MINNEAPOLIS — The Timberwolves couldn't have asked for much more than what they had entering the fourth quarter of their 114-106 loss to Memphis.
Again, they were leading by double digits entering the fourth against the pesky Memphis Grizzlies.
They needed just one solid quarter of basketball to force a Game 7 and avoid elimination against a team they felt that should have already beaten. One quarter to show they learned from their previous mistakes — keep Memphis off the offensive glass and not get stagnant on offense. They couldn't do it.
Memphis moves on to face Golden State. The Wolves move to the couch.
After leading 84-74 to start the fourth, the Wolves allowed Memphis to score six quick points to start the quarter.
Jaden McDaniels, who played perhaps the best game of his young career, brought the crowd some needed relief with a dunk over Jaren Jackson Jr., and the Wolves went back ahead by seven, but the Grizzlies just wouldn't go away. They would eventually tie it on a second-chance Desmond Bane three with 6 minutes, 4 seconds to play. It was Bane who put them ahead with a corner 3-pointer with 3:03 to play as a struggling D'Angelo Russell sat on the bench for Jordan McLaughlin.
Then like clockwork, the Wolves took a few bad shots on offense and allowed multiple offensive rebounds on a Memphis possession that ended with a Ja Morant bucket and Memphis led by four.
They were down four before McDaniels hit a 3 to put them down 103-102 with 1:34 to play. But former Wolves guard Tyus Jones helped deliver the dagger with a shot-clock beating 3 with 1:09 to play. The Wolves couldn't get a stop down the stretch, and they couldn't stop their season from running out.
Bane had 23 points for Memphis, as did Dillon Brooks while Anthony Edwards had 30 points for the Wolves. Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting for the Wolves while Russell had just seven points. McDaniels scored 24 points off the bench. Morant had 17 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
The same problems, over and over again. No matter how hard they tried to correct them, they couldn't do it.
There are two ways to dissect this moment for the Wolves. In the short-term, there's disappointment and regret for how the series played out. The Wolves should have won Games 3 and 5 after relinquishing double-digit leads in the fourth quarter of both.
"We understand we put ourselves in this spot, so we can't blame anyone but ourselves," Towns said at shootaround Friday.
The playoffs can expose your warts for all to see, and the Wolves received a heavy dollop of criticism nationally and locally for the way they handled themselves in this series. They are confident, but couldn't back up their bravado in the toughest moments. They are talented, but couldn't execute when games demanded precision and good decision-making.
But after the sting of defeat heals, the Wolves can look ahead to an optimistic future for the first time in a while. This team made just its second playoff appearance since 2004 and has a young core the revolves around Towns and Edwards. This playoff experience, as bad as it looked at times, should benefit them moving forward.
"With young players for sure just all these things are massive learning moments for us …" Finch said. "That's what's great about these things is you get exposed for what you're not or what you can't do or what you need to do better."
The Wolves led for most of the series against Memphis, but they held on to too few of them.
