The morning the Timberwolves season tipped off, President Gersson Rosas tried to sound the alarm that there might be nights like Thursday's 135-117 loss to the Trail Blazers in Portland, Ore.
"This team has an upside even this season, but we've got to go through some growing pains and we've got to grow together," Rosas said on Dec. 23.
The growing pains were throbbing against the Blazers, who ran circles around the Wolves in a hair-pulling 47-point second quarter that laid bare everything that was wrong with the Wolves' defense, such as poor transition resistance and not much pushback against the pick-and-roll, with players out of position on a regular basis.
The absences of Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie don't help, but it's also hard to explain how nights like Thursday happen. It was a continuation of recent blowout losses to the Clippers, Lakers and Wizards and showed why the Wolves have the worst defensive efficiency in the NBA.
"Right now we don't have any identity," guard Ricky Rubio said. "We got to find it."
Thursday's loss was a step backward in the Wolves' quest to find an elusive win since Towns dislocated his wrist. They have now lost six straight.
"I think experience gives you [the knowledge] that if you keep working hard, things will work out," Rubio said. "But of course when you're like two or three years into the league, you don't see that. But that being said, we've got to get better, and we've got to get better now."
