The Timberwolves finally did it: They rested a player

In a departure from their stated credence, the Timberwolves rested a player for Wednesday’s game in Boston.

Thirty-six-year-old point guard Mike Conley missed the game between teams with the NBA’s best records with a “rest” designation on the injury report.

Rudy Gobert also missed the game with hip soreness.

Rest-related absences have been about as common as Halley’s Comet during the Chris Finch era in Minnesota. But Wednesday came with special circumstances.

Not only did the Timberwolves play the night before in Orlando, but because of weather conditions, they were unable to fly into Boston directly after the game against the Magic.

So the Timberwolves stayed in Florida and flew out to Boston on Wednesday. Timberwolves radio play-by-play man Alan Horton said the team arrived in Boston just six hours prior to its scheduled tipoff against the Celtics.

Basically, the team arrived in town, hung out at the hotel for a few hours, then took off for the arena to play Wednesday’s game.

That’s less than ideal for anyone’s body, let alone a veteran such as Conley. Particularly after Conley and every starter other than Anthony Edwards played more than 30 minutes in the win over the Magic. It appeared that Conley might have exiting the blowout win over the Magic for good in the third quarter after just 22 minutes played, but a rough stretch of basketball without the floor general caused Finch to re-insert Conley into the game.

But none of that made Wednesday’s announcement less surprising. Conley is the ultimate competitor. He salivates over chances to do battle with the NBA’s best.

Finch noted a few weeks back that Conley gets “annoyed” when the coach asks the guard how he is feeling. Conley actually told Finch he plays “better” on the second night of back to backs.

“I just trust him. He takes care of his body,” Finch said then. “We look out for him in the right ways.”

That same night, Conley said he’s honest with Finch, and noted how hard he works to get his body in shape. This season is the best condition Conley said he has been in in “a long time.”

Minnesota plays its top players more than perhaps any team in the NBA. If you’re healthy, you play. The Timberwolves believe in that approach.

“We’ve always set out to be a (team where) we’re gonna play. That’s our mindset. Our guys want to play. We want to play. We’re not a rest team. I think that’s at 30,000 feet,” Finch said earlier this season. “There’s going to be points in the season where you’ve got to play these types of games. If you’re always resting guys, then you don’t have the resiliency to go battle through that, so I think it’s important.”

But Conley, who is one of the most valuable pieces on this highly-successful team, sitting the occasional game is something fans on social media platforms have clamored for in recent weeks. Wednesday marks the first game Conley has missed since he was traded to Minnesota.

There’s no question the Wolves always playing their best players has played a key role in Minnesota earning the top record in the Western Conference.

But there can be a middle ground between always playing their best players, regardless of the situation, and the other end of the spectrum, where some franchises are seemingly looking for reasons to rest guys.

Maybe the Wolves struck that happy medium Wednesday, giving themselves a puncher’s chance to compete with Boston by still trotting out their younger star players like Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, but giving someone like Conley a day off in an effort to make s