This Timberwolves team has been together for less and month, but already, as center Naz Reid said, "We're tired of losing."
Maybe they're finally starting to do something about that. The Wolves won a second consecutive game for the first time in nearly two months with a 115-108 win over the Bulls, coming a night after a victory in New Orleans.
When told of that accomplishment, coach Ryan Saunders had to suppress a smile during his media session.
"It's a steppingstone," Saunders said. "But hey, I mean it when I say we take every game like you're 0-0. That's the approach we have to have."
It speaks to how difficult this season has been for both iterations of this Wolves team pre and post-trade deadline. But perhaps this time is starting to turn a corner.
After a sloppy first quarter, the Wolves trailed 58-55 at the half, but pulled ahead in a third quarter in which they outscored the Bulls 33-21. Malik Beasley had eight of his 24 points in the third and finished 8 of 14 from the floor while D'Angelo Russell chipped in 19. Reid continued his strong play with another double-double, his second in as many nights, with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He also added three assists and took Russell by surprise with some of his passes.
"I didn't know he could pass like that, to be honest," Russell said. "I told him he's passing like Magic [Johnson]. He made the right pass like 15 out of the 15 times he got it in that short roll. Just showing that he's capable of that is something we could definitely build on."
That statement conveys just how much the Wolves are still getting to know each other. They're still figuring out tendencies and communication — it just makes it a little easier to do it while winning.
