Mike Conley’s night ended in fitting fashion Sunday, with another 3-point attempt clanking off the iron to seal the Timberwolves’ 95-94 home loss to Miami. The point guard made just 2 of 9 shots from the field, including 0 for 5 from three-point distance.

The Heat outscored the Wolves by 16 points in the 24 minutes Conley played.

So why was the 37-year-old guard subbed back into the game with two and a half minutes to play?

“We’ve won a lot of games with Mike Conley down the stretch,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said, “so that’s why I went back with him.”

Finch is in an interesting spot this season with the Wolves’ roster. The team has eight starter-quality players. Only five can be on the floor at any given time. So who plays when the game is on the line? That, he noted, can change from game to game. There have been times this season in which Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the Wolves’ most consistent player through 10 games, has closed for Minnesota.

Maybe he should have done so again Sunday.“I didn’t get it right. Tonight, coming down the stretch, I didn’t get it right. I told you guys that we weren’t always going to get it right, but yeah, if I had to go back and do it over, I’d certainly do it differently,” Finch said. “I probably should’ve stuck with Nickeil. He was playing really well.”

But you can understand where Finch is coming from. He wholeheartedly trusts Conley and the veteran guard’s decision-making. That trust is something that Finch builds with players over time, and it doesn’t deteriorate easily. That was evident a season ago, as Kyle Anderson struggled mightily for segments of the season on offense as he struggled with his eyesight and adjusted to playing small forward after shining at the four-spot the season before.

Yet never did Finch seriously consider demoting Anderson, and his patience was rewarded with improved play over the final third of the season.

“I try to keep confidence in all of our players. But more importantly he was our most important player (during the 2022-23 season) in many ways,” Finch said of Anderson at the time. “He saved our season. He did anything we asked him to do, so we know he had it in him.”

Conley will almost certainly be given the same leash. A wrist ailment hampered his offseason, forcing him to play catchup physically throughout training camp while adjusting to a new role and lineup combinations.

Sure, he’s struggling to shoot at the moment. Conley is shooting just 31 percent from the floor and 30 percent on three-pointers. Yes, the Wolves are playing better basketball as a team when the other “point guard” options — wings Donte DiVincenzo and Alexander-Walker — are on the floor.

But the Wolves are still winning Conley’s minutes on the season. He leads the team in assist percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio, which is to be expected. And, on defense, while Conley will sometimes find himself in matchup in which he’s physically overwhelmed, the opponents are shooting just 24 for 67 against him this season, the best defensive field goal percentage (35.8) among all rotational players.

So it’s not as though he’s some unplayable asset. And it would be odd for someone like Conley, who has seen his shooting percentages rise seemingly every season, to suddenly fall off a cliff in that department. He does just seem to still be searching for his rhythm on the floor.

“Yeah, just trying to find it within the flow of who I’m on the court with. My minutes are different; I come in and out different times. Who I play with dictates where I’m at on the ball, off the ball. I’m just trying to find myself within that. I will,” Conley said. “I’ll try to adjust, I’ve always adjusted. That’s how I’m still here right now. No matter what situation, I’ll figure it out. Just a little rough patch right now.”

And history suggests Conley’s coach will give the guard ample time to work himself through it.