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Minnesota continues second half struggles in loss to Toronto

Xinhua, December 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Minnesota Timberwolves faltered again in the second half as they fell 124-110 to Toronto Raptors in Thursday evening's NBA game.

With the loss, Minnesota stood to 6-16 on the season and has dropped six of its last seven games.

In the 22 games played this season, Minnesota has outscored opponents by 4.2 points in the first two quarters ranking them fourth in the league behind Golden State, Los Angeles Clippers, and Cleveland.

The second half tells a different tale, as Timberwolves were second worst in the league allowing opponents to outscore them 6.7 points.

Thursday's loss to Raptors saw a similar story line. The first half was tightly contested and tied 59-59 at the half. In the second half, Timberwolves were outscored 65-51, a 14 point deficit.

Despite the inability to finish games on a strong note, Tom Thibodeau was upbeat about the strides his young squad has made in his first year as head coach.

"That's the challenge. Playing 30 minutes of good basketball is not enough in this league. The good teams are 48-minute teams," said Thibodeau after the loss. "We're still not there. To build the type of leads that we're building, you're doing good things. "

In his team's 16 losses, they have surrendered double-digit first half leads in seven of the games, including Thursday's loss to Toronto where Timberwolves led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter.

The biggest difference in the game was the final quarter where Minnesota was outscored 36-21.

"The fourth quarter is different, we have to understand that the intensity of a fourth quarter is different," Thibodeau added. "Your decision making is different and we still different and we have to figure that out."

With one of the most talented group of young players in Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kris Dunn, Gorgui Dieng, and Zach LaVine, Thibodeau must continue to develop winning habits before the team can reach their full potential.

"We have to concentrate on technique, body position, challenging shots correctly and rebounding," shared Thibodeau. "Finishing your defence and challenging shots without fouling or appearing to foul is important. That's technique."

Towns, the team's starting center who the team drafted first overall in the 2015 draft and the reigning Rookie of the Year, believes in his coach's processes and hopes that he and his teammates can realize their full potential soon.

"It's up to us to go out there and put the results because we have a great coaching staff to give us all the tools and all the weapons to be a team of mass destruction," said Towns.

Minnesota currently sits in the No. 13 in the Western Conference and are five games behind No. 8 Portland for a playoff spot. Thibodeau's young squad has 60 games left in the regular season to secure a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2004. Endit