Playing one-man short among lowlights in sloppy Timberwolves loss to Suns

The Timberwolves have played plenty of mindless basketball to start this season, but just when it seems like their lowlights have hit the nadir, they come up with a moment like the one in the second quarter of Wednesday's 129-117 loss to the Suns.

It was a moment that wasn't overly significant to the final score, but one that typified the frustration of watching a team that can't — or doesn't want to — get out of its own way.

After falling behind by 14 points after one quarter, the Wolves cut Phoenix's lead to eight with D'Angelo Russell set to check in, except Russell didn't check in before play resumed. Russell appeared to think he was entering for Jaylen Nowell, the free-throw shooter, but instead he was entering for Taurean Prince, who already made his way to the bench.

As the Suns came down the floor, Russell remained at the scorer's table, and Phoenix was able to hit an open three on the power play. Phoenix's lead was back to 11, and soon enough, it had an 18-point lead at halftime. The gaffe passed around social media within minutes.

"We knew what happened," Russell said about it afterward. "I mean, that's all I got."

The Suns were down Chris Paul and Cameron Johnson, but they still embarrassed the Wolves on Minnesota's home floor, the way the Knicks did Monday and Spurs did previously. The final score was window dressing for a game in which the Wolves trailed by 27.

The Suns showed what it takes to be Western Conference contenders and played with the requisite effort to win while down two key contributors. Jaden McDaniels was one of the few Wolves who showed up from beginning to end, scoring a career-high 24 on 10-for-14 shooting. The Wolves actually shot 53% for the night, but were just 33% from three-point range and committed 19 turnovers. Phoenix (8-3) also scored 18-second chance points. Devin Booker had 32 and Mikal Bridges 31.

"One of our staples is compete," Suns coach Monty Williams said. "If you don't compete, you've got no shot in this league."

The Wolves say the same things; the Suns, who were in the finals two seasons ago, actually do it.

"Sometimes you see us out there and we're playing hard, but we're not playing cohesive," said Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 11. "I think then it looks like loose energy, I don't know how you say it. It looks like that."

Loose energy, or no energy at all. It's hard to look at how they played as anything other than apathetic, especially when they keep repeating the same patterns.

"We haven't earned the right to be a good team or anything like that yet," coach Chris Finch said. "We still have to prove it. I think that's partly been a wake-up call for all of us that this has got to be a step by step and we got to get going."

The Wolves (5-7) started 4-9 last season, and there were times then it felt as helpless as this, but not as much was on the line. The team hadn't mortgaged over a half-decade's worth of first-round picks as it has this season.

They keep saying everything will take time, but patience and time don't always mix.

"There's no more time," said Anthony Edwards, who struggled to 11 points. "The time is now. We got to get going. I think we'll turn it around in Memphis [on Friday]. I think Memphis will bring it out of us."

The playoff matchup vs. the Grizzlies and the team the Wolves were last spring seem miles away from where the Wolves are now. Maybe they could learn from the Suns.

"We've been close to a championship," Williams said. "Our guys understand that to be able to even approach that, you're not going to get it by tiptoeing, you're not going to get it by jogging or doing the NBA cool thing."

The Wolves aren't even that warm.