MINNEAPOLIS — The Timberwolves tried to give a 26-point first-half lead away in their 104-95 loss to Memphis.
When that didn't work, and they rebuilt a 25-point lead in the third quarter, they used that experience to give away that lead completely by the start of the fourth.
Never have there been as big of swings in emotion and the scoreboard in this Wolves season as there were Wednesday night. Like their play-in victory over the Clippers, they had to play most of the night with Karl-Anthony Towns either in foul trouble or limited by double teams.
The Wolves helped him out initially, but they played a dangerous game of Jekyll and Hyde all night. They disappeared for stretches after building two big leads, and it ended with Memphis dealing them the strongest gut punch they've felt this season.
The Wolves limited Ja Morant to 16 points on 5-for-18 shooting, but Desmond Bane had 26 points, which included seven 3-pointers. Towns had just eight points on four shot attempts. D'Angelo Russell led Minnesota with 22 points. A crowd that had been roaring in approval most of the night had a smattering of boos by the end of it.
After Minnesota saw a 26-point lead in the second quarter shrink to seven by halftime, they came out with renewed confidence in the third quarter, as Russell played his best quarter of the playoffs in scoring 12 points and dishing out four assists.
But the Wolves went silent after that. They were ahead 83-62 with 46.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter. By the 7:09 mark of the fourth, they had given it all away after Tyus Jones hit a 3. They never got it back.
The raucous crowd quieted. The Wolves were silent on their bench as the Wolves missed shot after shot. Towns could only watch for most of it after foul trouble again put him back on the bench for the late third and early fourth quarters.
Shortly after he checked back in with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth, Bane, who lived up to his last name from the Wolves' point of view, hit his seventh 3 of the night to put Memphis up 93-88.
The Wolves would get within three on multiple occasions, but they couldn't rebound missed free throws, which was a silent killer in the second half. When Dillon Brooks canned a 3 to put the Grizzlies ahead 102-92 with 1:17 to play, that was it. Memphis began celebrating its monumental comeback.
The Wolves went the final 10 minutes, 28 seconds of the second quarter while scoring only four points. They went 9:29 between the late third and fourth quarter while scoring only five points.
Their offense just disappeared for stretches like it never has this season, this came after their defense played for stretches like it never had this season to get the lead in the first place.
There was no question Target Center would bring the energy from the start of the night. The question was how would the Wolves channel it in a game that carried a lot of pressure. They channeled it the right way to start.
They couldn't maintain it.
After extending the lead to 26, 47-21, with 10 minutes, 28 seconds remaining, after scoring eight quick points. Then the game changed dramatically — a few times over.
They started getting sloppy on the offensive end and scored just four points the rest of the quarter. They went the final 5:45 without scoring a point.
The repeated that in the fourth quarter and were left wondering what the heck happened.
