Here’s the St. Paul Pioneer Press on the state of the Minnesota Timberwolves:
It is only natural to look at the Timberwolves’ next five games and think, “Well, there are five wins.”
They play Oklahoma City on Friday, followed by consecutive games against Portland and another game against the Thunder before facing Orlando.
Oklahoma City is 20-42, Orlando is 15-48 and Portland has lost three straight games, all by 30-plus points. It makes sense that a Timberwolves team that has beaten Golden State, Cleveland and Memphis since the all-star break would roll through those teams. But Wednesday served as a reminder that isn’t always the case.
Denver (36-26) is one of the teams Minnesota (34-29) is chasing in the Western Conference. The Nuggets have played very well of late. They were 15-point favorites Wednesday at home against the Thunder but lost by 12 on a night in which Denver’s starters were a combined 1-for-25 shooting from 3-point range.