The balance of the Western Conference Finals may very well rest on the shoulders – err, neck – of a 20-year-old rookie center.

That’s how much Dallas big man Dereck Lively II has meant to the Mavericks all season, but especially in this series.

“He’s an outstanding young player, big part of what they do,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “When they put those two bigs together, they just keep coming at you. A lot of size, a lot of bounce, a lot of activity and swallows up the rim. Yeah, no doubt they miss him.”

Lively has missed the last six quarters of the series with a sprained neck suffered when he took an inadvertent knee from Karl-Anthony Towns to the back of the head in the second quarter of Game 3.

With him sidelined, Minnesota roared back in the third quarter of Game 3 before dropping the game in crunch time. Then the Wolves won Game 4 to extend their season.

The ways in which Minnesota has achieved its success suggests it correlates with Lively’s absence.

The Wolves – specifically Anthony Edwards and Towns – found more of an offensive rhythm in Game 4. That seemed to start with having more success around the rim. Over the first two games of the series, Minnesota shot 47 percent inside eight feet. Over the past two games, that number has spiked to 65 percent.

Why? It relates specifically to Lively’s minutes, and who’s filling them. Because Minnesota is still struggling to produce on the interior when Daniel Gafford is in the game, but Gafford has been backed up by Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber – power forwards who are no threat to block shots.

When those two have played, the Wolves are 11 for 12 from inside eight feet, and are shooting 52 percent in that range when they’re not on the floor. Dallas is able to maintain constant rim protection when it can platoon Lively and Gafford together.

“When you don’t have that and Gafford’s not playing 48 minutes, there are spells where you can get downhill and get into the paint and try to finish and utilize that to our advantage,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said.

Lively’s absence is felt just as much on the offensive end. That’s where he’s superior to Gafford. Dallas is scoring a scorching 132.5 points per 100 possessions this series when Lively is on the floor. He’s 13 for 13 from the field and, just as importantly, has seven assists to just one turnover. He’s an elite lob threat, but also is a strong decision maker when he catches the ball out of the roll. Lively gives Dallas another legitimate offensive threat for which the Wolves have to account, which isn’t easy to do when Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are also on the floor.

Lively told Andscape his injury is a “day to day” thing that he’s not trying to rush. Dallas upgraded him to questionable for Game 5 on Thursday in Minneapolis after he was doubtful for Game 4. If the big man can return for the remainder of this series, the task of winning three more games is far more daunting for Minnesota.

“Yeah, he’s a big piece to our defense and offense,” Doncic said. “We miss him a lot.”

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Before we send the Timberwolves into a) the offseason or b) NBA history, it makes sense to take a minute and think about what this team has done so far this season.

Specifically, in their Western Conference semifinal against the defending champion Denver Nuggets, which included at least two, and possibly three of the best victories I’ve seen from a Minnesota sports team in the 23 years I’ve been at the Pioneer Press.

No NBA team has ever rallied from a three-game playoff series deficit, so theoretically this Timberwolves team still has a chance for more greatness. Our eyes are telling us something different, that the Wolves — and particularly Anthony Edwards — are tired, and the Dallas Mavericks seem a little more ready for the moment.

Teams generally have to build a playoff resume before winning it all. At least, the Timberwolves have accomplished this. But there is something bigger at work here, and that it’s coming from the Timberwolves is an unexpected treat for Minnesota sports fans who lean toward being disappointed by the big picture rather than enjoy and savor the occasionally great moment.

The Wolves had three genuinely great games in their seven-game takedown of the Nuggets, including a 45-point victory to force Game 7 and, perhaps most notably, their late rally to clinch the series in Denver after being left for dead. But it’s Game 2 that stands out, a defensive clinic that thoroughly broke the Nuggets in the first half of a 106-80 victory at Ball Arena that seemed to come out of nowhere.

The Timberwolves had a good season, no doubt, but that win was astonishing.

It was just getting started as Twins writers furiously typed up their game stories on a 3-1 victory over Seattle, and a few of the televisions were tuned to the late broadcast. Reporters took turns checking the screen and updating those in the press box, and every reply was a variant on “Are you serious?”

It was the most surprising performance by a Minnesota sports team since the Vikings lost the NFC Championship Game to the New York Giants 41-0 at the Meadowlands, only in a good way. That loss, BTW, happened the day before a certain scribe started work in St. Paul, Jan. 14, 2001. Twenty-three years later, it’s referenced, on average, by Minnesota sports fans 32.7 times a year.

