OKC players-only dinner after Chris Finch’s ‘lifeless’ call

The The Minnesota Timberwolves left the Paycom Center with a 113-105 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder that eliminated them from the NBA Cup and extended their slide to three straight losses. They now sit at 10–8, seventh in the West, a position that reflects both real talent and real failure. And after Chris Finch called his Timberwolves players “lifeless” during the collapse against the Sacramento Kingsthe message hung over the team like arena smoke.

The Timberwolves gather for a players-only dinner

The answer did not come at the film session. It didn’t come in a heated Timberwolves locker room. Instead, he came to the Mahogany Prime Steakhouse on Tuesday night, where the Timberwolves gathered for a players-only dinner that was meant to renew the relationship. The goal was not accountability. It was a reconnection. And while no one treated it like a crisis summit, it functioned as a reset: a moment to breathe and a chance to feel like yourself again after a disappointing exit from the NBA Cup.

Mike Conley explained the tone perfect. “It’s the perfect time to bring it all back together, the perspective, who we want to be, what we want to accomplish on the field, how we can be better as a team, as players,” the Timberwolves veteran said. “But it’s also okay to eat and enjoy each other and watch other basketball games and talk about basketball and not be all about work. Sometimes you need that.”

So this was not clearing the air. Instead, it was an attempt to get the Timberwolves back into rhythm. Chris Finch saw the disconnect early. After the loss to the Kings, he told them they looked “lifeless,” a word that cut deeper because it matched how they felt. And Julius Randle felt it. “Just bring that connectivity back,” he said. “I think we missed that on this trip. It’s not like us.”

Even after the loss to the Thunder, the Timberwolves did not panic. They regrouped. They chose togetherness over frustration. Now the question shifts to what comes next, and whether this quiet dinner becomes the spark that calms the Timberwolves before the standings tighten up again.