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The Minnesota Timberwolves are not yet assured of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Depending on how things shake out for the rest of the regular season, the Timberwolves could find themselves out of the playoff picture in the end. As of the moment, Tom Thibodeau and his team is just seventh in the West with a 44-34 record following a bad 121-97 loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
Tom Thibodeau did not wait long to put his own team on blast with regards to the Timberwolves’ lack of sense of urgency and lethargic play, particularly on defense, against Utah, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Thibs: “It's hard to win if you don't play defense. It's about competition, competing on every play. … What we did tonight wasn't good enough. Wasn't even close.”
The Timberwolves’ head coach had every reason to gripe there. Like what he said, Minnesota’s defensive effort was obviously subpar. Utah is averaging just 103.7 points per game this season, but the Jazz managed to score more than 120 points on a fantastic 60.5 field goal shooting percentage. The Jazz hit 11 three-pointers on 28 attempts from deep and also scored 11 points in transition compared to Minnesota’s four fast-break points.
Thibodeau has always been known as a defensive guru, so his frustration was perfectly understandable. Not one of Minnesota’s starters against Utah had a positive plus-minus in the game with Nemanja Bjelica and Karl-Anthony Towns each finishing with a plus-minus of -21. Obviously, the Timberwolves are missing the services of the team’s defensive anchor in Jimmy Butler, who remains out with a knee injury, though he is closing in on a return.
On the season, the Timberwolves are just 18th in the NBA with 107.7 points allowed per game.
