MINNEAPOLIS _ The problem is pretty clear. But the answer continues to elude the Timberwolves.
Defense.
It was the major topic of conversation after the Timberwolves completed their morning shoot Wednesday. After their losing streak had stretched to six with a 127-116 loss to Utah in an eerily quiet Target Center _ the longest losing streak in head coach Ryan Saunders' tenure _ defense remained this team's biggest issue.
Utah broke open a close game with a 20-8 run to end a third quarter in which the Jazz hit on 8 of 13 3-pointers. It turned a two-point game into a 14-point deficit the Wolves (10-14) couldn't overcome.
That lead grew as large as 20 in the fourth.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points on 13-of-20 shooting to lead Utah, which shot 56.6% overall and made 16 of 35 3-pointers (45.7%). Jazz center Rudy Gobert hit 8 of 11 shots, scoring 20 points with 16 rebounds. Four other Jazz players scored in double figures.
As the Jazz pushed their lead to 20 points early in the fourth quarter, boos came out of the stands.
Jeff Teague came off the bench to score 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting, making all four of his 3-pointers. The rest of the Wolves shot 38.7% overall.
Andrew Wiggins scored 26 points and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 points with 11 rebounds, but was 6 for 15 from the field.
Both teams came into the game struggling, with the Jazz (14-11) having lost six of their last eight games.
Despite struggling to score early, the Wolves _ down five twice in the early going _ managed a brief one-point lead in the first quarter and were only down two entering the second.
Down five mid-quarter, Teague (five) and Towns (four) had all the points in a quick 9-3 run that put them up 16-15 on Towns' baseline dunk with 3:26 left in the quarter.
But with Mitchell scoring eight points along the way, the Jazz came back to take a 25-23 lead into the second.
That the game was tied at 59 at the halftime buzzer was due to one man _ Teague.
Teague made all five of his shots, both his 3-pointers and all three free throws while scoring 15 points and dishing four assists in the quarter.
Still, it appeared the Jazz was about to put some distance between the teams when Mitchell hit an 11-foot jumper with 1 minute left in the half.
But Towns hit a 3-pointer. After Gobert scored for the Jazz, Teague hit a 3-pointer. After a Jazz turnover, with the shot clock ticking down, Teague drove the lane and hit a reverse layup just before the buzzer to end an 8-2 run over the final 60 seconds, tying the game.
It was, in its own way, a triumph, considering the Jazz shot better than 56% in the first half and made 6 of 14 3-pointers.
Hitting four of their first five 3-pointers to start the second half, the Jazz built a 75-67 lead. The Wolves countered with an 8-2 run to pull within two on Wiggins' 3-pointer.
But then the Jazz took off, hitting two 3-pointers in a 10-0 run that put them up 87-75 on a Joe Ingles 3-pointer with 4:14 left in the quarter.
Unable to get stops, that lead only grew.
Utah hit on 14 of 26 shots overall in the third, and made 8 of 13 3-pointers, pushing its lead to 97-83 entering the fourth.
