Jeff Teague did not mince words.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ 101-93 loss to the lowly Memphis Grizzlies on Monday was devastating.
“This is the worst loss, by far,” Teague said. “This was a must-win for us. Every game down the stretch is a must-win. Against a team, take nothing from them, but they’re not playing for anything right now. They’re playing for heart and pride, and they came out and kicked us.”
Photo: AP
Wayne Selden scored 23 points as Memphis snapped their 17-game road losing streak.
Marc Gasol added 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, helping the Grizzlies deal a blow to Minnesota’s playoff hopes.
Selden and Gasol each hit four three-pointers as Memphis went 15 of 31 from beyond the arc.
JaMychal Green had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“I feel like we take a lot of pride, especially after losing a big one, we really buckled down,” Selden said. “I think we were losing focus a little bit, I think we really buckled down and we want to focus on these last games.”
Teague had 25 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who lost their second straight game and dropped to 6-7 since All-Star Jimmy Butler was lost to a knee injury.
Karl-Anthony Towns had his league-leading 62nd double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Minnesota (42-33) dropped to eighth in the Western Conference standings, half a game back of idle Utah.
“Hard to explain,” Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said of the loss.
Andrew Wiggins, who finished with 18 points, was three of six from the field in the fourth. The rest of the Wolves shot none of 11.
“It wasn’t just that fourth quarter,” Minnesota forward Taj Gibson said. “It was the whole game. They came out. We were playing with fire from the beginning. I felt it.”
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