In some good news for the Timberwolves, and they could use some after the Knicks blew them out of Target Center on Monday night, center Rudy Gobert cleared COVID-19 protocols, practiced Tuesday and is available to play Wednesday against Phoenix.

That could help their defense, which is No. 9 in terms of defensive efficiency, but looked disinterested in making the Knicks work Monday.

That prompted guard Anthony Edwards to say the team was "soft" after the game, and they were likely developing that reputation around the league.

For Gobert, who spent the last two games watching from home, the Wolves need to concentrate on doing the "little things" right — like communication and playing with urgency on a consistent basis.

"It's the hardest thing to do, to do the things that are not cute," Gobert said. "The things that none of your family members are going to come in and say, 'Oh, that was a great box out tonight.' All those things that are gonna make the difference at the end."

Coach Chris Finch lamented the Wolves' lack of physicality after Monday's loss. He said the Wolves needed to play harder on a consistent basis. That's where their improvement begins in his eyes.

The Wolves are 5-6, which is actually a better start than they had a season ago, though expectations weren't nearly as high for a group that had yet to establish itself. Finch says there are some similarities between the starts. For instance, the Wolves were searching for an offensive identity the first two months of last season. But there are some differences in the team's mind-set now compared to last season that could be leading to these early struggles.

"This team probably just expected they were going to be good and short-cutted a few things along the way. That's on all of us," Finch said. "Last year's team was probably searching for more of its identity, but believed they could be good. They had to prove to the world that they were good."

The Wolves could use more of that mind-set this season, especially since fans and the NBA world at large are skeptical that they can make the Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns partnership work.

Before Gobert, who said he was feeling fine Tuesday, went out because of COVID, the Wolves were trying to work through how their offense operates with him in the mix. In losses to San Antonio and Phoenix, the returns weren't great. They were slightly better in a loss to Milwaukee, but the Wolves missed open looks. Gobert was preaching patience even amid a start that has made fans restless.

"Those things comes with time," Gobert said. "It doesn't come overnight. It comes with the work, it comes with time, it comes with being comfortable, getting to know each other. If I set a ball screen for D-Lo [D'Angelo Russell], it's not the same for Ant [Anthony Edwards] or for Jaden [McDaniels]. Those things don't come overnight.

"For some teams it takes years to figure that out. I think for us it's going to be a lot quicker than that, but it's never going to be perfect. Just got to keep getting better and better."

For veteran guard Austin Rivers, there was a "silver lining" in the sluggish start.

"It can be more frustrating because it's things that are under our control. But the good thing is these are things that we can fix," Rivers said. "It's not like we have a shooting issue. It's not like we don't have guys that can hit shots or can score. We have all those things, so these are things that can be fixed."

The Suns, who are 7-3, will test how much progress the Wolves have made since Monday.

"We got some talented young guys and they want to win and they're frustrated right now," Rivers said. "That's a good thing. You got guys that care."