MINNEAPOLIS — Tuesday night at Target Center, on the back end of back-to-back games, the Timberwolves did much of what they did, successfully, the day before:
They hustled, hard, on defense. They moved without the ball and moved the ball. But they just couldn't hit enough shots at key moments.
A quick, two-game homestand ended with a 96-88 loss to the New York Knicks, led by Tom Thibodeau, former Wolves president of basketball operations and coach.
The Wolves (16-18) got Patrick Beverley and Naz Reid back from the NBA's health and safety protocols for the game. Both Anthony Edwards and Taurean Prince were cleared from the protocols, too, but did not play as they work on their conditioning. That meant the Wolves were still without four starters in Karl-Anthony Towns, Edwards, D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt.
The effort was there. As they did Monday in a victory over Boston, the Wolves showed grit. They responded with a 20-4 Knicks run that put them up 17 early in the second quarter with a 19-5 run of their own to end the half, then briefly took back the lead early in the third quarter.
Down 13 early in the fourth quarter, the Wolves pulled within four twice, the last time on Greg Monroe's layup with 5:07 left.
The Wolves got 20 points from Malik Beasley, 18 from Jaden McDaniels. Jaylen Nowell had 11 off the bench.
New York (16-18) was led by Mitchell Robinson, who had 14 points and 18 rebounds. Julius Randle had 13 points and 15 rebounds. The Knicks shot just 41.1 percent overall, but made 16 of 40 three-pointers while the Wolves went 7-for-37 on threes.
For the first 9 or so minutes of the first quarter the Wolves did what they did Monday — they moved without the ball and they moved the ball. The result: when Reid made one of two free throws with 3:08 left in the quarter, the Wolves were within a point of a Knicks team that had already ripped off an 8-0 run.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the quarter, not enough Wolves shots dopped as the Knicks — who had seven players score in the quarter — finished it with a 10-4 run to go up 29-22 entering the second.
Second quarter, same story. With the Wolves missing their first three shots of the second quarter and also turning over the ball, Grimes hit two three-pointers as the Knicks opened the quarter on a 10-0 run. It was a 20-4 run over 5-plus minutes dating back to the first quarter, and it put the Knicks up 17.
But, once again, the Wolves showed some grit in their response.
Cold to start, Beasley warmed up, hitting three of four threes at one point and scoring 11 points as the Wolves finished the half on a 19-5 run of their own to pull within 44-41. As it was Monday, it was Greg Monroe off the bench who got it started, with a basket of his own and a nice inside-out pass to Beasley for a three-pointer.
The Knicks hit all four of their shots while opening the second quarter on a 10-0 run. But they made just two of 16 over the final 9:51 of the half as the Wolves dragged themselves back into the game.
The Wolves scored the first four points of the third quarter, taking a 45-44 lead on McDaniel's steal and basket.
But the Wolves couldn't keep it going. The Knicks, meanwhile finished the quarter leading by 10.
