Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves gets candid in the locker room after losing to the Kings

“If I have to hunt someone, I go under the umbrella. I’m supposed to blacken and deviate, I don’t deviate. It’s just little things like that that we just don’t do. It just comes from not following the game plan and not listening to the coaches, man.”

This spiral began last week with a bad loss in Toronto, where there was a post-game players’ meeting. Those discussions continued this week. Wolves had a tough talk at halftime on Wednesday, and they briefly turned things around in the second half. Conley (16 points) returned after a three-game absence due to a sprained left toe and said he was the “instigator” of the team raising concerns at halftime.

“I told the team we need to be able to talk,” Conley said. “We were able to communicate and listen. Someone is talking to you, don’t get angry or snap back. We’re all trying to win and we did.”

Like Edwards, Conley said the Wolves have to overcome their own emotions when things aren’t going right individually.

“Believe me, we have overcome the last three losses as a team and as players,” Conley said. “And at the end of the day, man, what matters is that we believe, believe again, believe in what we do. The big game isn’t about you. It’s not about whether you make shots, whether you miss shots, or whether you turn it over. We have to live with each other’s shortcomings. We have to live with each other’s mistakes and encourage each other. And that’s the message right now: You can’t be immature about this.”

As Conley left the locker room, he assured reporters that the Wolves would be fine. The 37-year-old has seen and heard it all in his long career, but he might not have heard Edwards sound as confused and uncertain as he did on Wednesday.