MINNEAPOLIS -- After his burgeoning team upended the defending champs last year only to be dismissed from the playoffs three wins short of the NBA Finals, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch issued a directive to his group to begin this season.
"The challenge we laid down to our guys from day one was quite simple," Finch said after the Wolves' 121-110 closeout win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 on Wednesday. "It was one question: 'Were you a Western Conference finals team, or were you a team that just happened to make the Western Conference finals?' And there's only one way to prove that: Go out and do it again. And that was our mission all year."
They accomplished the goal with a dominant victory over the Warriors, shooting 62.8% from the field as a team -- the third-best shooting percentage by any team in a series-clinching win in the shot clock era, according to ESPN Research. Their 72 points in the paint were also tied for third most by any team in a playoff game over the past 25 postseasons.
And now they'll attempt to surge to greater heights, having reached the same spot where last season plateaued by beating the defending champion Denver Nuggets in seven games, only to follow that up with a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Mavericks with the first Finals berth in franchise history on the line.
"After a win like we had last year against Denver in Game 7, I felt like you get the whole world praising you," Wolves center Rudy Gobert said after another strong closeout performance (17 points on 8-for-9 shooting, 8 rebounds), echoing his effort to shut the door on the Los Angeles Lakers in Round 1. "All the sudden, you went from being the underdog to being the favorite. The way we weren't mature enough to handle that yet. We were aware of it. This year, we're mature enough."
As Gobert gave his answer, the Wolves' 23-year-old superstar, Anthony Edwards, sat to his right at the postgame podium after another stellar showing that belied his age. Edwards finished with 22 points, a postseason-career high 12 assists, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
"I think Ant's passing got us started, got us good looks early," Finch said as Edwards contributed to the Wolves' postseason franchise record of 36 assists as a team. "As he said before the game and yesterday at the start of practice -- you're going to need everybody, and be ready."
There were contributions across the board, from Gobert and Edwards; to Julius Randle continuing his brilliant playoff run with 29 points on 13-for-18 shooting, eight rebounds and five assists; to the 18-year-veteran Mike Conley scoring 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting with eight assists and six rebounds to beat the Warriors in the second round a decade after he lost to Golden State in the conference semifinals when he played for the Memphis Grizzlies; to Jaden McDaniels' 14 points and four steals in 41 minutes; to Donte DiVincenzo having his best playoff game with the Wolves, logging 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, six assists and four steals off the bench.
While it felt like a momentous night in the building, with Edwards joining Kevin Garnett as the only other Timberwolves player with at least 1,000 career playoff points and Minnesota clinching a series at home for the first time since Garnett played for them 21 years ago, the team kept its focus forward.
"There is no satisfaction," Edwards said. "We just got here. We haven't [done] anything yet."
Not satisfied, but perhaps better prepared than a year ago as they earned at least three days off before the start of the conference finals. The earliest the series will start is Sunday in Oklahoma City, if the Thunder, who are up 3-2, beat the Nuggets in Game 6 on Thursday.
"Probably just finishing this round earlier than we did last year," McDaniels said of how they are better positioned this year. "Seven games kind of had us dragged out a little bit."
Minnesota, the sixth seed, will be the road underdog for Games 1 and 2, no matter if No. 4 Denver or the NBA's No. 1 overall seed in Oklahoma City advances.
Which DiVincenzo said fits the Wolves just fine.
"Our mentality going in was nobody expected us to beat the Lakers, no one expected us to beat the Warriors," DiVincenzo said. "So our expectation going in was just stick together and we know that no one is going to pick us, and we're fine with that."
While Finch challenged his team in training camp to prove they were worthy of making the NBA's final four, Edwards had already jumped the gun last spring by telling the 37-year-old Conley in no uncertain terms that they would have another shot at a title together in Minnesota.
"What you learn about him, he believes everything he says, no matter what it is," Conley said. "And at that moment last year, I believed him, I believed that we'd have another opportunity together and this wasn't the end of the road."