Via the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
Currently at one game below .500, Minnesota (16-17) resides in the final play-in spot in the West. A 2-5 or 1-6 stretch would only lengthen the gap between the Timberwolves and a top-six, non play-in spot the team seemed destined to obtain at the season’s outset. There aren’t any clear indications that the Wolves are capable of ripping off a large stretch of winning basketball to dig themselves out of any significant hole in the standings.
Armed with the likes of Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards, D’Angelo Russell and Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota certainly has enough firepower to continue to compete. The challenge now is to find a way to do so at a high enough level for 48 minutes.
While the gift awaiting Minnesota on the other side of this stretch is a pair of road games against downtrodden Houston and Detroit, those are immediately followed by home games against three more competitive clubs — Phoenix, Cleveland and Utah. It never lets up.
