Timberwolves not panicking after losing 122-108 to Trail Blazers for second loss in a row

PORTLAND, ORE. – Timberwolves locker room wasn’t a somber place after the team’s 122-108 loss to a rebuilding Trail Blazers team. This was the same Blazers they only defeated by 25 on Friday and who lost to Memphis by 45 on Sunday.

Those looking for quotes or statements about the team needing to make radical changes, for quotes about deep introspection will be disappointed with a lot of the reaction from the players who spoke afterwards. Instead, the team is trying to stay even keel just 11 games into a season they have begun 6-5 (and now 0-1 in group play of the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament)

First spoke Anthony Edwards: “We can’t get down on ourselves after two … games. I mean, we can win 10 in a row. We need to lock in on that than being more worried about the [stuff] that just happened. I mean, It’s over. We can’t go back and change it.”

Then Naz Reid, who had a team-high 28 points and whose locker was two down from Edwards (26 points), echoed his tone.

“I mean, we’re in game 11, so it’s still kind of early. By this point you want to have some thoughts on what your identity is, but it’s still kind of early. The West is open with injuries and stuff like that … I think it’ll come. We got a long way to where we want to be, but I think it’ll come for sure.”

That’s likely not what will satiate the fanbase, if social media reaction is an indicator for how it was feeling. The Wolves piled an embarrassing loss Sunday in which they gave away a game against Miami with an even more dreadful performance. They never had a shot of winning Tuesday, not after committing a season high 23 turnovers.

Their defense provided open shots for a Portland team that might have folded if the Wolves jumped on them early. Instead, the Wolves’ inconsistent starting lineup let Portland get ahead early and get confidence. Jerami Grant led the Blazers with 21 points while Robert Williams caused problems on both ends of the floor with 19 points and nine rebounds off the bench. But this should have been close to a repeat of Friday’s easy win in Target Center. The Wolves were so unfocused they had multiple turnovers just inbounding the ball.

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“I thought the turnovers tonight were carelessness, not anything to do with connectivity,” coach Chris Finch said when asked if he thought the starting lineup wasn’t quite on the same page.

The Wolves took a risk when they traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. They took a risk on breaking up a team that was in the Western Conference finals for the sake of long-term roster flexibility. Through 11 games, the downside of that risk is playing out. The Wolves are not the same team they were a year ago, especially on the defensive end. That much is clear to see after Portland shot 51% overall and 56% from three-point range (18-for-32).

“Just indecisive with our coverages,” Edwards said. “As far as breaking off an stuff. That’s on us, the guards.”

For those clamoring for Finch to change his eight-man rotation, he offered this when asked about giving other players playing time: “Listen, we’re trying to get another guy in the rotation. Guys aren’t playing well enough, so it opens up opportunities for that to happen.”

BOXSCORE: Portland 122, Wolves 108

Finch can start making some changes Wednesday at Moda Center as the Wolves and Blazers play for the third time in four games. Dealing with fan disappointment is nothing new for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and he said the Wolves weren’t going to overreact to two games, no matter what fans may think of that attitude.

“That’s just the world,” Alexander-Walker said. “That’s just the world, especially as an athlete, you get used to it. You play really good, ‘Oh my God, we love you, don’t go.’ God forbid their parlay doesn’t hit, ‘Why are you on the court?’ … It’s life.

“You just got to take it for what it is. Can’t really worry about that. I trust my teammates. I love my teammates. I know they trust me, and in this locker room, that’s all we can be concerned about.”