Timberwolves' massive lead disappears in final minutes to Wizards

The arrival of Mike Conley and the departure of D'Angelo Russell didn't magically fix all of the Timberwolves' flaws.

The only magicians on the floor Thursday night had "Wizards" on their jerseys, as Washington made a 20-point Wolves lead vanish in a 114-106 Wizards victory at Target Center. The Wolves didn't trail for 46 minutes, 46 seconds until Kyle Kuzma hit a shot-clock beating three-pointer to put Washington ahead 107-106 with 1:14 to play. A shell-shocked Wolves team had no response. Bradley Beal led Washington's comeback with 35 points, 17 of which came in the fourth.

"I feel like it's the same story," center Rudy Gobert said. "We get a lead and then we just lose the urgency. Guys get going, we're up 20, they made a run and cut it to eight, and then they got confidence and it gets harder."

This game played out like many did when Russell was still in Minnesota. It had the feel of what the Wolves allowed to happen in the playoffs last season against Memphis: A big lead causes the Wolves to feel comfortable. They lose their sense of urgency, and they never get it back. They won Monday despite nearly blowing a 26-point lead to Dallas. They weren't as lucky this time around. Washington outscored them 38-19 in the fourth.

"They kept getting downhill, getting to the rim easily on us and then a few times we had a chance that we did get stops, we couldn't secure the rebound cleanly," coach Chris Finch said. "But it was really offensively where I thought particularly we're not very, very good, cost ourselves the game I thought a lot on offense with silly turnovers and indecision."

The Wolves were 6-for-25 in the fourth, 1-for-9 from three-point range. They finished with 18 turnovers and struggled with Washington's zone defense. Even when they got good looks late, they wouldn't fall, such as when Kyle Anderson (18 points, eight assists) had a few clank in the paint.

The Wolves' bench was no help in maintaining the lead throughout the night, and after the Wolves began the fourth ahead by 11, Naz Reid (minus-12) and Jaylen Nowell (minus-14) had shifts they might like to have back. Finch reinserted his starters early and suggested they might have been tired at the end of the game. Gobert disagreed.

"Fatigue for what? We've been here for two days," Gobert said, referring to the Wolves being off for two days before Thursday. "They should be more fatigued than we are. They're on a road trip. I think it's just focus, urgency, maturity. It's all of us, myself included. I got to be better."

Gobert had 17 points and 19 rebounds while Anthony Edwards led the Wolves with 34 points. Edwards was just 11-for-26 from the field. Mike Conley didn't score on six shot attempts.

Conley's arrival in a Feb. 8 trade was supposed to signal a change in tone for this team, that nights like Thursday won't happen as frequently. Less than a week into his Wolves tenure, Conley got a taste of Wolves basketball in all its glory.

"It's just a matter of how bad do you want to win and getting every guy to jump on board," Conley said. "If you want to win, we can't do that. We can't make mistakes like that. We can't throw it off a guy's knee or give up a layup, turn it over right back and give up another layup. We can't afford to do that. We've all got to be thinking that as a whole group. For me to come in here, I have to be very attentive towards that."

The Wolves now whimper quietly into the All-Star break. After some losses, their locker room is still a talkative one, sometimes even upbeat. That wasn't the case Thursday. When media came in, everyone was quiet, save for Anderson letting out a few primal yells in the other room.