An encouraging start to the season has quickly turned into frustration as the Timberwolves dropped their sixth consecutive game Wednesday night, falling 127-116 at home to the Utah Jazz.
The home drubbing at the hands of the Jazz came 48 hours after the Wolves held a team meeting after Monday’s loss in Phoenix, which was first reported by the Star Tribune’s Christopher Hine.
“We needed it,” Wiggins said of the meeting, via Hines. “We’re losing games that are important and might come back to haunt us. Just refocusing, not getting complacent. I feel like we were kind of content where we were, how we started the season.”
The loss to the Jazz could certainly haunt them in the Western Conference playoff race. Most years, a team floundering under .500 like the Wolves suddenly are at 10-14 is typically an extreme long shot to make the playoffs. But this season, the West appears top heavy as two sub-.500 teams currently control the seventh and eighth spots: Sacramento (11-13) and Phoenix (11-13), both of whom are just one game in front of Minnesota.
“In the NBA season, there’s a number of different tough times, and this is one of them for us,” head coach Ryan Saunders said Wednesday, according to ESPN.
Minnesota is 3-10 since starting 7-4, and their last four losses have seen the defense surrender at least 125 points.
Life gets no easier Friday when the Los Angeles Clippers (19-7) visit Target Center.
