Timberwolves coach Chris Finch having a happier new year after another rocky start

On New Year's Eve, the Timberwolves lost by 12 points at home to the Detroit Pistons, the worst team in the Eastern Conference, to fall a season-worst five games under .500.

Following a 128-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night at Target Center, the Wolves are 29-27, having won four of six on their just-concluded homestand. They are 13-6 in the new year.

Last season, the Wolves found themselves at 16-20 early in January, then won 30 of their last 46 games before winning a play-in game.

There have been many dramatic developments in Chris Finch's Timberwolves coaching tenure.

The trade for Rudy Gobert and its accompanying roster upheaval. The rise of Anthony Edwards. An injury to Karl-Anthony Towns that has limited him to 21 games and now appears likely to keep him out until late February or March. A change in general managers.

What has remained a constant in the last two seasons has been Finch's ability to improve a team in the flow of a season.

That's a rare and vital skill, and could mean everything to this year's team. Or next year's.

Lynx and Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve, in a recent conversation, said: "Finch is good," with admiration in her voice.

They are co-workers, so you could downplay the compliment. But you would have a hard time finding a record of Reeve praising certain other Wolves coaches over the past 12 years.

Under Finch, the Wolves' offense, defense and cohesiveness has improved gradually each of the last two seasons, with the improvement manifesting itself in victories beginning in January.

The Wolves may be crawling over broken glass, but they are crawling slowly forward.

"We looked at this as an important homestand," Finch said. "We would have loved to be 5-1, ideally, but you know, winning more than you're losing is big for us right now."

The Nuggets team the Wolves defeated on Sunday was missing four starters, including reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, because of injuries — or "injuries."

Their absence made this victory unimpressive, but this team has lost far too many such games by taking them lightly.

Sunday night, Gobert made seven of his eight shots to finish with 16 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes.

D'Angelo Russell, who looked like the Wolves' biggest problem early in the season, continued his resurgence and hot shooting.

With backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin out, Finch had everyone from Anthony Edwards to Kyle Anderson playing the point, and he found that Edwards setting up Russell might be even more effective than the reverse.

Injuries, lineup changes and fluctuations are problems for a coach. Finch seems to turn them into opportunities.

Asked why his last two teams have surged in January, Finch said: "Figuring out some things. The timing of it took us a while. Guys getting into a better rhythm, feeling way more comfortable about where they were going to get their shots, not pressing as much. Defensively, being able to mix things up with some level of success. Like, all that stuff just takes time.

"Generally, I always think it's about 20 to 25 games for the offense to click. It was probably around about that time when we really started generating a lot of good shots and then it was another 10-12 games after that before we started hitting those shots."

McLaughlin echoed that. "You definitely have to grow into the system. A great example is Kyle — he kind of struggled a little bit because he didn't know what wanted in this system. That's what it takes — figuring out what coach Finch wants."

Next is a road trip to Denver, Utah, Memphis and Dallas, and by the end of the week the Wolves have to decide whether to trade center Naz Reid.

If the Wolves are offered a high draft pick, they should take it. Once Towns returns, Reid would be the third-best big man for a team that sacrificed draft capital for Gobert.

Losing Reid would hurt, but Finch would probably figure something out.