Losing streaks like the one Minnesota is on die hard.
The Timberwolves found that out the hard way Friday night at Target Center.
Minnesota out-rebounded Houston 52-34, tallied four more assists than the Rockets, got a double-double from Karl-Anthony Towns, a productive night from Andrew Wiggins and generally balanced scoring all around.
And it still lost 131-124.
In the midst of Minnesota’s late charge to try to rally past Houston, Rockets guard Eric Gordon caught a pass in the corner. Caught in mid-air and needing to avoid a travel, he simply threw a laser up at the rim. It went in to extend Houston’s lead to eight with just three minutes to play.
Ballgame.
You can largely outplay a team like Houston, it still just might out-talent you. That’s what happened to Minnesota (15-30) on Friday.
James Harden wasn’t even effective — the all-star guard finished with just 12 points on 3 for 13 shooting as Josh Okogie harassed him for much of the night — but Russell Westbrook entirely took the game over for the Rockets. The former league MVP Houston (28-16) traded Chris Paul for this offseason finished with 45 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. He did all that without attempting a 3-pointer shot — the most points scored by a guard without taking a 3-pointer since Dwyane Wade did so in 2007.
On nights like this one, there is no need for Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders to skewer his players at halftime or bemoan their shortcomings in his post-game press conference. The fact is Minnesota played well enough to win, and just didn’t.
“We didn’t come out with the win, but we fought very well and competed very well,” Towns said.
Towns briefly exited Friday’s contest, but returned in the fourth quarter. The big man finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds, while Wiggins had 28 points and five rebounds.
“I put all of myself out there on that court every night, and I really wanted to find some extra because I wanted to stop the losing streak,” Towns said. “That’s been something that’s been on my mind. Obviously, life doesn’t work the same when you’re on a losing streak so I was trying to get my life back on track with a winning streak tonight.”
Don’t worry, Towns told reporters after the game, that fall won’t keep the big man out for 15 games, as a sprained knee did earlier this season. He’ll be back on the floor Saturday at Target Center when Minnesota tries again to snap its losing streak against Oklahoma City.
He thinks Minnesota will be successful if it brings the same intensity it played with Friday. But compiling those types of performances hasn’t happened often this season. There have been plenty of games in which the Wolves haven’t performed with the effort and intensity necessary to win in this league. One fiery performance doesn’t make up for other lackluster showings.
“We’ve just now got to show consistency,” Towns said. “That’s been our biggest problem, and we’ve got to do that tomorrow against the Thunder.”
Plus, as Towns noted, if Minnesota has any hope of making the playoffs — it’s now six games back of Memphis for the eighth-and-final playoff spot in the West — it has to go on a run, and soon.
“This is a league where the games come quick. If you fail, you gotta fail quickly,” Saunders said. “There’s a game tomorrow. We have to get right back at it and know that the things that hurt us, especially early in this game, they shouldn’t hurt us tomorrow. We need to address those. That’s the turnovers, that’s taking care of the basketball. Those types of things.”