Clutch time is just an awful time for Timberwolves

SAN FRANCISCO — The following statistic comes with the caveat that nine games is a small sample size and could change dramatically if the Timberwolves play good basketball in the fourth quarter of just one close game.

But except for their win at Milwaukee, which seems so long ago amid a five-game losing streak, they haven't played well late in close games, and the NBA's clutch-time statistics show that in a big way.

The Wolves currently have a net rating in clutch time, defined as a game with five minutes or less remaining and the score within five points, of minus-43. That calculates the differential in points per 100 possessions, or the estimated length of a full game, in clutch time. The Wolves have the fourth-worst defensive rating in clutch situations (118.8) and the fourth-worst offense (74.1). The Wolves are a young team trying to figure out how best to operate in these situations, but the learning curve is proving to be a costly one.

"We're paid millions of dollars. We got to figure it out," center Karl-Anthony Towns said. "We got to figure it out as one. We're getting paid to figure it out. I know time is always something that is great for teams ... but no one told us when we signed up to enter the NBA … that it was going to be easy."

The clutch-time stats don't take into account the turnovers and lack of execution on offense that happened in Monday's 125-118 overtime loss when a collapse in Memphis turned a 14-point lead with 5 minutes, 23 seconds remaining into a clutch situation in the first place.

Looking back at some of those possessions during that beginning of that stretch shows carelessness on both ends of the floor.

During one sequence with the Wolves up nine and 3:30 left, Anthony Edwards had the ball past the top of the key as Towns and D'Angelo Russell tried to set up at the elbows in what the Wolves call their "horns" set. But Memphis muscled them out of position and Edwards threw a halfhearted pass that got picked off. Memphis went the other way for a layup without Towns and Russell appearing in the picture on the other end in transition defense.

Nearly a minute later with the Wolves up seven, Russell misfired on a pass in a pick and roll with Jaden McDaniels. He put his hands up asking what happened and walked back into frame on defense as Memphis went the other way again for what became a putback bucket for Kyle Anderson.

"Tried to bleed the game out and got frantic on offense and allowed them to get some stops and some easy run outs because we didn't have very good floor balance," coach Chris Finch said.

The rest of the way and then into overtime, the Wolves' half-court offense generated nothing.

The Wolves offense seems to be fine when the team gets out in transition and is able to run and spaces the floor that way. In close games, however, the game tends to slow down and becomes more measured in the halfcourt. That's a detriment to the Wolves, who are still figuring out how best to play that way, but time is not a luxury, and clutch time has been especially cruel.

"We've just got to figure out a way to close out and win these games that we've been able to create an advantage in," Finch said.