DENVER – Gorgui Dieng could joke about it a day later, but in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's 107-99 Timberwolves loss against New Orleans, Dieng was so upset during a timeout that he smashed a water bottle, causing liquid to go everywhere in the bench area.
Dieng flashed a smile when asked Thursday if that was the first bottle he ever broke, but he added multiple times that he was ticked off, except he used a not-so-fit-for print variation of ticked.
"It happens," Dieng said. "Sometimes, people lose it."
Dieng was upset with himself and upset at how the Wolves were playing Wednesday, when they dropped their eighth consecutive game to a team that had lost 13 in a row coming into Target Center. Ending their slump isn't going to get easier. They embark on another four-game road trip beginning with a game against the Nuggets on Friday, and Karl-Anthony Towns is in danger of missing his second consecutive game because of a left knee injury. Towns, along with Jarrett Culver (flu-like symptoms), did not practice after the Wolves landed in Denver.
The Wolves season, which began so promisingly at 10-8, is in danger of spiraling downward on this road trip, especially if Towns can't play in multiple games.
Dieng, one of the most veteran Wolves, wasn't mincing words Thursday, saying the current streak has been hard to take.
"Sometimes you lose and you got to keep our composure, especially me and everybody else," he said. "It's hard. It's the NBA. Nothing is given easy. … Early in the season, I think we had a new system teams didn't know. They sleep on us. We beat everybody, and now we drew attention to ourselves. We've just got to be more focused."
But Dieng, coach Ryan Saunders and veteran guard Shabazz Napier were quick to point out the losing hasn't affected how the Wolves relate to one another on and off the court. Those relationships, they said, are still intact.