Timberwolves blow 21-point second-half lead in 127-113 loss to Atlanta

ATLANTA – This is supposed to be a different Timberwolves team, one that is a more mature group prone to fewer mental lapses, that won't relinquish games it should win and one that can rely on its defense even as the offense fluctuates.

That was the case for the Wolves over the first two games, when they had the second-best defense and worst offense in the NBA entering Monday.

But as center Rudy Gobert put it after Monday night's 127-113 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the Wolves were not just a different team Monday, they were two different teams, and that was not a good thing.

"The first half, we looked like a championship team," Gobert said. "Then second half, we looked like a high school team."

Gobert was speaking about the Wolves' offense, but he could have lumped the defense into that statement as well. After storming their way to a 79-60 halftime lead on the back of their best offensive half of the season, the Wolves gave up all of it in the third quarter, fell behind early in the fourth and never made it a contest again.

Atlanta outscored the Wolves 67-34 in the second half, while guard Dejounte Murray nearly outscored them by himself. He had 30 of his 41 points in the second half and went a perfect 8-for-8 in the third quarter as the Wolves' otherwise strong half-court defense looked vulnerable for the first time all season.

"It might've been too much focus on the past," said guard Mike Conley, whose 2-for-9, six-point effort came as a result of playing through food poisoning. "You hear a lot of people saying, 'Get off to a good start in the quarter.' We gave up leads in the past. You get that in your head and it happens sometimes. I think a lot of us need to play free."

Conley and Gobert pointed to familiar issues with the Wolves' offense being the culprit in the second half. They didn't trust their ball movement, which had been crisp during a first half in which they shot 67% and led by as many as 21 points. They didn't make the easy play and tried to force the issue, and that created a snowball effect for both the offense and defense. Anthony Edwards finished with 31 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 16. Jaden McDaniels had 12 points in his season debut, returning from a left calf injury.

"We have to find the reason why we're not able to have that consistency," Gobert said. "Each one of us individually has to look at it and see what can I do to help the team. Before thinking: What can I do to help myself? What can I do to help the team?"

Coach Chris Finch agreed with some of that for the Wolves' fourth quarter, but Finch didn't believe getting open looks was the issue in the third, when Atlanta outscored the Wolves 38-19. Finch said the Wolves finished 2-for-14 around the rim.

"Which got them loose, got them out. Of course, we couldn't contain anybody in pick-and-roll defense. Murray gets hot. Tightens up the game," Finch said. "Our finishing around the paint really, I thought, let us down in the third. We got some decent looks in there."

Finch also attributed some of the offensive struggles to Atlanta primarily switching against the Wolves in the second half. To Finch, there wasn't a lack of effort or focus coming out of halftime the way there often was last season.

"I think we all realize that in the game today, no lead is really secure," Finch said. "I didn't think that we necessarily lost focus. I do think once we missed a bunch of shots, we let our defense down. That's the biggest thing. I don't think we came out lackadaisical."

Edwards saw the game the same as Finch. Those missed shots affected everything else.

"We were just missing," Edwards said. "We went on a cold streak. They got hot, went on a run. It was impossible to stop them."

He was only exaggerating a little.