Following the team’s 123-112 loss to the rolling Denver Nuggets (10-2) on Nov. 15, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch spoke in his postgame press conference about why his team lost. 

Finch cited the fourth quarter as the period of the game where things slipped away, and talked about his team’s off night on the offensive end.

“I just thought offensively, we didn’t play a very clean game,” Finch said. “I thought that was really the big difference in the game.”

The Timberwolves did not shoot the ball at a stellar clip by any means, finishing under 50% from the field and under 30% from 3-point range across 48 minutes. Anthony Edwards, who went 8-for-23 from field goal range and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, alluded to it in his own postgame interview and said it was on him to make his shots.

One player who did shoot well, and better than he did against the Sacramento Kings in the Timberwolves’ previous game, was Naz Reid, who scored 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. 

“Shot looked good,” Finch said. “We did a good job of finding [Reid], and he was shot-ready. And it was good to see. It was a bright spot from the game.”

Reid is averaging 11.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. His 19 point performance against the Nuggets marked his second-highest scoring total this season, as the former Sixth Man of the Year aims to continue finding his groove this season. 

The Timberwolves have yet to fully establish themselves as one of the primary contenders in a stacked Western Conference. Through 13 games, they are just 8-5, and even after a four-game win streak prior to the loss against the Nuggets, they only hold the seventh spot in the conference’s standings. 

Minnesota does have some games coming up against opponents below .500, starting with the Dallas Mavericks (3-10), who the Timberwolves match up against on Nov. 17. 

The Timberwolves then take on the Washington Wizards (3-10) on Nov. 19, which will mark the end of Minnesota’s four-game home stand. 

After a game against a juggernaut in Denver, who won despite missing two of its starters in Cameron Johnson and Christian Braun, this next stretch will likely be welcomed by a Minnesota team still finding its identity as week four of the 2025-2026 NBA season comes to a close.