The Minnesota Timberwolves looked like they were going to cruise to victory over the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3 on Thursday night. The Timberwolves jumped out to a 12-0 lead, led by 26 points early in the second quarter and led by 25 points with three minutes to go in the third quarter. It shouldn't be possible to lose a game like that, especially at home.

 

Instead, that's exactly what happened. While the Grizzlies deserve plenty of credit for their role in the comeback, the Timberwolves also gagged in historic fashion. You don't give up a 26-point lead with 15 minutes to play without doing everything wrong.

Let's take a closer look at what happened in the 104-95 Timberwolves loss, which now has them down 2-1 in the first-round series against Memphis.

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Anatomy of a Timberwolves collapse vs. Grizzlies

Timberwolves got outscored 50-16 to close game and 37-12 in 4th quarter

D'Angelo Russell put Minnesota up 79-54 with 3:10 to play. After that bucket, the Timberwolves scored 16 points and gave up a whopping 50 points.

The Grizzlies went on a 13-4 run to close the third quarter to make it a 16-point game heading into the final frame. Then came a 16-0 run to start the fourth quarter, making it a 21-0 run going back to the end of the third. Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch never bothered to call a timeout during any of this.

Anthony Edwards finally broke the surge with a pair of free throws, but Tyus Jones answered with a 3-pointer to give the Grizzlies their first lead of the game. They wouldn't trail again.

A truly impressive collapse:

Timberwolves shot 3-of-19 overall and 1-of-11 from 3-point range in 4th quarter

When you only score 12 points in a quarter, that means you can't buy a bucket, can't control the ball or both. The Timberwolves actually only committed three turnovers in the final frame, but they just couldn't make a damn shot. The Grizzlies' defense was ferocious, but Minnesota also totally melted down with decision-making and shot selection while also getting crushed on the boards (19-5) and getting blocked four times.

When looking at the box score, Patrick Beverley somehow took the most shots for the team in the fourth quarter. He missed all five attempts, including a trio of 3-pointers. His drive attempt that wound up getting viciously erased by Jaren Jackson Jr. with the Timberwolves down five with just over two minutes left was the perfect summation of this collapse. In no world should Patrick Beverley be taking that shot, and in no world should he be the Timberwolves' leader in shot attempts in a fourth quarter with the game on the line.

Malik Beasley also missed three 3-pointers in the final quarter and four shots overall. D'Angelo Russell missed two triples and three shots total. Anthony Edwards went 1-of-3 from 3 and missed two of his four free throws. His made 3-pointer came with 11.7 seconds left, so it helped the Timberwolves avoid a double-digit loss and meant they wouldn't go 0-of-11 from 3 in the fourth quarter. It also avoided a 37-9 fourth quarter.

Then there's Karl-Anthony Towns, who only took one shot in the fourth quarter (he made it) and didn't attempt a single free throw. He did commit a pair of turnovers, though. This is flat-out unacceptable for the best player on the team.

A KAT tamed

We're not done with KAT here. Not only did he take just one shot in the fourth quarter, but he took four shots the entire game. Towns finished with as many turnovers as shot attempts and had more fouls than shot attempts. How in the world does that happen? While the Timberwolves' game plan was obviously working for a good portion of the night, they had two different quarters with only 12 points.

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Towns was brilliant in the Game 1 upset, but he was quiet in Game 2 and largely invisible in Game 3 after a woeful performance in the play-in game against the Los Angeles Clippers. This is now three games out of four so far in this postseason where he hasn't played anywhere close to his standards. It's simply not good enough for a player of his caliber. While some blame goes to his teammates for not getting him the ball enough, the ultimate blame falls on his broad shoulders.

KAT has been so good all season for this upstart Timberwolves team, so now it's on him to rise to the challenge after this collapse. He needs to take this personally and put his stamp on Game 4. If he doesn't and Minnesota goes out meekly, there's going to be a lot of slander coming his way. There's already plenty coming after Thursday's debacle.

To sum it all up

It looks pretty bad when you put it like this:

Let's see if the Timberwolves can bounce back from this or if they're totally toast.