DETROIT – There are times the Timberwolves locker room can be a talkative place even after a loss. That wasn't the case after Wednesday's 135-118 loss to the Pistons.
Timberwolves lose for second time in two weeks to NBA East's second-worst team
For the second time in 12 days, the Wolves lost to the struggling, rebuilding Pistons in a game that followed a similar pattern to their first loss on Dec. 31. Minnesota had won four in a row in between the two games.
January 12, 2023 at 12:55PM
When the locker room was open to the media, the room was as muted as the Wolves' defensive effort. That effort allowed the worst team in the Eastern Conference, which was playing in the tail end of back to back games, to shoot 60% overall and 53% from three-point range.
Players had blank stares on their faces or their heads were buried in their phones.
The Wolves had won four consecutive games entering Wednesday night. But two inexplicable losses to Detroit bookended that win streak. Two losses that could have been wins when the Wolves look back on their season, whether they make the playoffs or not. The first loss left the team with a lot to say in a team meeting afterward. The second one left them in this speechless trance.
As a frustrated Austin Rivers put it: "We lost by 20 to the Pistons, man."
"They just outworked us, man, the two times we played them," Rivers said. "I don't know if we slept on them. I don't know. They just outworked us. It was everybody. Can't point the finger at anybody."
On the bingo card of reasons why the 20-22 Wolves lose this season, those who had "energy and effort" and "on-ball defense" were the winners. The Wolves, who were without Kyle Anderson (illness) led by 10 in the first quarter, and then the night became a disaster.
"After that first stretch, we have a team that's just straight up playing harder than the other," said Rudy Gobert, who had 16 points and 14 rebounds. "They're communicating harder, running harder and they're more physical than us. Why is that? That's what we have to figure out."
Detroit led 65-64 at halftime before outscoring the Wolves, who have been horrible in third quarters, 36-23 after the break. They pushed their lead to as much as 23 behind 31 points from Saddiq Bey and 27 from Bojan Bogdanovic. D'Angelo Russell had 19 for the Wolves, who lost despite shooting 49% from three-point range.
At halftime, the team ruled out Anthony Edwards because of left hip soreness he has been playing through since he took a hard fall against Milwaukee on December 30. He left Friday's win over the Clippers because of it and seemed like he would miss the remainder of Wednesday's game.
But then Edwards said he saw how the game was trending in the third and decided he would go back in to help his teammates and try to notch a win.
"Man, I'm good," Edwards said when asked by the Star Tribune how he was feeling. "Tell them what they want to hear. I'm good."
Edwards finished with a team-high 20 points and was on the floor in the fourth quarter when the Wolves were down by more than 20. Coach Chris Finch opted not to pull Edwards and rest him.
When asked if he considered pulling Edwards, Finch said: "I mean, not really. If he's good to go, he's good to go."
Edwards said the decision to play is a conversation between him and the athletic training staff. Since this was the second time in three games Edwards exited because of his hip, could he use a game off to rest?
"I played the very game right after it," Edwards said. "I guess I just got to play every game from here on out no matter how it feels. I'll figure it out."
His teammates also have enough to figure out, specifically why a team that has underachieved can't come out, for the second time in 12 days, with the requisite effort against one of the worst teams in the league.
"We got to defend, we got to talk. We got to do everything," Edwards said. "We came here and expected them to just give us the game."
The Wolves fell apart in the fourth quarter and have not won in Toronto in two decades.
