MINNEAPOLIS — Target Center was quiet and emptying with 3 minutes and 17 seconds in to play in the Timberwolves' 104-84 loss to the Clippers as Karl-Anthony Towns approached the bench during a timeout.
Towns headed for a chair in the corner near the media seating, held a towel he was holding high above his head and then whipped it on a nearby chair in frustration.
As Chris Finch emptied his bench for garbage time in a game in a game the Wolves once led by 20, Towns let out a few expletives and took his place on the bench.
The scheduling gods tried to help the Timberwolves early this season — seven of their first eight at home with most games against beatable teams that were either missing their best players, basement dwellers or both.
This might be the easiest stretch of the season for the Wolves, and they didn't take advantage of it, hence some of Towns' frustration.
All the problems that plagued them in these seven games showed up in a big way during the second half. Their offense was stagnant and had almost no shot creation, especially during a third quarter in which Los Angeles outscored them 28-15 and squashed any Wolves momentum from the first half.
There was a foul imbalance — seven free-throw attempts for the Wolves, 32 for the Clippers — but that can happen when a team takes more 3s than 2s like the Wolves do, and the Wolves seemed to let the officials rattle them as the game unraveled in the third quarter. That 20-point lead from the second quarter seemed like a distant memory by the end of the night.
In these eight games, the 3-5 Wolves have shown little evidence things will be better this season.
The Clippers fronted and doubled Towns to great effect in the second half, cutting off his production and the main cog in the Wolves offense. For most of the night, Anthony Edwards was content to shoot from the outside instead of using his skills as a driver.
The silence filled the arena in a fourth quarter that featured defeated body language on the court with every missed shot and every Clippers bucket. The Wolves entered the fourth quarter down just 75-72, but like their game against Orlando on Monday it felt like they had made up their minds they were going to lose.
The Clippers went on an 11-0 run and cruised to victory grinding out the Wolves at the free-throw line and then inside during the second half. They beat the Wolves at the 3-point line Friday, but found other ways to win after shooting 6 of 26 from beyond the arc.
Towns had 20 with 13 of that coming in the first half. Edwards finished with 17.
The night had started so well for the Wolves, who were flowing on offense as D'Angelo Russell missed his second consecutive game because of a right ankle injury.
The Wolves led 49-29 during the second quarter before the night took a turn for horror. Edwards checked out with three fouls and the Clippers cut it to 10 by halftime though the Wolves shot 47% in the first half.
Unfortunately for the Wolves they left their offense in the locker room at half, as they stumbled through the third quarter. They scored just four points in the first 9:05 of the third. The Clippers scored 16 straight over that stretch to take a 67-61 lead before Edwards and Malik Beasley gave them a little life to end the quarter down 75-72. Finch had to keep navigating foul trouble as Towns, Jaden McDaniels and Patrick Beverley each picked up their fourth.
The Wolves were unable to execute on offense and appeared to let the officials get to them as things began to unravel. They shot just 5 of 21 in the quarter, and it didn't get any better from there.
