It’s now or never if the Timberwolves hope to reach the playoffs for just the third time in 19 seasons.
Despite leading most of the way, sometimes by double-digits, Minnesota went straight in the tank in its play-in overtime loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. Now, the Timberwolves have to beat the winner of the Thunder-Pelicans game. That game is Wednesday. The Timberwolves play again Friday.
“We expected to win this game,” point guard Mike Conley told reporters. “It’s disappointing to lose. We had a lead and let it slip. This should be a different postgame speech. … We’ve just got to be mentally and physically more engaged at the end, and we’ve got a couple of days to work on it.”
The Timberwolves’ offense went markedly silent in the final five or six minutes of regulation. When they did get a decent look at the basket, the shots just didn’t drop.
The best Minnesota can do now is the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and a series with the top-seeded Nuggets.
“It’s disappointing. I feel like we put a lot of effort in. I thought we fought, we put a lot of effort in, we were very scrappy,” center/forward Karl-Anthony Towns said. “It’s difficult when you leave without a win and you feel you played good enough to win.”
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