His stat line wasn’t anything spectacular. Not even close. A modest 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

In his brief career with the Timberwolves, Mike Conley has played dozens of games that would be considered better, at least in the traditional sense. He’s been a more swaggy scorer, a more ravenous rebounder, a more prolific passer.

No matter. The performance he put forth on Thursday night at the Target Center might go down his most memorable in a Timberwolves uniform. This was a legacy game for the man they call Minnesota Mike.

After missing Game 5 with calf strain, Conley made his presence felt in Game 6, and the Timberwolves scored a massive 115-70 win over the Denver Nuggets to force a Game 7. When the Timberwolves needed him most, Conley showed up for Minnesota.

Never mind that Anthony Edwards finished with 27 points to lead the Timberwolves in scoring. Never mind that Jaden McDaniels busted out of his offensive slump with 21 points. Never mind that Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns controlled the paint on both ends.

None of that would’ve been possible without Conley playing through the pain. It’s amazing how much different the Timberwolves can look simply when he’s on the court. He’s a true difference maker.

“He means everything for us,” head coach Chris Finch said. “He’s invaluable. It was great to see him out there. We desperately missed him the other night.”

The chaos that controlled much of Game 5 for the Timberwolves was glaring to anybody that tuned in. You could actually sense it as soon as Conley was ruled out on Tuesday night at Ball Arena. It felt like things were going to be extremely hard for the Timberwolves and they absolutely were in a 112-97 loss.

There was no flow on offense without Conley running the show. His absence forced Edwards to be the primary ball handler and he struggled mightily while being double teamed each time he tried to run the pick and roll. There were no easy buckets, and as a result, the Timberwolves looked discombobulated for prolonged stretches.

That wasn’t the case in Game 6 as the Timberwolves looked much more like themselves from the jump. After falling behind amid a slow start, they went broke the game open with a pivotal 18-0 run. In that stretch, Conley found Towns down low for an easy dunk, made a 10-foot floater in the lane, and swung the ball to Edwards for an open shot from long range.

He subbed out of the game with the Timberwolves leading by 12 points. They never trailed again.

How close was he to playing in Game 5?

“Obviously I wanted to play,” Conley said. “Just couldn’t move at all.?

How close was he to not playing in Game 6?

“It was a no brainer,” Conley said. “I was going try to find a way.”

He did and the Timberwolves were better for it. They always are when Minnesota Mike is on the floor.

Just asked Edwards. He succinctly summed up the biggest difference between Game 5 and Game 6.

“We got Mike Conley back,” he said. “That was it.”

As long as Conley is good to go for Game 7, the Timberwolves are going to have a chance .There’s no doubt about that.