The Minnesota Timberwolves had every chance to snap their losing streak Thursday night. Instead, they let a four-point lead slip away in the final 77 seconds and walked off their home floor with a 120-115 loss to the Chicago Bulls - their fourth straight defeat. And while the scoreboard told one story, the final moments of this one told another: a team still struggling with the details that separate contenders from pretenders.
Let’s take it from the top of the collapse.
Jaden McDaniels buried a tough, contested corner three with 1:17 left, giving Minnesota a 115-111 lead. Target Center was rocking.
It felt like the Wolves had weathered the storm. But the next defensive possession exposed the same cracks that have been showing up far too often during this skid.
Ten seconds into the Bulls’ possession, Josh Giddey zipped a cross-court pass to a wide-open Coby White in the corner. Anthony Edwards, caught ball-watching, was late to rotate. His closeout was half-hearted, and White made him pay, drilling the three to cut the lead to one.
“He stopped short,” head coach Chris Finch said postgame. “He’s got to get all the way out there with a better contest.”
Edwards didn’t shy away from the mistake in the locker room. “Josh Giddey made a good pass.
I wasn’t expecting it, so I reacted,” he said. “Bones said it was like I was stuck in quicksand - and when [White] caught it, it felt like it.
I couldn’t really get a contest. I’m going to get cussed out for that one.”
That kind of accountability is admirable, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was a costly lapse by Minnesota’s best player in a crucial moment. And unfortunately for the Wolves, it wasn’t the only one.
On the next trip down, Julius Randle threw an ill-advised pass that led to a turnover. The Wolves dodged a bullet when Jalen Smith missed a follow-up shot and Rudy Gobert swatted Giddey’s attempt, but the possession was emblematic of Minnesota’s late-game struggles: rushed, disjointed, and lacking poise.
Still clinging to a one-point lead with 38 seconds left, Randle tried to squeeze a pass to McDaniels, who managed to corral it but lost control near the sideline. The ball went out of bounds, and although replays showed McDaniels never touched it, the Wolves were out of challenges.
The Bulls took full advantage. Out of the timeout, Tre Jones sliced through the defense for a go-ahead layup.
Edwards didn’t rotate in time to help, and Donte DiVincenzo, Jones’ primary defender, was a step too slow. Gobert tried to recover, but the damage was done.
Chicago led 116-115 with 30 seconds left.
On the next possession, Edwards brought the ball up, dribbled for 12 seconds, and launched a contested three without a single pass. It missed. The Bulls grabbed the rebound, hit two free throws, and suddenly the Wolves were down three with nine seconds to go.
Out of the timeout, Edwards had one more chance. He fired up a quick three off the inbound - another miss. Two more Bulls free throws sealed it.
In total, Chicago closed the game on a 9-0 run. Minnesota’s final four possessions? Two turnovers from Randle and two isolation threes from Edwards - neither of which hit the mark.
This wasn’t about talent. It wasn’t about effort, either. It was about focus - or the lack thereof.
After the game, Finch didn’t sugarcoat the problem. “Our ability to contain drives right now is really hurting us. Discipline on the closeouts, over-helping in places we didn’t want to over-help in, and our readiness to contain the next drive.”
That’s the kind of defensive breakdown that doesn’t show up in a box score but shows up in the win-loss column.
Julius Randle echoed his coach’s sentiment. “We need to follow the game plan and [have] attention to detail,” he said.
When asked what it’s going to take to stop the skid, he didn’t hesitate: “A lot of effort. We got into this together, so we got to get out of it together, too.
So a lot of effort and focus, a pick-up in intensity.”
The Wolves have proven they can hang with the league’s elite - wins over the Thunder and Spurs are proof of that. But games like this one, against a team they should beat, are the ones that will define their season.
The trade deadline is fast approaching, and there will be plenty of talk about adding bench depth or tweaking the rotation. But no trade can fix a lack of focus in crunch time.
Minnesota is still just three games back of the two-seed in the West. The sky isn’t falling.
But if they want to be taken seriously come playoff time, these are the games they have to close out. The next test?
A matchup with the Warriors - a team that will demand their full attention. And after Thursday night, the Timberwolves should know better than anyone: attention to detail isn’t optional.
It’s everything.