The Minnesota Timberwolves looked like they might be competitive in the Western Conference following a 10-8 start to the season.
Karl-Anthony Towns was playing like arguably the best big man in the league. Meanwhile, Andrew Wiggins looked to finally dismiss any lingering notions he is a “bust.”
But things have not gone according to plan. Towns missed about a month due to injury between the middle of December and early January, and Wiggins slumped tremendously.
Towns' return has not saved Minnesota's season. The Timberwolves have lost nine in a row, and they figure to be “sellers” by the February trade deadline.
There is plenty of reason for frustration, and Towns and Wiggins both agree the Timberwolves have lost some of their “edge” as of late (via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic):
“I think there’s some games that we’ve had where, even with me playing, or with me on the sideline, obviously recently, I just didn’t think we competed or were aggressive enough, and I thought we were tonight,” Towns said. “So obviously it’s great to see. We’ve just now got to show consistency. That’s been our biggest problem.”
“I feel like at the start of the year we were such underdogs and we played with more of a chip on our shoulder,” Wiggins said. “And then we got complacent. Some people got hurt. I feel like we kind of lost our edge a little bit.”
Aside from a blowout loss to the Houston Rockets on Jan. 11, the Timberwolves have actually been playing their opponents pretty tough. Six of their last losses have come by single digits.
That said, Minnesota have not been able to find a way to get stops on the defensive end, and their competitiveness is seemingly waning even as Towns continues to put up massive numbers.
It is unknown what is to come in the next couple of weeks, but rookie head coach Ryan Saunders will hope to reinvigorate his roster in an effort to get back on track.
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