A promising start gave way to fatigue, poor shooting and a game that spiraled out of the Timberwolves’ grasp on Saturday.
The Chicago Bulls grabbed a narrow lead in the second quarter and never looked back on the way to a 110-96 victory at the United Center.
“You could see as the game went on our guys were getting more and more tired and more and more frustrated,” Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said. “When they got frustrated, they didn’t put in the energy on the defensive end.
Ryan Gomes led the Timberwolves with 15 points off the bench. Jonny Flynn had 14 points but had six of them in the first quarter. Al Jefferson had just 12 points and Kevin Love was three for eight for eight points.
“Both Kevin and Al had a tough night,” Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis said. “It was evident as the game went on that they looked more and more tired. Their bigs did a good job on them. With our offense not there we lost our focus as the game went on.”
On Saturday, the Wolves led 6-2 and 14-4 early and held a 32-28 advantage after the first quarter, but gave it all back when they were outscored 24-14 in the second.
Before the game, Rambis mentioned he has been pondering lineup changes that would give his team more balance.
After the game, he appeared to be thinking even harder about how he can supplement a reserve unit whose next-best contributor to Gomes’ 15 points Saturday was Sasha Pavlovic’s nine.
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