Minnesota Timberwolves winning streak halted at 5.5 games

The Minnesota Timberwolves tip off tonight with the Memphis Grizzlies with a nearly smooth and balanced 10-11 record but getting there was anything but smooth and balanced.

Whenever a long freight train pulls away from the station, the motion that happens next is anything but a smooth event. The series of the train’s engines pulling that long series of linked cars forward is not smooth. Instead, the motion is a series of starts and stops as the train takes on the increased weight of each additional train car that suddenly is being pulled forward. That type of start-stop motion is precisely what the Minnesota Timberwolves are experiencing right now.

The Timberwolves have suffered two three-game losing streaks. The same team has enjoyed a 5.5-game winning streak as well. Wait, what? There is no such thing as a 5.5-game winning streak in the NBA, or in any professional competitive sport. Ah . . ., let me explain.

The Hornets hand the Timberwolves an unexpected loss

The Timberwolves faced the Charlotte Hornets, a team that is struggling to find success this season. On Friday, November 25, that struggle appeared to be in vain once more. The Timberwolves had managed to take a 62-52 halftime lead, and the game appeared to be completely out of reach for the Hornets to make any sort of comeback against the red-hot Minnesota Timberwolves.

Apparently, nobody sent Charlotte Hornets shooting guard Kelly Oubre Jr. the memo, because he led his team to a shocking 39-point scoring outburst in the third quarter while holding the Timberwolves to a mere 21 points. That lone quarter flipped the Hornets from trailing by 10 points at halftime, to leading by eight points by the end of the third quarter.  While the Timberwolves tried to rally in the fourth quarter, the hometown Hornets held on to hand the Timberwolves their ninth defeat.

The Timberwolves would next fall to the Golden State Warriors (11-11) and the Washington Wizards (11-10). Had the Timberwolves won that game that was clearly in their grasp, who knows how the team may have played in the next two. But just like that freight train, the Timberwolves’ forward momentum has stopped, and the engines of this team need to exert more power to get everything moving forward once more.