Timberwolves woes continue in 114-103 loss at Memphis

When the Timberwolves and Grizzlies last took the floor against each other in Game 6 of the playoffs, the Grizzlies pounded the Wolves on the offensive glass and D'Angelo Russell was unplayable in the final minutes of a close game.

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same in a 114-103 Memphis victory Friday.

After that series, the Wolves vowed to get better on the defensive glass, and they added one of the best rebounders in the NBA, Rudy Gobert, who had six Friday. But as Anthony Edwards said: "We can't count on Rudy to get all of them."

Memphis cashed in 15 offensive boards for a calamitous and comical 32 second-chance points.

"It's a hell of a lot," coach Chris Finch said on a video call. "It means they basically scored on every rebound they got."

Twenty-two of those came in the first half. They were the reason why the Wolves led just twice — at 2-0 and 30-29 — and they never made a serious push to cut into the Grizzlies lead except for one run early in the third quarter.

To Finch, the Wolves' problem on the glass is not their frontcourt, it's the backcourt. They allow too many long rebounds and don't have the attention to detail to box out at that level.

Consider this: guard Russell, Jaylen Nowell, Jordan McLaughlin, Bryn Forbes and forward Taurean Prince all played significant minutes for the Wolves – and had zero rebounds combined.

Compare that to 6-2 Ja Morant, who had 10 rebounds along with 28 points and eight assists for Memphis (9-4).

The other main problem for the Wolves (5-8) on Friday was Russell, who scored four points on 2-for-8 shooting to go with eight assists and three turnovers. Finch sat Russell down the stretch of Game 6 in last season's playoffs in favor of McLaughlin.

He did the same on Friday and sent McLaughlin in with 4 minutes, 41 seconds remaining. Russell never re-entered.

"Just was looking for defense, somebody who could get into the paint, just trying things at this point in time," Finch said of the decision to sit Russell.

"Ant was super locked in. It was good to see him,' Finch said. "Everything he did was quick, decisive and with a lot of purpose."

Edwards pledged to be better after shooting a combined 9-for-26 in his last two games. He was 10-for-16 against Memphis. He wasn't resting on his individual laurels for the night.

"We don't need no moral victories about the effort being there in the first half and not the second half," Edwards said. "We need the effort there the entire game and we need to come out with a win."

His performance was one of the few bright spots on a night that also included foul trouble for Gobert (15 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (13 points.). They had a combined seven fouls in the first half. The fouls were a constant thorn in the Wolves' side all night, even if Memphis only shot five more free throws than they did.

"We can't get little cheap fouls," Edwards said. "The refs gotta give us a better whistle sometimes. Like some of the fouls they be calling, sometimes they may not be fouls. But they still call them. I felt like tonight if we would've stayed away from the cheap fouls, it would have been a different game for sure."

"Right now, we need to be desperate," Edwards said. Because we done lost a lot of games."