Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was asked to comment on another strong offensive showing Wednesday from Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Wolves big man scored 25 points in Wednesday’s 133-115 loss at Phoenix, continuing his offensive resurgence after a sluggish start this season. Finch quickly complimented Towns’ performance before transitioning to a lamentation of Minnesota’s lack of ball movement.

Eighteen assists on 42 buckets against the Suns, he noted, wasn’t enough. But while Wednesday’s performance was an extreme to the bad on the lack of creation for others, that is who Minnesota has been this season offensively.

Only 58.3 percent of the Wolves’ made shots have been assisted this season, which ranks 23rd in the NBA. They end up in isolation possessions 7.2 percent of the time — the ninth-highest frequency in the NBA, per NBA.com. They scored just 0.84 points per possession out of isolation, which ranks 20th in the NBA.

Another issue is the Wolves are tied for 22nd in the league in turnover percentage, giving the ball away on 15.3 percent of their possessions.

That all stacks up to Minnesota, which next plays Saturday in New Orleans to wrap up a five-game road trip, being 18th in the NBA in half-court offense, where it averaged 95.3 points per possession, per cleaningtheglass.com. What’s significant about that is most teams near the top of the current standings in each conference reside in the top 10 in that category.

The Wolves (8-3) are succeeding almost entirely on the back of their stout defense, which ranks No. 1 in the league and is a nearly impenetrable force in the half court. That’s something they can likely ride throughout the regular season.

The stops Minnesota generates are opportunities to get out in transition, where the Wolves are thriving. Anthony Edwards, for instance, is averaging 7.1 fast-break points per game. The Wolves are averaging 1.31 points per transition possession, which ranks 11th in the NBA.

The problem is the Wolves are just 22nd in fast-break frequency. That makes sense given that a fast-pace game doesn’t tend to favor the Wolves. Their defense shines in slogs, where possessions are played in the half court. It is a net positive for Minnesota to play a slow brand of basketball.

But there’s no denying their offensive struggles within such a style. Edwards is eighth in the league in isolation frequency, despite only averaging 0.84 points on such possessions. Towns is even worse, scoring just 0.76 points in isolation.

Since Towns has found his offensive rhythm overall over the past 10 days, the Wolves’ half-court offensive efficiency has crept up to 15th in the league.

Mike Conley is generally an easy antidote to half-court offensive issues given his ability to foster good ball movement and his refusal to turn the ball over. But Conley’s usage is a microscopic 13.2 percent, which would easily serve as his career low.

Perhaps the 36-year-old floor general will become more involved in the offensive process as the season plays out. Or maybe this is simply his role on a team flush with offensive weapons.

The bright spot for Minnesota is the starting five of Conley, Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert and Towns has a half-court offensive rating of 103.7 points per 100 possessions, which on its own would rank as a top-five half-court offense. But the moment the lineup transforms in any way, things get ugly.

As a whole, the offense is an issue that needs to be ironed out as the season progresses. Because while the Wolves’ defense has been a major bright spot through 11 games, Wednesday’s loss in Phoenix was a reminder that occasionally there will be dips on that end of the floor.

And, ideally, you would like your offense to be capable of picking up the slack when that occurs.

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