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MEMPHIS, Tenn. \u2014 The steam has been coming out of Chris Finch\u2019s ears for days. Even after a win over the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday, Finch was holding his Minnesota Timberwolves\u2019 feet to the fire.<\/p>\n
Then came the rematch on Monday, a lifeless defensive performance from the Wolves that allowed a short-handed Grizzlies team to score at least 30 points in all four quarters. It was the latest in a string of losses to teams that are looking up at the Wolves in the standings, and Finch has had quite enough of it.<\/p>\n
When asked what he could do to get his mercurial team to treat these games with the respect they deserve, Finch nearly let an expletive slip from his lips before catching himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk them. Ask them,\u201d Finch said. \u201cIt\u2019s on them. They gotta come and put the work in. It can\u2019t be a sometimes thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Grizzlies were playing without star guard Ja Morant, but that did not matter Monday night. The Wolves seemed to be stuck in neutral for most of the game, giving up open shot after open shot. Memphis entered the night 24th in the league in 3-point percentage (34.4), and 16th in makes (13.3). They went 19 of 41 (46.3 percent) against the Wolves, with many of them clean, wide-open looks.<\/p>\n
Jaylen Wells went 4 of 5 from deep and Vince Williams was 4 of 6. Jaren Jackson Jr., who did not play Saturday, went 3 of 6. Cam Spencer was 3 of 5. Some of those are outlier nights, but when the defense is so slow-footed, the danger of a big night is always right around the corner.<\/p>\n
The Grizzlies also got to the free-throw line for 35 attempts. Some of those calls were borderline, but after the game, Finch lamented how many times the Wolves bailed Memphis out with lazy reach-ins on defense. Jackson scored 11 of his 30 points at the line, and Wolves guard Jaylen Clark\u2019s foul fest at the end of the third quarter helped the Timberwolves turn a four-point deficit into a 12-point hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely on us,\u201d said Anthony Edwards, who scored 39 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but was also slow getting back on defense several times, which led to open 3s. \u201cWe knew everything they were gonna do. They just played at a little better pace. They wanted it more tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
That has been the most maddening aspect of this season for the Wolves (30-20). They have beaten the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs twice, along with wins over the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. When it\u2019s time to step in the ring with the big boys, these Wolves swing as hard as they can. But they have also lost to Memphis (twice), the Sacramento Kings, Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors after the Jimmy Butler injury.<\/p>\n
And so here they sit, stuck in fifth place in the Western Conference, just three games behind second-place San Antonio (33-16).<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the standings and we handle the business we\u2019re supposed to handle, we\u2019re supposed to be sitting (No.) 2 or 3 right now,\u201d said Donte DiVincenzo, who had 21 points and four assists. \u201cWe can\u2019t be losing games by 20 points in the fourth quarter. That\u2019s not us. That\u2019s not the team we are. That\u2019s not the players we are. That\u2019s not the staff. Top to bottom, that\u2019s not who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it kind of is who they are.<\/p>\n
This has been a team that plays great against great opponents and lets winnable games against losing teams slip away like a fish under one of the 10,000 frozen lakes.\u00a0 Memphis scored 36 points in the first quarter, setting a tone for the rest of the game that buckets would be easy to come by. And on the rare occasions when they did miss the shot, the Grizzlies often got the rebound and putback to the tune of 24 second-chance points.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe waited until we were down 20 to put the work into the game,\u201d DiVincenzo said. \u201cIt\u2019s too late by that time. We just have to respect our opponent for a full 48 and stop getting up for the big games and not getting up for the teams we have to respect night in and night out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julius Randle was off his game all night, managing 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting, missing five of his six 3s and turning it over three times. He committed five personal fouls, was often late getting back on defense while arguing with officials and only had one offensive rebound, a sign of a lack of activity. His head did not appear in the game from the start, which makes one wonder if the reports about the Wolves pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo were wearing on him.<\/p>\n
The trade deadline is Thursday, and an uneasiness permeated the Timberwolves locker room after the game. Maybe it was just malaise from being in Memphis for four days, but there was the feel of distraction, of concern about which deals may be executed and who may be on their way out. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly has been working the phones on a potential Antetokounmpo trade in addition to looking for bench scoring, team sources told The Athletic<\/em>, but nothing has materialized just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cI think around this time a lot of teams and players are tired,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying we are tired, that\u2019s why we lost. If we are tired, we gotta know what the team wants to do so we can be there a step before them.\u201d<\/p>\n When the focus isn\u2019t there, the defense slips. Rotations are missed. Closeouts are half-hearted. Lanes to the rim open.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started gambling and losing our minds and trying to chase things that weren\u2019t there,\u201d Finch said.<\/p>\n Ty Jerome had 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds in just his second game of the season. Spencer and Williams each scored 16 points, and the Memphis bench outscored Minnesota\u2019s 52-13.<\/p>\n Naz Reid managed just 10 points and missed five of his six 3s. Mike Conley and Clark combined to go 0 of 5 from the field, and Bones Hyland scored three points in 16 minutes, underscoring the need for another bench scorer.<\/p>\n Finch also had a bad night. Under his leadership, the Timberwolves have been a team that comes back from big deficits in the second halves of games. But the danger in waiting for the group to coalesce is a reluctance to change things up when the game is not going according to plan. This game ached for energy minutes from the deeper bench group, but Finch did not play Joan Beringer, nor did he look to someone like Johnny Juzang for an offensive spark.<\/p>\n Beringer\u2019s rebounding and athleticism may have been a better match for the Grizzlies\u2019 undersized but active frontcourt. Juzang\u2019s shooting may have helped loosen things up when Conley and Clark were clanking.<\/p>\n Most of all, on the fourth day in Memphis, Finch should have anticipated some sluggishness from his regulars. Edwards (back spasms) and Randle (left thumb soreness) were both listed as questionable going into the game. Conley, who was a plus-18 in the win Saturday, has been reduced to being productive every three games or so. Hyland and Clark are volatile players.<\/p>\n But while the Grizzlies played 10 players at least 19 minutes, Finch played eight-and-a-half. Jaden McDaniels played a terrific offensive game with 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting, but his defense wasn\u2019t where it needed to be. Randle and Edwards each played 40 minutes despite not being 100 percent.<\/p>\n The players were not pointing fingers at the coaching staff after the game. They have said all season long that when they defend and adhere to the game plan, they win. When they deviate, they\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n \u201cCoaches, they put the game plan together, they put everything together. At some point, it\u2019s up to you to get ready for the game,\u201d DiVincenzo said. \u201cIt\u2019s up to you to turn that switch on at the start of the game and for us to play for a full 48.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wolves play in Toronto Wednesday night, the last game before the trade deadline Thursday. They have not won in Toronto since 2004. If they don\u2019t get the defense through customs, that skid won\u2019t be ending anytime soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n