Will 'rough film session' invigorate Timberwolves against Luka and Dallas?

Minnesota is coming off a blowout loss and Dallas blew a 20-point lead and lost Wednesday night.

Chris Finch has expressed bewilderment for how the Timberwolves played in a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, and the Dallas Mavericks must be fuming after blowing a 20-point lead and losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night. 

Knowing that, we'll state the obvious: Something has to give Thursday night when the Timberwolves and Mavericks meet in Minneapolis. 

Dallas' magic act saw the team turn a nine-point lead with 5:45 left in the game into a six-point deficit as Cleveland outscored the Mavericks 15-0 in a span of 4 minutes, 40 seconds and went on to win 113-110 Wednesday night. 

It was the Mavericks' fifth loss in the past eight games, a slide that began when Minnesota went into Dallas and dumped the Mavericks 119-101. Luka Doncic, who scored 39 points that game, summed up the defeat with two words: Naz Reid. 

"They're good in both ways, offense, defense. They have an amazing team. Ant is one of the best in the league for sure. But I think there is one X factor: Naz Reid," Doncic said. "He's an amazing player, man, and he hurt us today. He's been hooping."

Reid hit seven 3-pointers off the bench and scored 27 points to make up for Anthony Edwards' 3-of-17 shooting performance. 

The Timberwolves that whipped Luka and company on Dec. 14 were playing elite defense. The Timberwolves that played Tuesday in OKC allowed the Thunder to hit 60.5% of their shots including 46.2% from 3 (18 of 39). 

"The reality is our shell has been not really good for a couple weeks," Finch said of Minnesota's defense after Wednesday's practice. "Our third-line defense at the rim was nonexistent. The bigs just didn't come over, or whoever was low man refused to come over and I don't know why. I'm still puzzled as why that happened."

Finch said the team went through a "rough film session" and then had a good practice, so perhaps the coach's words have stoked a fire in the belly to return to form in front of a home crowd that has watched Minnesota win 12 of 13 games at Target Center this season. 

Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable with left knee soreness, but the Timberwolves will be healthy otherwise. Dallas got Josh Green back from a sprained right elbow on Wednesday night, but it was once again without Kyrie Irving (left heel contusion) and Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation). Their statuses for Thursday night are unclear. 

The game tips off at 7:10 p.m. CT. 

Kyle Anderson provides a spark to Wolves' offense, no matter where he plays

Dec 26, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives to the basket beside Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) during the second half at Paycom Center / Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports