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The Timberwolves and Denver are playing Game 4 of their NBA Western Conference playoff series tonight at Target Center, with the Wolves leading 2-1 entering the contest. Staff writer Chris Hine files this live report:

5:30 p.m.: Layoff between 2 and 3 made Wolves “feel fat and lazy”

After Game 3, Wolves coach Chris Finch said the team may have been distracted while at home all week prior to Friday. Before Game 4, Finch was asked what kind of distractions the team might face during the week.

“Do you like your family when they’re around all the time?” Finch said with a laugh.

He referenced multiple players having babies during the season and everyone having to deal with “life stuff” and how that contrasts with being on the road.

“When you’re on the road, it’s way more of a bunker mentality,” Finch said. “The day is mapped out for you. That’s what we’re doing every minute of the day. A home, it’s a little different. Gotta be a pro, gotta be able to handle it.”

Finch did say the break between Games 2 and 3 allowed the Wolves to hear a lot of praise they were getting after their Game 2 blowout win.

“The long layoff certainly made us feel fat and lazy, everyone telling us how great we played,” Finch said. “They did an unbelievable job of coming out, setting the tone on us. We didn’t really respond and they got our attention. So now it’s up to us to turn it around tonight.”

Morning shootaround: “I flushed it down the toilet”

Sunday is a new day and Game 4 a new game, so Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said he didn’t look back at Game 3′s lopsided 107-90 loss and a late game collision with Denver three-time MVP Nikola Jokic’s late in the game.

All he got out of that collision was a technical foul, upset Jokic wasn’t called for a foul for the leaning screen he set on him out near the three-point line. Alexander-Walker’s teammate Kyle Anderson got a technical as well for arguing.

Down on the court, Alexander-Walker rolled all the way to the fans seated courtside, where he remained for a short time seemingly in pain. He eventually walked off the court and into the tunnel with fewer than six minutes left and his team trailing by 20-something points.

“I flushed it down the toilet, to be honest,” Walker-Alexander said at Sunday’s Game 4 shootaround about both the game and the play. “I did not look at it [Jokic’s screen again] again. We knew what it was. We addressed it together. What do we need to do to be better? We didn’t want to dwell on emotions or whatever the case may be. Just focus.”

Alexander-Walker wasn’t listed on the Wolves’ injury report for Game 4.

“I feel good,” he said Sunday morning.

Wolves veteran point guard Mike Conley was asked Sunday morning how much such incidents and emotions carry over to the next game or games in the playoffs.

“For some people,” Conley said. “I know for Nickeil, it probably does. He might run into a few screens on purpose tonight. You never know. It’s a physical game. We know it. We all get his with those screens. We all give out those screens to people. I know he’ll be ready to play, just like the rest of us.”

The Wolves lost consecutive games only four times in the regular season and never lost three games consecutively. They also are 10-0 after double-digit losses, including the playoff opener at Phoenix. They were 6-0 in the playoffs until Friday’s thumping. They have a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

“I expect the exact same response they had to us the last game,” Conley said. “Come out with a sense of urgency, a little bit of anger, emotion, all those things tied in there. Guys don’t like losing, especially at home the way we did. It was an embarrassing way to go out, but guys will be ready to go.”