Entering Friday’s game against Denver, Minnesota was firing up an average of 41.6 3-point attempts per game, good for sixth most in the NBA. That’s a massive increase from the 32.7 attempts per game the Timberwolves took a year ago.

It was part of the plan entering this season.

Minnesota’s offense was slightly below average a year ago, and an uptick in outside shots was considered one way to increase its output on that end of the floor. So far, so good. Minnesota has hit on 38.7% of those tries, and that’s with Mike Conley and Donte DiVincenzo shooting it lower than expected to date.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said he’s “very satisfied” with the quality of looks the Wolves are getting from the perimeter, noting only a few of those attempts per game are “ill-advised.”

“But other than that, pretty happy,” Finch said. “Anything in shot selection, there’s always something else that could have been done on the floor. It’s like maybe we could have driven and gotten another one, or there was an open lane in transition or something like that. It doesn’t mean the shot you took was a bad one.”

Leading the charge on the 3-point barrage by a wide margin is Anthony Edwards, who’s averaging 13.3 triple tries per game. While the national narrative has framed that as a concern that the 23-year-old may not be attacking the rim as often, Edwards indicated he’s pleased with the volume. Finch said the All-Star guard is getting to his shots “a little quicker and cleaner” this season.

“A lot of times it is coming off pick and roll or other actions rather than isos, those are the ones that probably don’t pay dividends as much,” Finch said. “Where he’s really up is his catch-and-shoot 3s, we’ve generated a lot of good ones for him. I think that combination is what’s driving, I’d probably like him to go to the hoop a little bit more than he has been. But a lot of those shots might have been tough, too. I’ll take what we’re getting.”

Finch also credited some of the uptick in the team’s general 3-point volume to the arrivals of Julius Randle and DiVincenzo. Yes, both players take a healthy volume of 3s in their own right, but they’ve also created a number of looks for others with their drive-and-kick games. In the past — even when a sharpshooter such as Karl-Anthony Towns was on the roster — Finch said the Wolves “weren’t a natural kick-out team.”

“Julius whether it be early in transition, in the post or just sometimes even with his bully ball, he ends up drawing so much attention there’s so many guys open late. He’s been a huge driver of it,” Finch said. “Donte as well, turning corners, making the right kick out. We put an emphasis on it, came into the season wanting to shoot more 3s, but we’re not obsessed about it. They’re just coming out that way. The volume has surprised me, but the quality also has been pretty high.”

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