At the top of the new year, the Timberwolves either hit rock bottom, or are screaming toward it in a terminal velocity after a 116-104 loss to the Pistons.
It marked the sixth consecutive loss in a game the slumping, staggering Wolves should have won against a rebuilding Detroit team.
The autopsy showed most of the same results as many losses this season — poor rebounding and transition defense. Detroit had 24 fast-break points and 22 second-chance points. There was one sequence in the fourth quarter Detroit grabbed three offensive rebounds, which prompted booing from the Target Center crowd in the middle of a possession.
"Old demons," coach Chris Finch said. "Got outcompeted in the third. Just lifeless and not sure exactly where it comes from."
The Pistons erased all of an 18-point deficit by the end of the third quarter by outsourcing the Wolves 38-24 and stormed ahead thanks to an 11-0 run in the fourth.
The Wolves just ended an 0-4 road trip that featured tough matchups against high-caliber teams while the Wolves had players coming in and out of the lineup due to injury or illness.
They had plenty of hands on deck Saturday. Kyle Anderson (back spasms), Anthony Edwards (hip) and Rudy Gobert (illness) all came in as game-time decisions and all played. It didn't matter, especially as it pertained to the Wolves' rebounding issues.
"We just got to box out," Finch said. "I just don't know. It's the same thing all season long. Tired of saying it."