ATLANTA – In the first half of Monday's 127-113 loss to the Hawks, it seemed like the Timberwolves had finally unlocked their offense.
They put on a display of beautiful basketball, sharing the ball, getting open shots and hitting more than they missed. They scored 79 points on 67% shooting. Anthony Edwards had 20 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 13, and the two of them combined to shoot 14-for-17 in the first half.
In the second half, the Wolves opened by missing looks at the rim, and then a familiar problem came back. The ball got "sticky," and too often Edwards and Towns took it upon themselves to get the Wolves jump-started. They were a combined 6-for-21 in the second half (Towns was 1-for-9) while Edwards had four turnovers.
Edwards was asked why he thought it was so hard for the offense to get back in rhythm once it loses it.
"I don't know, man. That's a good question," Edwards said. "I guess we'll figure it out when we watch film. Like I said, I think we just went cold. Getting good shots, just weren't making them."
Edwards was referencing some of the looks the Wolves got to open the third as their 19-point halftime lead slipped away. Coach Chris Finch said the Wolves finished 2-for-14 around the rim in the third, and that contributed to their downfall. But it wasn't the whole story.
They still entered the fourth quarter tied, and that was when the offense didn't generate good looks. The Wolves scored two points in the opening 5 minutes, 49 seconds of the quarter, and four of their 15 points in the fourth came from end-of-bench reserves, who killed off the final minute.
To Rudy Gobert, there were some problems familiar to last season's Wolves offense; primarily, playing too much hero ball.
"It's going to take some work and keep getting better at this. We know it's right there in front of us," Gobert said. "Maturity. It's maturity that when we're tired, when things don't go a way, keep doing the little things that's going to help the team. Before thinking myself, myself, myself. Think the team, the team, the team. Everyone's going to shine when we do that."
Gobert suggested taking some of the pressure off Edwards and Towns by playing through playmakers such as Kyle Anderson and Mike Conley. Except on Monday, Conley wasn't his typical self because of food poisoning. He had six points on 2-for-9 shooting.
"Tonight was a little bit tougher for me," Conley said. "I was trying to let everybody else kind of do it. Normally, I think I would've just went and got the ball and got us into something good and got Ant into actions without him having to create it on his own. It is a lot to ask [of Edwards].
"I've seen every coverage, I know how to get guys the ball at that time of the game. So I can just do a better job of being assertive in those moments and taking it upon myself to take the reins and run with it."
Even in their win against Miami, the Wolves didn't play great offensively outside of Naz Reid, who had 25 points in that game. Towns and Edwards have yet to put it all together for an entire game, just like the offense as a whole.
"Of course, at times, we want them to be aggressive and to be who they are," Gobert said. "But I think within the flow of the game, they're going to be able to be even more successful. It takes time, and we got to keep working and keep looking at it collectively and individually and willing to get out of our comfort zone."
