Sequels are rarely as good as the original and so was the case Wednesday for the Timberwolves against the Raptors in a 103-91 loss.
Wolves' home winning streak ends with loss to Toronto
The team headed into the All-Star break with a disappointing defeat.
February 17, 2022 at 3:36PM
A night after Karl-Anthony Towns saved them from some dreadful shooting with a brilliant fourth quarter and overtime, the Wolves clanked away and clanked away from three-point range throughout the night with no last-act rescue as they lost at Target Center for the first time in eight games in 2022.
The Wolves finished 10-for-42 from deep while some of their top scorers, Anthony Edwards and D'Angelo Russell, went silent. Edwards, who was battling a sprained right ankle, had six points and didn't make a field goal on eight attempts. Russell shot just 2-for-11 and scored eight.
The Wolves 2-for-16 from three-point range in the fourth quarter as a two-point lead entering the final frame turned into an easy Toronto victory.
"We missed a ton of wide-open shots," coach Chris Finch said. "I thought we generated a lot of good looks."
Finch has said he is tired of hearing how tired the Wolves are as they head into the All-Star break. To hear Towns tell it, fatigue was a factor in the game and in the last week that nobody could deny.
"You can just see the fatigue in us," said Towns, who had 24 points. "I think the shots you can see were real short. Just free throws were short. That fatigue caught up to us."
Former Apple Valley High School standout Gary Trent Jr. scored 30 points for a Toronto team that was without All-Star guard Fred VanVleet.
Trent had 10 points in the fourth, including multiple key buckets down the stretch to send the Wolves into the All-Star break with a 31-28 record.
In those 59 games, the Wolves have taken the most three-pointers per game in the NBA, and a night like Wednesday isn't going to deter them from that system. They are going to keep firing away.
"There's no correlation to what just happened to what's going to happen in shooting," FInch said. "You just got to let them keep going."
But even with the shooting struggles, this was a game the Wolves could have and probably should have won. Throughout the season, guard Patrick Beverley (10 points), who was one of only three Wolves players in double figures, has struck an optimistic tone after losses.
Beverley wasn't thrilled with how Wednesday went.
"As a leader of the team, I have to prepare these guys for the long push," he said. "Obviously it's not about Toronto, it's not about Sacramento. The position we're in, we're likely to play the Golden States, the Phoenix Suns, if the playoffs started today. When you play teams like that, all the small things matter. That's what I'm trying to show everybody."
Beverley, who signed a one-year extension this week, said the Wolves can slip in their game plan preparation at times. They are also trying to incorporate multiple defensive coverages, like more switching and a 1-2-2 zone they deployed at times Wednesday.
"That happens with a young team, get lost in the game plan, knowing what to do, knowing what not to do," Beverley said. "I think we can be better there."
The Wolves, who are in the No. 7 slot in the Western Conference, have a week off and 23 more games to get better. Beverley said the Wolves can't get complacent with what they have accomplished so far, especially if they want to avoid the play-in tournament for the No. 7 and 8 seeds.
"We're in position where a lot of people on this team have never been …" Beverley said. "We just don't want to be complacent and settle with obviously just a 7 seed. We want to catch Denver. We want to catch Dallas. We want to catch those teams and in order to do that we need to be consistent offensively and defensively."
High-profile victims in Minnesota include Mike Conley of the Timberwolves and Twins co-owner Jim Pohlad.
