The high point for Minnesota in Tuesday’s loss in Oklahoma City was a Mike Conley flurry in which the veteran guard drilled three consecutive triples to put the Timberwolves up 12 midway through the third.

The wheels fell off immediately after, but that is a major part of what Minnesota believes to be the recipe for the current starting lineup.

The Wolves’ starting lineup has delivered a number of slow offensive starts this season. That lineup has struggled to establish a consistent rhythm or tone, leaving the Timberwolves to often have to rely on their bench trio of Donte DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid to inject juice into the contest.

Many have wondered if Minnesota’s starting combination of Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards provides enough spacing or scoring punch to be a sustainable unit.

McDaniels is shooting just 30 percent from 3-point range this season. Randle is shooting just 33 percent from distance after a hot first five games from deep. Gobert is always a tricky offensive player who possesses gravity with his screens and rim pressure, but doesn’t exactly generate much space in which Edwards and Randle can operate.

So shooting threats are in short supply. Conley is one. After a slow start to the season, he’s shooting 40 percent from deep over his last 18 contests on an average of five 3-point attempts. He also effectively operates within actions involving Gobert and makes the best decisions with the ball, which could help

That all falls into the logic of why Minnesota coach Chris Finch said the Wolves “need him to score” in his first stint — the opening six minutes of the contest. Finch said he planned to talk to Conley about again upping his early-game aggression following Minnesota’s win over San Antonio.

The next time out, Conley attempted seven triples, hitting four of them. Par for the course.

“Every time we’ve asked him to do that, he has responded,” Finch said. “We gotta get him on the ball a little bit more at times. There are times when we’re really good with Julius handling. There’s time when we’re really good with Ant handling. When Mike is out there, we need to defer to him a bit more.”

And Conley needs to openly take the reins, which is against his M.O. He often makes a point to get others involved. But this roster construction demands something different, particularly if the starting five is to break out of what’s seemingly a season-long offensive slump and find a sustainable rhythm so the Wolves don’t consistently find themselves having to dig out of early holes.

As is often the case, Minnesota believes the answers lie in the hands of No. 10.

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