Wolves

Timberwolves falter in overtime, lose 132-126 to Utah

In a game that featured 15 lead changes and seven ties, the Wolves could not withstand the Jazz.

By Kent Youngblood

October 22, 2022 at 4:49AM

(TNS - TNS/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It was a similar script with a flipped ending.

And that's not good for the Timberwolves.

In a 132-126 overtime loss to Utah — surprisingly undefeated Utah — at Target Center on Friday night, the Wolves played much like they did in Wednesday's season-opening victory over Oklahoma City.

The Cliff's Notes version: Smooth offense to start, big lead early, mid-game swoon. Only unlike Wednesday, the Wolves weren't able to bring the curtain down on another victory.

"It's disappointing,'' said Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 27 points with eight rebounds. "We didn't play our best game at all.''

This time? A 41-26 first quarter. A 17-point lead at one point. A 16-point lead with just over 5 minutes left in the second quarter, followed by about 12 minutes' worth of collapse that saw the Jazz outscore the Wolves 36-13 while forging a third-quarter lead.

Down seven with 1:54 left in regulation, the Wolves rallied to force overtime on D'Angelo Russell's bank shot off a pick and roll with 4.4 seconds left.

But the home team couldn't close the door. Towns opened the OT with a basket. The Wolves led with 2:45 left on Towns' put-back of his own miss.

But Mike Conley's jumper with 1:01 left in OT put the Jazz up for good.

Rudy Gobert (nine points, 23 rebounds) missed two free throws with 34.3 seconds left against his old team that could have tied the score. Then Lauri Markkanen hit a bucket to ice the game.

"It was a little like a carbon copy of the other day,'' Wolves coach Chris Finch said. "We lost focus in the second quarter. Didn't take the stuff that was there. Came out flat in the third. And then the ball got sticky again.''

There are a few things the Wolves need to work out. Ball movement is one of them. The other is perimeter defense and figuring out who, other than Gobert, is going to rebound.

The Jazz hit 20 of 50 three-pointers (40%), with Jordan Clarkson (29 points) going 7-for-12 and Kelly Olynyk (21 points) going 5-for-8. Markkanen (24 points) had two.

BOXSCORE: Utah 132, Wolves 126 (OT)

Indeed, Towns said, stickiness aside, the Wolves had enough offense to win. It was the defense. The Wolves were loose on the perimeter and didn't get back enough against a Jazz team that scored 24 points on the break.

"We've got to do a better job of making it more physical,'' Towns said. "Making it more uncomfortable taking those shots.''

Said Finch: "We could have been way tighter on them. They want to spread us out. We have to compete through screens a little harder. We gave them too much separation."

This was a reunion game of sorts. The Wolves traded several players — including Malik Beasley (15 points off the bench) and Jarred Vanderbilt, among others, along with a number of draft picks — for Gobert over the summer. Chalk this one up for Utah.

The Wolves had a 61-54 edge in rebounding. But Gobert didn't get enough help.

"This is our second game together,'' Russell said. "That's not an excuse. But you'll have lapses like that. Plays like that. Things don't look like they're supposed to look. We need to get some games under our belt. We'll figure out how to play with each other. And for each other."

To Finch, that last part is the key.

"We just talked about that a little bit,'' he said. "We have a lot of guys who want to be closers. Sometimes when you have talent, you let the game decide how it will unfold by making the simple play to the open man."