Minnesota Timberwolves: Quick reaction to ugly loss in Phoenix

The Minnesota Timberwolves lost their fourth-straight game on Saturday night in ugly fashion to the Phoenix Suns, the team with the worst record in the entire NBA.

There’s no other way around it: the Minnesota Timberwolves are an awful road team. And there aren’t many easy road games on the upcoming schedule, either, so it isn’t likely to change any time soon.

Two months into the season, the Wolves do not have a road win against a Western Conference opponent (0-11). Overall, they’re 2-12 on the road.

The Phoenix Suns, who entered the game with a league-worst record of 5-24, beat the Wolves with relative ease on Saturday night, using an 11-0 fourth quarter run to put Minnesota away and send them to their fourth-straight loss.

The last four games have been ugly, with the Wolves losing by an average margin of 8.75 points. There have been plenty of issues, including starters missing games (Robert Covington missed the Portland loss and Taj Gibson was out on Saturday in Phoenix), but there isn’t much to feel good about after the loss to the Suns outside of a mostly dominant performance from Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 28 points (21 in the first half), 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Derrick Rose was fantastic, scoring 25 points on 16 shots and adding a pair of steals in 33 minutes off the bench.

The Wolves led for much of the first half but were never able to build a lead of more than a few points. They were only up by two at halftime, and allowed the Suns to utterly dominate the second half.

Phoenix slowly surpassed the Wolves in the third quarter, leading heading into the final frame for only the seventh time all season.

The lead was still only three points at the start of the fourth quarter and the Wolves had ample opportunity to surge ahead. But the bench unit scuffled mightily and allowed the Suns to continue to build a modest lead. By the time the majority of the starters reentered the game for Minnesota, the lead had reached double digits.

The damage had been done, and the Wolves simply could not string together enough consecutive stops and limit the Suns’ second-chance points to stay close. Phoenix kept the Wolves at arm’s length and pulled away late.

So, what’s going on with the Wolves, and how can they fix their myriad issues? We’ll be back later in the day on Sunday to explore some of the deeper issues that have gone on during yet another oh-fer of a road trip.