Just 24 hours removed from a somewhat thrilling comeback victory that saw the Minnesota Timberwolves finish the game on a 22-0 run to defeat the Houston Rockets, the hometown team attempted to build off that momentum on Saturday against the same opponent.

Spoiler alert: they did not.

Considering the only “statement” that was made on “Statement Saturday” by the guys in green was “let’s mail this one in,” I find it only fitting that this lowly blogger do the same.

The Good

I’m sorry, but this is all I’ve got for you tonight (first spin, I promise):

www.tankathon.com

The Bad

As I mentioned the last time the Timberwolves got run off the floor — no, not THAT time, the other time (no not THAT time either) — losing in blowout fashion usually means most of everything that happened was bad. With that said, Saturday night was no different.

Minnesota did next to nothing well against the Rockets on Saturday night, and the final score reflected that. It’s fine to remind people every now and then that this team is young and is trying to adjust to a new head coach on the fly, but it’s also more than fair to remind people that getting dismantled on your home court by a team with less notable players than Gonzaga University is downright embarrassing. Some nights you simply don’t have it, and that’s OK (to an extent), but professional athletes usually show some morsel of heart or pride in a game like tonight, and the Wolves simply chose to display neither.

Anthony Edwards continued his concerning struggles on the defensive end. NBA Star Malik Beasley displayed all sorts of rust as he returned from his 12-game suspension. Ricky Rubio resorted back to the disastrous shooting slump that he rang in the new year with. Jordan McLaughlin looked flat out bad. Karl-Anthony Towns, who may have filled up the stat sheet, made little to no impact in moments when the team really needed a stop or a score. Naz Reid? Nowhere to be found.

Performances like the one we saw Saturday night are sometimes ones that lead to a coaching staff simply throwing out the film, getting a good night’s sleep, and trying to start fresh the following day. I’m not sure if that’s what Chris Finch will do (or should do) after this latest loss to the Rockets, but after back-to-back dismal performances against the second worst team in the league, the onus now falls directly on him to figure out how to turn this around for the rest of the season.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Game Highlights