MINNEAPOLIS — On any other team, Austin Daye might have been allowed to languish in peace.

He had totaled seven minutes of playing time in the previous nine games, and had no reason to believe anything would change once he arrived Saturday night at the Target Center.

Then Marco Belinelli showed up with a groin strain, joining Manu Ginobili as the latest two additions to the Spurs’ growing injured list, and 20 minutes before tipoff in Minnesota, Gregg Popovich was in Daye’s locker, telling him to get ready to start.

“Pop believes in all his players,” Daye said, after his hot shooting helped stake the Spurs to a 108-93 victory over the plummeting Timberwolves. “He’ll throw you into a weird situation at any time. You’ve got to be ready.”

For the little-used Daye, few situations could be weirder than this: From four consecutive DNPs to starting small forward in the Spurs’ NBA-leading 21st unique starting lineup of the season.

The 6-foot-10 sharpshooter responded with his best game since joining the Spurs, pumping in a season-high 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to key the team’s most lopsided victory in a month.

Daye’s third career double-double and first 20-10 game could not have come at a better time.

“It was important he shot the ball well,” Popovich said, after Daye made 8 of 13 field goals including 4 of 8 3-pointers. “Without Manu, Kawhi (Leonard) and Belinelli, we needed someone on the perimeter who could shoot it.”

Patty Mills added 19 points off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting and Tim Duncan scored 13 as the Spurs sent undermanned Minnesota to its 15th consecutive defeat.

That losing streak matches New York’s for the longest in the NBA.

In seventh place in the Western Conference, and having endured a string of down-to-the-wire games of late, the Spurs were all too happy to record their first double-digit win since smacking the lowly Knicks 109-95 on Dec. 10.

That, coincidentally, was Daye’s last double-digit scoring night before Saturday.

“It’s a long season, and we’ve got time to fight back,” said Duncan, whose team improved to 23-15 after winning for the fourth time in five games. “But we’ve got to start now. We’ve got to start focusing and concentrating on racking up the wins no matter where it is or who it’s against.”

The Wolves got 18 points and 12 rebounds from center Gorgui Dieng and 18 more points from Rookie of the Year leader Andrew Wiggins.

They also benefited from a 26-for-26 showing at the foul line, setting a club record for most free throws without a miss.

And still it wasn’t close to enough for the Timberwolves (5-31) to notch their first win since beating Portland on Dec. 10, the same night the Spurs were busy blowing out the Knicks.

These, indeed, are desperate times in Minnesota.

“I would trade anything for a win,” Dieng said.

Things are not yet so desperate with the Spurs, but given the hole in which they find themselves in the conference standings, neither could they afford a letdown against the Wolves.

It was Daye — perhaps the unlikeliest candidate to provide a jump-start — who got the Spurs going.

The 26-year-old threw in 12 points in the first half as the Spurs built a lead that got as high as 20.

By game’s end, Daye had matched his scoring high as a Spur.

“We needed a boost from someone,” Duncan said. “He played great, shot the ball well, played with a lot of confidence and took us over the top.”

Acquired in a trade deadline deal with Toronto last February, Daye admits it can be difficult to go so long between appearances.

He had played in 23 games this season, but before Saturday had logged double-digit minutes only twice in a month.

Daye sees such fallow periods as a test of his sanity, as much as his basketball acumen.

“To have a situation when you never know when you’re going to play, it can weigh on people,” Daye said. “It can take people out of the game and knock their focus off.”

Daye vows not to be one of those people.

“I’ve been within myself, trying to stay focused on every game,” he said. “You never know when your opportunity is going to come, so if you can capitalize maybe you can prove that you can play some.”

Tuesday night in Washington, Daye might find himself back in the starting lineup again. He might find himself back on the end of the bench.

That’s life as a reserve with the Spurs, where there is no such thing as resting in peace.

jmcdonald@