Timberwolves teammates Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert picking up where they left off in Utah

Mike Conley is aware that one of the issues the Timberwolves had with center Rudy Gobert this season was finding ways to get Gobert the ball in the lane.

"A lot has been made about passes to him and what's going on," said Conley, a veteran guard who was acquired at the trade deadline from Utah to join his former teammate. "But he can make a lot of plays if you just give it to him in the right spot."

This is a process that has taken awhile for the Wolves to figure out, and it never seemed as though Gobert and D'Angelo Russell — who went to the Lakers in the Conley three-way deal — could find a connection. Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns had the beginnings of one before Towns suffered a right calf injury.

Then Kyle Anderson said he learned some things by watching tape of Joe Ingles from Gobert's days in Utah. Since then, Anderson has been most adept at delivering the ball to Gobert in places where he can score.

That was until Conley's arrival. From that perspective, Monday's win over Dallas was like a breath of fresh air. Multiple times Conley hit Gobert in stride with a smooth pass and catch, and Gobert was able to get easy buckets off the action. Conley has three years of experience with Gobert and it took him time to adjust as well. During his time in Memphis, Conley said he was used to playing downhill off pick and rolls. That had to change when he came to Utah.

"You have to realize you have to slow down a little bit," Conley said ahead of Thursday night's game against Washington. "He'll set good screens, he'll get you open. You just take your time, let the defender get back to you, make two [players] guard you, and then you know he wants it at the rim. He'll catch it anywhere and finish and nobody can get up there with him. If you can get that pass to him, ideally, that's where his bread is buttered."

Russell and Gobert, in particular, were inconsistent when it came to the pocket passes Russell likes to deliver off screen and rolls. Conley went through the same growing pains.

"Early pocket passes, they have to be on time, on target," Conley said. "He's tall, so if you're used to throwing him a bounce pass, it might hit him in the knee because he's a lot different than normal guys. You just have to be aware of that and be precise on where you place the ball."

This is something coach Chris Finch said Conley has been telling the rest of the team.

"You throw a pocket pass on the ground with a trajectory where it's going to bounce up, not bounce forward," Finch said. "Little things like that are invaluable."

Finch installed an action that he joked the Wolves "stole" from Conley's and Gobert's time in Utah — a side pick-and-roll action that worked well Monday.

"They were very good at it, very comfortable," Finch said. "A lot of the other concepts that we have in our offense I think have been really good to us, and we feel Mike can fit seamlessly into that. … Maybe as we go we'll find a few more things. But we knew that was something that was their best offense, low corner pick and roll, last year. So it would be silly not to just take it."