Beating playoff-bound teams is still something the Wolves need to do on a regular basis to turn fans into true believers that they can make a run this season and advance to the postseason for a second year in a row.
That didn’t happen Saturday night in a 119-103 home loss to the Boston Celtics.
“That’s a playoff-bound team. We’re trying to get back in the playoffs again, so games like that just test where you’re at,” Wolves forward Taj Gibson said, via ESPN. “We’ve got a couple more coming up, but that one still leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”
Boston’s balanced attack was led by a resurgent Gordon Hayward, who scored 30 points to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists, and he scored 11 points down the stretch after the Wolves rallied to cut Boston’s lead to 103-101 with 3:31 left in the game.
It was the first time Hayward, who suffered a horrific ankle injury in the 2017-18 season opener, since March 2017 in a playoff game when he still played for the Utah Jazz.
Derrick Rose, who might be competing with Hayward for the Comeback Player of the Year award, led the Wolves with 26 points off the bench.
Another test against a likely playoff-bound team is Monday when the Wolves host James Harden and the Houston Rockets, who knocked them out of the playoffs in five games last season.
