Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves had a mighty collapse in the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies en route to a disappointing 118-107 defeat.
The Timberwolves were held to just 17 points in the fourth quarter after being up by double digits early in the fourth. Towns, who started the game after missing their last outing due to his wrist, was fuming after their eighth loss of the season on Wednesday.
“We got to have that pride, that integrity,” Karl-Anthony Towns said after the game, via Chris Hine of Star Tribune. “If we really want to do this and we’re up by 10 going into the fourth, there’s no reason they should even make that lead come back if we say we want to be this team.”
Towns, who ended the game with 25 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks for the Timberwolves, couldn’t do anything against the Grizzlies’ red-hot shooting down the stretch. Playing without Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis surged in the fourth after being down as much as 12 points with over 11 minutes to go in the fourth.
Led by Jonas Valanciunas and Brandon Clarke, the Grizzles mounted a 14-0 run to ultimately grab the lead from Minnesota. From there, the Timberwolves couldn’t buy a basket as Memphis kept coming at them.
Minnesota’s offensive struggles wasn’t the problem, per Towns. He, alongside fellow started D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley, put up a combined effort of 78 points to lead the Timberwolves.
“That the reason me, Malik and D’Angelo are paid. We can put the ball in the bucket. That’s not the problem. Can we stop the ball from being in the bucket is where the growth really comes into our team,” Towns added, via Dane Moore of Blue Wire Podcasts.
Minnesota fans won’t be happy with the L, but they’ll surely welcome KAT’s leadership and intensity off the court. Hopefully, all this translates to some wins as they badly need some at the moment.