This time, the Minnesota team was on the other end. It was stunning.

It reminded a former Chicago sports fan of a 1984 NFL divisional playoff in Washington, D.C. Chicago won, 23-19, and for a teenage Bears fan who still cared, it felt like winning the lottery on Christmas morning. It was a totally unexpected performance by a team that had made the playoffs only twice in 21 years, and hadn’t won a postseason game since the NFL championship in 1963.

This is what the Timberwolves gave their fans this season, and the fact that it came from the most generally inadequate of all Minnesota’s pro sports teams made it even better. Or at least more astounding. The Minneapolis Miracle doesn’t hold a candle to it because the Vikings were expected to win that game — should have won that game — and, let’s face it, were a little lucky. The Timberwolves took it to Denver and never stopped.

It was like a bolt out of the blue for someone without a horse in the race. For an emotionally disconnected witness, it was the best Minnesota pro sports victory he has seen.

If the Wolves rally to win this series and give Minnesota its first NBA Finals since the Lakers were still in Minneapolis, they will have made history, and maybe that Game 2 conference semifinal victory gets a little lost. But if fatigue, history and Luka Doncic finally catch up to the Timberwolves on Thursday, that win remains the kind of thing a team — if not a franchise — can hold onto for future reference.

Don’t let your disappointment stop you from enjoying what the team, this particular team, showed everyone on May 6.

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Pablo Lopez has made big adjustments over his professional pitching career. The big ones, no surprises, came when he moved to high-A ball as a 20-year-old in 2017 in Modesto, Calif., and then throughout his first full major league season in 2019 in Miami.

At that point, the right-hander was adjusting to the uptick in competition. But 2022 was different. He got out of whack, then got really out of whack.

“I tried to do too much at some point, and it went from a little out of synch to a lot out of synch,” the Twins’ No. 1 starter said Wednesday. “Because I was doing too many things that I wasn’t used to.”

That’s not the case now, despite the fact that Lopez has struggled over his past three starts — 0-3 with a 9.00 earned-run average and 25 hits in 16 innings pitched. He spent his bullpen session before Wednesday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals at Target Field working on one thing.

“I went back to recovering some kind of rhythm on the mound,” he said afterward.

On May 9, Lopez was 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA, 55 strikeouts and eight walks in 48 innings. Since then, something has been off with his mechanics, specifically his movement above the rubber.

“Things were happening a little earlier than they should,” he said. “And this goes back to what feels right for me. Every pitcher is different. Our windups all look different, but our windups are all the same — we’re transferring power from one leg to the other.

“But we have different cues. One of my cues is slow and in control, give myself time, let it all happen at the end. And it looks like it was happening a little before the end.”

Lopez, 28, has become one of the majors’ most consistent starting pitchers. Last season, he threw 194 innings for the American League Central champs, going 11-9 with a 3.66 ERA and fanning 234, third in the majors. After the 2022 season, the Twins acquired him from the Marlins, sending Miami reigning AL batting champ Luis Arraez.

Almost immediately, Minnesota signed Lopez to a four-year, $73.5 million extension through 2027.

“I wanted to feel today that I wasn’t rushing, that I was giving myself enough time to build steam,” Lopez said after Wednesday’s session. “So, I’m building steam, I’m loading to then unload, and I wanted to unload at the right time. For me, that’s when I feel this foot landing firmly. That’s when I let go of the steam, when I step on the gas.”

Lopez is scheduled to start Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Houston.

Buxton rests

Center fielder Byron Buxton was given a day off on Wednesday after going 2 for 2 with a triple, two walks, stolen base and run scored in a 4-2 victory over the Royals on Tuesday.

Through one-third of the Twins’ season, Buxton has played in 37 of the team’s 58 games after knee and hip injuries limited him to 85 total games last season. After being limited to designated hitting in 2023, he has played 31 games in center.

“I look at the week when I’m looking at what Buck is going to be out there for,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He has been playing good. He had a great day yesterday. He wants to be out there seven days a week. Right now he won’t be out there seven days a week, but we’ll get him out there as much as we can. He’s doing well.”

Briefly

Third baseman Royce Lewis, on rehab assignment for a quad injury with Class AAA St. Paul, was not in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s game in Buffalo. He was hurt in the Twins’ first game this season after going 2 for 2 with a home run. … The Twins are in the middle of their third annual “Twins Week of Service,” during which members of all six baseball organizations volunteer to help for underserved communities.

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