Starting Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley has been officially given the green light to play in a critical Game 6 of Minnesota’s second round matchup against the Nuggets on Thursday night, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (via Twitter).
Head coach Chris Finch revealed the news pregame, Hine reports. The one-time All-Star sat out Game 5 of the ongoing Western Conference second round playoff series with a right soleus strain, and had been previously considered merely questionable for Game 6.
“He’s in,” Finch said, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Conley has served as something of a coach on the floor for the Timberwolves, who started off the series with two stunning road victories against the defending champs in Denver. The Nuggets, propelled by three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, roared back, winning the last three games of the series. Denver leads the series 3-2. The Timberwolves will at least be playing on their home turf for Thursday’s must-win bout
Through his eight healthy playoff games so far, the 36-year-old Conley is averaging 11.3 points on .400/.375/.846 shooting splits, plus 7.0 assists, 3.8 boards, and 1.1 swipes a night.