The Timberwolves entered Friday's game against the Grizzlies as losers in five of their past six games. A run like that could lead to some changes in the starting lineup in other times, but coach Chris Finch shot down that notion at Thursday's practice before the team left for Memphis.
"We consider changing lineups and rotations all the time," Finch said. "But I don't know if we feel 100% confident that this is the problem, we're going to shuffle the deck with the starting lineup. I'm not there yet."
The Wolves' starting lineup has improved its efficiency from an awful start to the season, but it still ranks 29th out of 40 five-man lineups across the NBA that have played at least 50 minutes together (minus-6.2).
Finch emphasized a greater need for the Wolves to start games with "more urgency," which has been a frequent talking point as they've struggled the last two weeks.
But Finch and the organization seem committed to making this starting group work and play through the issues it is having.
Along those lines, Finch said he could see signs of them developing more chemistry on the offensive end of the floor. He said he saw "growth" when it came to pick-and-roll actions with Rudy Gobert.
To Finch, the Wolves have been letting games snowball out of control in a couple-minute bursts, something that has not always been the starters' fault specifically, but the team as a whole.
"These games right now are coming down to about a six- or eight-minute window where we're making a lot of mistakes, whether it be defensively or turnovers offensively and it's a bad combination," Finch said. "But if we can mitigate that period, which we haven't been able to do, I would feel real comfortable and confident about our ability to sort this out."
