For most of three quarters Wednesday night a different Wolves team than the one that showed up for most of the first 20 games of the season took the floor in San Antonio.
The Wolves entered the night with the least efficient offense in the league, but they didn't look that way most of the night.
Malik Beasley had shot significantly worse on the road than at Target Center while Ricky Rubio played some of his best basketball of the season.
The problem was this happened most of the night -- and most of the night didn't include the fourth quarter. A familiar problem of the first 20 games -- relinquishing fourth-quarter leads -- popped back up at an inopportune moment as the Wolves dropped a 16-point lead in the fourth in a 111-108 loss to San Antonio.
The Wolves went a stretch of 6 minutes, 21 seconds while scoring only two points in the fourth quarter as their offense ground to a halt and their shot selection made it even more difficult on themselves. DeMar DeRozan was relentless in attacking the basket as the Spurs, who were down 16 earlier in the quarter, turned a 97-81 deficit into a 101-99 lead, a 20-2 run. The Spurs and Wolves started trading baskets as D'Angelo Russell ended the Wolves' scoring drought with some key drives.
The Wolves allowed a killer offensive rebound to the Spurs off a free throw after they intentionally sent Jakob Poetl to the line. DeRozan hit a jumper on the ensuing sequence top put San Antonio up 108-105. The Wolves had multiple chances to tie down two but Russell and Beasley would miss. Beasley then fouled DeRozan with 18.1 seconds left and DeRozan hit one for a 111-108 lead. A Russell three to tie would miss and the Wolves lost a very winnable game.
Beasley finished with 29 while Russell added 20. Rubio didn't score after the first half and finished with eight points and seven assists. DeRozan had 30 to make up for the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge for the Spurs.
San Antonio is a team that doesn't give things up easily to its opponents. The Spurs entered the night No. 1 in turnover percentage and committed averaged the fewest fouls committed per game.
The Wolves didn't mind that early as their offense was clicking. Beasley transferred the success he has had at Target Center to the road for one of the only times this season and hit 4 of 5 in the opening quarter. The Wolves pulled out to a 17-8 lead behind Beasley's hot hand.
Rubio played his best basketball in a long time setting teammates up and finally hitting on a regular basis when he took shots himself. There was a lob dunk he threw to Jarred Vanderbilt. He set up Jaylen Nowell, Beasley and Jake Layman for three-pointers and the Wolves extended their lead to 50-40. Rubio finished the first half with eight points, four assists and three rebounds as almost everything seemed to be in sync for the Wolves, who hit 9 of 18 from three-point range to take a 65-54 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the locker room Beasley didn't cool down but the rest of the team did. He had another four field goals, two of them from three-point range as the Wolves extended their lead to 16 for the first time on the night 88-72.
But the Wolves shot just 41% in the third and the signs of cooling off were evident coming into the fourth.
The teams were stuck at 97-89 for nearly two minutes in the fourth before San Antonio cut that to 97-90 with just under 7 minutes left. On the next Wolves possession Beasley snapped the Wolves' scoreless streak of 3:42 with a runner. But DeRozan kept hammering away at the Wolves and the Spurs scored another seven straight to cut it to 99-97 and prompt a timeout from Ryan Saunders. But it didn't stop the drought in time.
