Timberwolves coach Chris Finch responded with a joke when asked about Minnesota’s excellent ball movement in its exhibition opener against Denver earlier this month.

“This is passing and cutting season,” Finch quipped.

The evidence of that mounts with each season. A year ago, Minnesota’s offense was majestic in the preseason slate, with a high volume of ball and body movement and players passing up good shots to generate great ones for others.

It’s the purest form of offensive basketball — one that’s easier to play when stats don’t count.

Finch warned a year ago that it all could come to a crashing halt when the ball tipped for real. He was proven prophetic as Minnesota inched out of the gates with a bogged-down offense in its season opener in Los Angeles.

The story heading into the 2

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