Yet Another Lost Season: Timberwolves Battle For Lottery Balls Instead of Playoffs

It was a game ESPN dubbed, “Match-up of the NBA’s biggest losers.”

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The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Thursday night showdown with the New York Knicks was a good match-up for all of the wrong reasons. Both teams were an astoundingly bad 14-53 heading into the game, with one thing in mind: Jahlil Okafor.

The Wolves, despite having more injured players than healthy, pulled out a 95-92 victory in regards to their record, but a loss in their chase for Okafor.

The Knicks are bad, and they know it. They shut down Carmelo Anthony after the all-star break to protect him from injury and to protect the team from winning. All you need to know is that former Timberwolves Alexey Shved and Lou Amundson are somehow in New York’s starting line up.

So how can Minnesota keep up with them in the race for the most NBA draft lottery balls? Injuries.

The Wolves look like an entirely different team without their star point guard Ricky Rubio, who is the straw that stirs the Timberwolves’ drink. Even with him they haven’t been winning games lately, but at least they usually look like a real NBA team. He is currently day-to-day with an ankle injury. Then you have Nikola Pekovic, who, per usual, has been no where to be found all season. He has started less than half of the games this year and it has showed, as Gorgui Dieng is just not ready for 40+ minutes a night.

Throw in an ankle injury for Gary Neal and a knee for Kevin Garnett, and this roster is just not capable of much right now. What can you expect from a team missing 4 of its 6 best players?

It got so bad that the Wolves had to try to find a reasonable player within driving distance of New York to have a full 8-man roster. That is not a joke.

“We had to fulfill our rules, so we had to go find somebody that was within a train ride away,” head coach Flip Saunders said.

In came the most competent basketball player they could find, Sean Kilpatrick of the Delaware 87ers. He drove to Madison Square Garden just after his 3 pm practice with the 87ers ended and arrived about 45 minutes before tip-off.

Good for Kilpatrick, who saw 10 minutes of action and grabbed a rebound. Not good for the Timberwolves, who just can’t catch a break with their roster.

After an OT victory that showed just how mediocre the Knicks are, the Timberwolves have the second worst record in the league at 15-53.

So here we go again, late in the season, playing for lottery balls instead of playoff positioning. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, especially for a team with the rookie of the year to-be on roster. But until then, it’s the same unfortunate story for the Timberwolves one year removed from the last.

Next: Rookies of the Year from 2000-Wiggins

Mar 18, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett (21) gestures as he talks with forward Andrew Wiggins (22) on the bench during the Timberwolves 105-100 loss to Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

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