Tom Thibodeau’s demeanor after the game said it all — he’s sick of this. The Minnesota Timberwolves head coach and president of basketball operations has seen this before: a halftime lead blown in the third quarter, a valiant comeback and ultimately a loss.
“The way we finished, the discipline that’s necessary — all three games on the road were winnable. Five minutes to go in each one of those games, we had a chance to win them,” he said.
“We’re trying to trick people, and you’re not gonna win trying to trick people.”
By tricking people, he’s referring to flops at the end of the game. Not only are the Wolves not tricking the officials, or the other team, but in front of a national audience on ESPN, they revealed that they still are not maintaining that connectedness that Thibodeau covets late in games. They’re still coming undone in crunch time.
“It takes discipline,” said Thibodeau. “It takes everyone doing their job.”
As usual many of the Wolves players had strong individual efforts. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, his 53rd double-double, surpassing his total from his rookie season. Andrew Wiggins had 22 points, and Shabazz Muhammad had 18.
But Minnesota squandered a 51-42 halftime lead, and Kawhi Leonard, who had two points in the first half, finished with 22. LaMarcus Aldridge led San Antonio with 26, and after three quarters the Spurs led 73-67.
“The ball pressure. Turned it over. Fouled,” Thibodeau said curtly, his frustration bubbling to the surface after his team gave up 35 points on 23 turnovers in the game. “Not going our way. Got the lead late, didn’t hold on.”
Unlike the Golden State Warriors game, Minnesota failed to capitalize on a high-profile game at home. The national audience saw what many local fans have seen all year long.
“Well, the intent is to try to win. But we’re mistakingly making things up, and so the other guys don’t know what the other is doing, and it’s leading to mistakes,” Thibodeau said for the umpteenth time.
“We have to be able to count on each other. When the pressure is greatest, you have to be at your best. You have to be able to execute when the pressure is turned up.”
They didn’t tonight, and this late into the season, that is a disappointment.
Here is the Fox Sports North feed of Thibodeau’s press conference:
Muhammad said the team beat itself by turning the ball over tonight. “We had 23 turnovers,” he said. “We beat ourselves on that end. That’s a tough one to lose because we had that game the whole time.”
Towns, wearing a “Wolves” hockey jersey, offered a long explanation of where the team is and what the need to do to execute better down the stretch.
And Wiggins offered his thoughts on the balance between making a play and staying disciplined late in games. “You just have to play basketball,” he said. “Need to execute the plays, but at the end of the day you’re a basketball player. If you see something open, you’re on the court playing and you’re going to go for it.”
