Wolves record: 5-24

After warning his team to protect the ball and force Atlanta to take outside shots, the Wolves proceeded to do exactly the opposite. Their first seven possessions resulted in six turnovers, the Hawks raced to a 16-4 lead “and 14 of their 16 points were from inside the paint,” Rambis complained. “And that set the tone for the ballgame.”

Sure did. Joe Johnson smoothly racked up 21 points, Al Horford added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and newcomer Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 26, 18 of them after halftime. The Wolves never got closer than eight points after the first quarter, and lost by 18 or more for the third time in four games.
The bright spot for Minnesota in a otherwise dismal first half was the rebounding of Kevin Love. Kevin Love has recorded double-doubles in eight of his last 10 games, including each of the last five. In the first half tonight, he recorded 15 rebounds, including [a Minnesota record] eight on the offensive glass and finished with 15 points and 19 rebounds.

After trailing by as much as 17 points in the third quarter, Minnesota cut Atlanta’s lead to eight before seeing the Hawks finish the quarter with a flurry and take a 81-69 lead into the final twelve minutes.
Besides the offensive troubles, Rambis said his team made defensive errors that were discussed in training camp in October. The frustrations led to a brief, heated exchange on the Wolves’ bench in the third quarter between Rambis and star Al Jefferson. A lot of that seems to be going around these days.

Rambis substituted for Jefferson after he lofted an air ball from the baseline. As Jefferson passed Rambis, he said something and Rambis fired back. The two had more words after Jefferson sat at the end of the bench, prompting assistant coach Reggie Theus to get up and talk to Jefferson.

After the game, Rambis said he apologized to Jefferson for what Rambis termed “miscommunication” about where Jefferson was supposed to be on the floor during a Wolves possession.

“There was some confusion on the floor,” Rambis said. “Al was told one thing while he was out there and I thought we were in something else.”

So Rambis made his feelings clear. “They weren’t prepared to play,” he said. “There’s no leeway with our guys. They have to be prepared to play from the opening tip to the end. No possession, no time, no quarter, no nothing — they don’t have the luxury of taking any of that off. They’ve got to bring it the entire time they’re out there on the floor.”

From Jonah Ballow/Timberwolves site:
At the point guard spot, Jonny Flynn struggled out of the gate and Rambis sent the rookie to the bench in a matter of minutes from the opening tip. He regained composure late in the first quarter, finishing with 16 points on the night.

“They’ve got to bring it the entire time they are out there on the floor, and they obviously didn’t bring it at the beginning of the ball game,” Rambis said.

Minnesota boards a plane tonight for a one-night east coast jaunt to New Jersey. The rematch pits the Nets and Wolves against one another for the final time this year. On opening night at the Target Center, Minnesota snatched a buzzer beater victory behind a last-second putback layup from Damien Wilkins.