Timberwolves center Naz Reid shows his value in strong performance off the bench in victory over Denver

DENVER – Naz Reid had an inkling the Timberwolves’ first-round series against Phoenix wasn’t going to be his time to shine.

The matchup called for the Wolves to play more perimeter defense than they do against most teams, given the scoring pop the Suns had in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Reid was even joking with teammates after completing the sweep last weekend that he didn’t do anything in that series.

But that can’t be the case if the Wolves are going to advance against a larger, stouter opponent in Denver. Reid knows he has to live up to his Sixth Man of the Year billing if the Wolves are going to move on.

“Every series is different. I think more so that might’ve been a guard series, just how they played,” Reid said. “… I feel like my presence wasn’t felt in that Phoenix series. I feel like I have to do more.”

Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference semifinal series Saturday night started shakily for Reid — in the first half, he had zero points and two turnovers and was a team-worst minus-17 — but Reid turned that around in a major way in the second half with 16 points, 14 of which came in a furious fourth-quarter burst that enabled the Wolves to take the lead.

To Anthony Edwards, Reid’s performances represented an important step in Reid’s maturity. There might have been times Reid would have gotten down on himself, but he didn’t Saturday.

“There’s a lot of growth in Naz, man,” Edwards said. “He didn’t check out of the game. He wasn’t worried about his makes or misses, he just kept playing.”

That was what Reid said his mentality was — just try to stay as cool as he could and the game will come back around. He had a few buckets early in the fourth, but the game seemed to open up for him when he banked in a three-pointer at the 5 minute, 56 second mark.

Reid caught a grenade, or a pass toward the end of the shot clock, from Edwards, and he had no choice but to fire quickly before time ran out.

He smiled after the game, saying he can’t remember the last time he banked in a three in a game.

“I just got it up. I guess I had good touch,” Reid said.

He responded with a monster putback dunk on the next possession, in which he one-handed a rebound and threw it down. Then he had a layup and another three to put the Wolves ahead 94-88 with 4:20 to play.

“I’ve had a lot of success all year, just don’t want to let it go to waste,” Reid said.

Reid and the other bench players got a challenge from coach Chris Finch at halftime after Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kyle Anderson were a combined 2-for-8 with six turnovers.

“We weren’t playing confident, the right brand of basketball we played all year,” Reid said. “That challenge kind of helped all of us. We all responded to that challenge well.”

Reid didn’t play in last season’s playoffs vs. the Nuggets because of a wrist injury that ended his season. Two years ago, he didn’t play much in the postseason against Memphis while he was dealing with personal issues, including the loss of his mentor, Rudy Roundtree. Before this postseason, Reid was talking about how it would be his first real playoff experience, and he felt at ease after the game knowing he could look back on Saturday as a playoff victory in which he made a major impact. Like a weight had gone from the 6-9 center’s shoulders.

“I just never gave up. I just fight, fight,” Reid said. “… Being undrafted kind of got me that edge that I have now. I have my teammates. They kept me up the whole time.”

That included Wolves center Rudy Gobert, who said he had some expletive-laden language for Reid to get over his first half. He responded in a big way.

“Just embrace the moment,” Gobert said. “Enjoy the moment and I promise you, you’re gonna make some plays. And he did.”