The Wolves Might Just Need A Point Guard

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets put on a show on Christmas Day in an overtime thriller, with the Nuggets holding on for a 142-138 victory.

For fans, it was a display of what the NBA is at its best: an improbable Timberwolves comeback, who were down 15 with 5:54 left in overtime, and the theatrics of Anthony Edwards hitting a game-tying three at the end of regulation. Denver’s star power was also on full display. Nikola Jokic put up a 56-point triple-double with 16 rebounds and 15 assists(he is the first player to have a 55-point triple-double, and set the record with 18 points in overtime)

However, I couldn’t help but feel my opinion finally shift on a Wolves topic that had been debated all season. I’m now firmly in the, they might need a point guard, camp.

Let me explain: The Wolves had all the momentum in overtime. Edwards immediately drilled a two-point mid-range pull-up to get things going, and Minnesota led by 2.

On the next possession, Edwards draws a foul and hits both free throws. The Timberwolves lead by 4. Donte Divinvenzo got an opportunity on the next offensive chance, and the Wolves went up by 6 after his free throws. Another stop on defense and Edwards drains a triple to go up 9 (124-115) with 2:59 to go.

Win probability doesn’t mean much with the modern NBA, and the three-point variance makes anything possible. The Wolves had scored the last 12 in the game, and Edwards was responsible for 10 of them. It felt like the game was in hand.

However, even in these first four possessions, many issues were evident. The Wolves had four offensive possessions in which they held the ball for only 29 seconds. None of the possessions resulted in an assist, and to say there was little ball movement would be a colossal understatement.

Circling back to the game. Jokic hit a three off a pin-down to bring the lead to 6. Ant shot a pull-up three-pointer and missed. Tim Hardaway Jr. made it a 3-point game after hitting a three of his own. Julius Randle called his own number and got fouled. He made his free throws, but it was another possession with little movement.

Jokic hits another three off a pin down. Edwards misses one, and again, there’s no ball movement. Jokic gets a pass for a floater to tie at 126 with 1:26 to go.

At this point, Jamal Murray has assisted on every Nuggets make in overtime. Meanwhile, the Wolves would have no assists and, frankly, no ball movement. After Jokic tied the game, Randle shot a pull-up three and missed. Jokic got fouled on the other end, made both free throws, and the rest is history.

The Nuggets finished overtime with four assists, all by Murray, on their 5 makes. Jokic finished with 18 points, 10 from the free throw line, and 8 from Murray’s assists. Meanwhile, the Wolves finished the extra frame with 7 made field goals and just 1 assist, which occurred with 11 seconds left as DiVincenzo made a layup. Combined, they had 23 field goal attempts and 50 points in 5 minutes.

That was my breaking point.

Let me explain. With a nine-point lead in overtime, the game theory becomes a math equation. With 3 minutes left, if the leading team takes 20 seconds to shoot and the trailing team takes 12 seconds to shoot, then realistically each team should have only around 5 possessions, or 10 total, left in the game, not including free-throw shenanigans.

True point guards know this in their souls. It’s drilled into them: how to close, and how to navigate these situations. To borrow a term from football, it’s “time and distance.” How much time is left, and how far do we have to go to win a game?

From the 9-point lead with 2:59 left on the clock to the time that the Nuggets went up 2 in the game, there were 9 possessions, in 2 minutes, including 4 by the Wolves.

In those 4 possessions, the Wolves shot it with 12 or more seconds left in the shot clock 3 times. If those three shots were open great looks, that’s one thing, but they were a pair of Edwards pull-up threes, and a Randle pull-up three.

In my opinion, this is where the game was lost.

Had the Wolves taken time off the clock, run their offense, and generated easier looks than pull-up threes, theoretically, they may have won the game.

That’s where the point guard conundrum becomes a factor. In past years, in similar situations, the Wolves have always had Mike Conley slow things down and run a successful action. Wolves fans are probably sick of hearing about the Mike and Rudy pick-and-roll. However, in overtime against the Nuggets, there’s a case to be made that having one 20-second Mike and Rudy pick-and-roll would have sealed the game.

Meanwhile, Denver allowed Murray to dictate the offense. An off-ball pin-down by Jokic caused him to get open for three twice. Murray attacked the Jaden McDaniels and Edwards pick-and-roll coverage on Jokic, which led to a layup. Even the Hardaway three was off a Murray assist, which Murray opened up by manipulating the coverage.

Unfortunately, fans saw both sides of the coin in that overtime. On one side, the Wolves seemed happy to play isolation basketball and take rushed shots. On the other, Murray controlled the pace, set up the offense, and generated great looks.

This is where people have gotten frustrated with the Wolves in 2025-26. It starts to be painfully obvious that the Wolves need a game-managing point guard. Not necessarily with Murray’s star power, but someone who can understand the time and distance of an NBA game as it nears its conclusion.

Realistically, the Wolves need Conley in their closing lineups. However, the 2025-26 version of Conley seems to struggle when his minutes exceed 15-18. That puts the team in a really tough spot. In a way, they have the answer on the roster. However, banking on a 37-year-old in the midst of what might be his final season is risky, and you can’t always save his minutes for late games or overtime.

That’s where the NBA is at its most fun. Every team has its flaws. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s offense becomes stagnant, the Nuggets lack shooting, and the Houston Rockets struggle with playmaking. The San Antonio Spurs are young, the Los Angeles Lakers need depth, and the LA Clippers are old.

Minnesota needs a point guard.

Every team appears mortal in the NBA, which leads to thrilling Christmas Day games that fans were treated to this year. Since every team is flawed, the Wolves have a chance again to make noise in the playoffs, even if some games are frustrating. Still, it would be nice if they could add an experienced point guard.