CHICAGO – By bringing their coach victory in his return to Chicago, the Timberwolves also learned a valuable lesson in Tuesday's unlikely 99-94 comeback victory:
If they're determined to have a bad quarter, better to make it the first one.
"I guess that's one way to look at it," Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said afterward.
A team usually vexed by third quarters, or sometimes fourth quarters, the Wolves instead found themselves trailing 26-6 after just seven minutes Tuesday before they reversed course with rebounding and defense, of all things.
They surrendered 38 first-quarter points and then never allowed more than 19 in the next three quarters in a game that started when Chicago fans affectionately welcomed Thibodeau back after 19 months away and ended with him getting a pat from former player Jimmy Butler before Thibodeau strolled evenly into the good night.
"If you're going to have a bad one, it gives us more time to make it up," Wolves guard Zach LaVine said of the slow start. "But we've got to stop doing that."
Their comeback from a 21-point, second-quarter deficit was the NBA's biggest this season.
When it was over, Chicago media members tried to get a man whose team had started the season 6-18 to wax poetic about what it meant to win in his return to United Center, the arena where he coached the Bulls for five seasons.