Minnesota Timberwolves: Can’t take one game off down the stretch by Andrew Neururer

Any possible way that one might want to slice it, there’s nothing positive to take out of Monday night’s home loss to the woeful Memphis Grizzlies.

There are bad losses, and then there are atrocious, embarrassing collapses. And the latter is what fans witnessed at Target Center on Monday night.

The Memphis Grizzlies had lost 23 of their last 24 games , a streak that extends back to late January. Simply put, they’ve been the worst team in the NBA, by far, since the start of 2018.

The Wolves, of course, are playing for their playoff lives. They now sit alone in the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference, one-and-a-half games ahead of Denver, who, mercifully, lost to Philadelphia on Monday.

There’s not much to say about this game other than that the offense was putrid, the defense was far worse than the 101 points given up (the Grizzlies had to have been within striking distance of breaking the record for bricking wide-open jumpers in a 48-minute game), and the officiating was awful all night long. Jeff Teague, for his part, was the only player in a Wolves uniform that appeared to be ready to play.

Tweets of the Night

Phoenix and Memphis twice, Brooklyn, Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago. Win even four and Wolves are in 3rd. Now: 8th — Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) March 27, 2018

After the Wolves lost to Memphis tonight, Minnesota is now just 17-11 against teams below .500, the worst winning percentage against sub-.500 squad of any current playoff team. — Fred Katz (@FredKatz) March 27, 2018

Those bad losses happen, but they certainly add up…

Key Takeaways

There were four starters that played 39 minutes or more in this one. With Derrick Rose out due to injury, Tom Thibodeau suddenly seemed unwilling to play Teague and Tyus Jones simultaneously. Since Teague was playing so well, Jones only saw the court for six minutes — his lowest minutes total of the entire season.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins combined to shoot just 12-for-30 (40 percent) from the field and only attempted a combined nine free throws.

The defense was as porous as ever for much of the game. When it finally cracked down in crunch time, the Wolves’ exhausted starters couldn’t manage to find a good shot to take on offense. And the vicious cycle continued, up and down the court, until it was all over.

Player of the Game

Wayne Selden: 23 points (9-14 FG, 4-6 3P, 1-1 FT), 4 assists, 3 steals

Yep. Wayne Selden dropped 23 points on 14 shots in just 26 minutes off the Grizzlies bench. It was Selden who hit what seemed like dagger after dagger down the stretch, and was the lone player in a Memphis jersey that was consistently making semi-contested jumpers.

What’s Next?

The Wolves stay home to face the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. It’s yet another tanking team with nothing to play for except to lose, but that didn’t stop Minnesota from falling against the Grizzlies. Also, don’t forget that the Timberwolves lost by five points in Atlanta back at the end of January…