Minnesota Timberwolves’ lack of heart showed in loss to Knicks

The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered another excruciating loss on Monday night at Target Center to the New York Knicks. It was their sixth loss of the season, and it moved their overall record back below .500 to 5-6. The Wolves now sit at 10th place in the Western Conference.

The early season struggles show no signs of slowing down for this team. After getting back on track against the Rockets a few days prior, the Timberwolves hoped to pick up back-to-back wins for what would have been just the second time this season. But their growing problems cropped up yet again, and they looked sluggish as they fell at home to an inferior team.

Minnesota has now lost four of their last five games after starting the season 4-2. While it’s still too early to write the Wolves’ entire season off, there are some major and legitimate concerns around this group that are only becoming louder and clearer by the day. Arguably the biggest? Their lack of heart.

Timberwolves’ lack of heart is becoming increasingly concerning

There are a lot of qualities of a team worthy of being labeled an NBA championship contender. It may be that they have talented players, are well-coached, or perhaps have prior championship experience. But one thing a championship-caliber team has never lacked is heart, hustle, or plain old courage and determination.

The 2022-23 Minnesota Timberwolves have showed an astonishing lack of any of these qualities. Anthony Edwards echoed that sentiment in the team’s postgame press conference Monday night.

“We just play soft, man,” said Edwards. “Teams just coming in like, ‘We’re going to take their heart.’ And that’s what’s going on. We’re down 20 every game.”

He isn’t wrong, either. Minnesota has been down by at least 18 points in five of their six losses this season. There have certainly been some personnel inconsistencies early on for the Timberwolves, but nothing that should warrant the type of lackadaisicalness we’ve been seeing from them.

More uninspired play will doom Timberwolves’ season

This development is especially surprising considering hard-nosed grit and determination was one of the main qualities the 2021-22 Minnesota Timberwolves team was built on. The fact that this current iteration of the Wolves struggles so much in that department is hugely disappointing.

However, it is important to reiterate that Minnesota’s shortcomings are more about effort than about talent, because this remains an extremely talented bunch. Things like Anthony Edwards standing around with his hands on his hips during a play? Things like the Timberwolves getting beaten in hustle stats night in and night out? Those things can be fixed.

In short, this team is on par talent-wise with some of the best teams in the NBA. Naturally, it was always going to take some time for this roster of players to learn how to be effective as a unit. Some road bumps were to be expected.

But the lack of heart they’ve showcased is something that’s simply indefensible. No matter the level of competition, if the Timberwolves continue to take the floor looking like they just rolled out of bed, it’s going to be a long season in Minnesota.