Is anyone really surpised?
Just a few after an insane overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets on Christmas, the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Brooklyn Nets in an obvious let down spot.
While the Nets may appear to be an easy win on the surface, they have been playing a lot better basketball. After starting the season with a 3-16 record, they have rattled of wins in six of thier last nine games coming into the night on the back of the league’s best defensive net rating in the month of December.
All
of that culminated in one of the Wolves’ worst performances of the year. Their defense was unable to stop the Nets at any point during the game, giving 66 total points in the paint, while Brooklyn shot 79.5 percent on their two-point shots.
Even when the Wolves would get a high-energy play, like a thunderous dunk by Jaden McDaniels over Nicolas Claxton, it would fail to affect anything on the other side of the court.
The game started out like many have this month for the Wolves. They fell behind early, not playing with the requsit energy and execution needed to get a win against an NBA team. Unlike previous games, though, the Wolves did not find another gear late in the game to turn the game around as they outscored 61-44 in the second half.
It’s been a pattern with the Timberwolves for many years that they do not bring the same level of intensity when they play a lesser team. Add in the fact that Brooklyn, as of late, isn’t really even that bad of a team, and tonight was a perfect storm that caught the Wolves off-guard in the least surpsing way for those that follow this franchise night to night.
The Wolves lost by a final score of 123-107, a deficit that would have been much larger if the Nets shot better than 27.5 percent on their shots from beyond the arc. Anthony Edwards had a solid enough night offensely, putting up 28 points and seven rebounds. Julius Randle struggled the most on the Wolves, scoring only 13 points, but did have 11 assists.
The NBA season is long and no single loss can truly define a team, but the level on inconsistency the Wolves have shown it just not sustainable. While the bad teams do go away by the time the Playoffs roll around, the habits a team form during the regular season agianst any opponent do carry-over into the postseason.
Luckily for the Wolves, it’s only December and they still have more than four months to figure it all out. For now though, it’s impossible to even know what version of the Timberwolves you are going to get on any give night.
This story will be updated throughout the night after coach and player media availabilities.
Up Next
The Timberwolves now head out on a four-game road trip, their longest of the season so far and tied for the longest on this season’s schedule. It starts in the Windy City against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. The game begins at 7:00 PM CT, airing on FanDuel Sports Network.
