The Minnesota Timberwolves have spent much of this season building the profile of a dangerous Western Conference team, but Tuesday night in Los Angeles looked far more like the version that continues to frustrate fans and analysts alike.
Minnesota fell 120-106 to the Lakers in a game that was there to be won early, only for the Timberwolves’ offense to unravel once again. The Lakers used a huge third quarter to flip the game, and the Wolves never truly recovered.
It was the kind of loss that reinforces the biggest question hanging over this team: what happens when Anthony Edwards is taken out of rhythm?
Anthony Edwards had his worst shooting night of the season
Edwards finished with 14 points in the loss, but the bigger story was how hard he struggled to get anything going.
He shot just 2-for-15 from the field, which made this his only game all season shooting below 20 percent. For a player who has carried Minnesota offensively for much of the year, it was a rare off night at the worst possible time.
That is what makes the performance so jarring. Edwards has been one of the NBA’s best scorers this season, averaging 29.3 points per game while shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three. He entered the night as the engine of a Timberwolves offense that has generally been one of the league’s better units.
Instead, Los Angeles forced him into one of his least efficient performances of the year, and Minnesota never found a reliable counter.
Chris Finch was frustrated with the Timberwolves’ offensive rhythm
After the game, head coach Chris Finch made it clear that the issue went beyond missed shots.
Finch said the Timberwolves started slow, failed to play with enough pace, and fell into too much isolation basketball. His bigger concern was how quickly the offense lost structure once the rhythm disappeared.
That matched what played out on the floor. Minnesota often looked a step slow in the half-court, and possessions frequently stalled into late-clock attempts or individual shot creation instead of the kind of connected offense the team usually relies on when it is playing well.
Finch also pointed to offensive rebounding and hustle plays as part of the problem, and those details mattered. The Lakers finished with more rebounds, fewer turnovers, and a sizable edge in points in the paint, all while controlling the game after halftime.
The numbers make the loss even more concerning
What makes this game stand out is that Minnesota’s offense has actually been strong for most of the season.
The Timberwolves came into the night averaging 118.4 points per game with a 117.2 offensive rating, both marks that place them among the better offensive teams in the league.
That is why losses like this create so much confusion around the Wolves. On paper, this is not a team that should be this vulnerable when one star player has an off night. In reality, that has been one of the recurring themes of the season.
Against the Lakers, Minnesota actually got 61 bench points, compared to just 27 from Los Angeles, but still lost by 14. That should be difficult to do. The Timberwolves also shot just 25 percent from three and were outscored 56-42 in the paint, which made it even harder to survive Edwards’ struggles.
The Lakers exposed a familiar Timberwolves problem
The Lakers did not just beat Minnesota with star power. They exposed a problem that has followed the Timberwolves all season: when Edwards is contained and the offense loses its flow, the team can start searching for answers individually instead of collectively.
Los Angeles got a triple-double from Luka Dončić and a massive second half from Austin Reaves, but the Timberwolves also helped create the outcome by playing exactly the kind of uneven game that keeps fueling debate about whether they can be trusted in a playoff series.
That is why the reaction around the team feels so familiar. Minnesota is good enough to look like a contender one week and disjointed enough to invite real doubt the next.
Tuesday’s 120-106 loss to the Lakers was another reminder that the Wolves still have not fully solved that problem.