Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 62 points on Monday night, but the Minnesota Timberwolves still stunningly lost 128-125 to the Charlotte Hornets. After the game, Anthony Edwards said the whole team immaturely focused on getting Towns as many points as possible instead of the game itself.
“Once he hit his first 6-7 shots, I think everybody was pretty much just trying to see him go get 100 points,” Edwards said. “I know I was… Immature as f*** tonight.”
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Edwards said all 14 players just wanted to see Towns get to like 80 points and the focus just completely went away from trying to win. The 22-year-old believes they will learn from this, and you would assume that the next time they’re in a similar situation, there won’t be a repeat.
The Timberwolves seemed on course for an easy win when they went up 107-89 toward the end of the third quarter here. What followed, though, was an embarrassing fourth-quarter collapse, as the Hornets won it 36-18 to record a stunning comeback win.
Towns, who had been on fire in the first three quarters, going just 2-10 from the field in the quarter was a big reason why. Edwards also was just 1-4 from the field in the period as the two stars for the Timberwolves came up short when it mattered most.
Edwards ended the night with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists, as Minnesota dropped to 30-13 on the season. It was their second-straight defeat and they will drop to the second spot in the Western Conference if the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch: “It Was An Absolute Disgusting Performance Of Defense”
While the offense collapsing in the fourth quarter was concerning for Minnesota, the bigger issue here was their defense. It was what head coach Chris Finch pointed to as well when asked how they let this game slip away.
“It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball all the way through the game,” Finch said. “So, really didn’t slip away. It had been there from the jump. This is what happens when you have this type of approach.”
The Timberwolves have had a great argument to be regarded as the best defensive team in the NBA this season. Their defensive rating of 119.0 is the best in the league, but they were ripped apart time and time again by the lowly Hornets. Charlotte shot 56.8% from the field in this game and more often than not, you’ll lose if you allow an opponent to be that efficient.
With this loss, the Timberwolves are now 8-7 in their last 15 games. At the start of the season, they looked like the best team in the West but we are starting to see a bit of a dip in their level of play now. While it isn’t time to ring the alarm bell, the likes of Edwards, Towns, and Rudy Gobert have to ensure that this train doesn’t go off the track completely.
They do have a relatively easy run of games coming up against the Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, and the San Antonio Spurs, so you would expect them to return to winning ways. Then again, the Hornets were supposed to be cannon fodder, and they laid an egg here.
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