MEMPHIS – Three years ago, the Timberwolves played the Memphis Grizzlies in a playoff series, and in that series the Wolves collapsed in the second half of three games. They blew leads of more than 20 points quickly and easily, like it was routine.

Because of that loss, the Wolves’ chances of avoiding the play-in tournament come down to Thursday’s game against the Grizzlies, with a lot of the core players from the Memphis team three years ago still on the team.

“The next game is the biggest game of the season,” Wolves guard Anthony Edwards said Tuesday.

One of the biggest menaces from that 2022 series, Brandon Clarke, is out for the season. But Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are all still there, even as Memphis is going through its own dysfunction only a short time after firing coach Taylor Jenkins.

For the Wolves, Thursday is their last gasp of guaranteeing themselves a playoff spot. Lose and they have to pray for help. Win and you can see a pathway to getting No. 6, considering the Grizzlies then have to play Denver, and Golden State has to play the Clippers, in only a few of the key matchups involving teams just ahead of the Wolves in the Western Conference standings.

Three years ago, that inclination to collapse and fold in the face of adversity defined them in that series. After Tuesday, how mentally tough is this Wolves team? Will they put it behind them? Or will the memory of what happened Tuesday creep back in anytime another team makes a run against them when they have the lead?

“We have no choice,” forward Julius Randle said. “We can’t sit here and pout at this point in the season. Gotta move on to the next one.”