLEARED FOR TAKE OFF. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/gJKma8qFv0

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 20, 2024

Jaden McDaniels had nine points, six boards and played terrific defense, and Edwards brought the flamethrower. He may only be 22 years old but he is quickly building a résumé of playoff brilliance. He averaged 31.6 points against Denver in last season’s playoffs and scored more than 25 per game in his sophom*ore season against Memphis. This might be his biggest test yet just because the Suns have shown that they are going to double-team him mercilessly and make it as hard as possible on him.

After a quiet first half, Edwards exploded for 18 points in the third, a breathtaking barrage of shotmaking that left the Suns powerless to stop.

ALL OF THIS.

🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3g7j4kXL7q

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 20, 2024

This is why Conley spoke up on Tuesday. This is the kind of performance he knew was inside the Timberwolves. When he was in that film room, he turned and looked at Kyle Anderson and Alexander-Walker. Conley told them that there might come a time in these playoffs when Finch chooses to start one of them in his place.

“I don’t care. You’ve got to be on that same feeling,” he said, the flame still in his eyes on Saturday as he recounted the story on his way to his car. “It’s about winning the game. who cares how you go about your minutes, who is in and out. Everybody be ready. I just need y’all to feel that. I do not care. I want to win.”

He told the room that worrying about minutes, shots or roles was over. Conley said this team has everything it needs to go as far as it wants. The only obstacles they will face are not wearing purple and orange. They’re wearing blue and green.

“It was a really cool way to tell the guys to embrace the moment,” Gobert said. “I feel the same way as Mike. I understand that we really, truly have an opportunity this year and we all believe it. That’s where it starts. Then it’s about not leaving anything on the table, doing everything we can every single day to give ourselves the best chance we can. If you do that, when have no regrets.”

Make no mistake, the concerns about the Suns are real, and they are not going away after one win. The Timberwolves won Game 1 in Memphis two years ago and still lost that series.

On Saturday, Durant scored 31, but Booker totaled 18 on 5-of-16 shooting and Beal was quiet with 15 points on 6 for 10. They will play better in Game 2 on Tuesday night. This series isn’t over. It is just getting started.

Then again, Conley can probably say the same thing.

Of all the teams in these playoffs, it felt like the Timberwolves needed a great Game 1. They had been embarrassed three times by the Suns. Their fans entered Target Center nervous to see what this team was capable of doing. None of what happened on Saturday guarantees anything for the rest of this series. But it does prove that the Wolves can beat this team, and that has not been seen this season.

The nerves were churning in Conley’s stomach when he stepped into that meeting on Tuesday, preparing to do something he rarely does. When he saw the response from his teammates, the transfixed stares and even a joke that he should’ve saved that speech for right before Game 1, Conley knew he had done the right thing. He couldn’t wait to tell his wife, Mary, about it, so he called her on the way home.

“I felt good going home,” he said. “I felt like I got a lot off my chest that I normally wouldn’t say to anybody.”

What Conley did at that moment was issue a call to arms for a Timberwolves team that he has given so much to over the last season and a half. He has an entire social media campaign built around his reputation for being a nice guy. Hearing the desperation in their leader’s voice put goose bumps on the backs of his teammates’ necks and adrenaline in their veins. This humble point guard who has given them everything from the moment they arrived was asking for their help.

Four days later, his teammates delivered an emphatic answer.

Required reading

• For Suns to advance, Devin Booker needs to star

(Photo of Kevin Durant and Mike Conley: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)