The Minnesota Timberwolves were arguably the hottest team in the NBA to start the new year, going 6-1 to start 2026, including wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs. While it seemed like they were trending toward looking like the team that made back-to-back Western Conference Finals, they've since hit a roadblock.

On Thursday night, the Timberwolves suffered their fourth-straight loss, losing 120-115 to the Chicago Bulls as Josh Giddey had 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists off the bench in his return to the lineup. While the Timberwolves lost to both the Rockets and Spurs, their losses to the Jazz and Bulls make this situation a whole lot worse.

Clearly a frustrated team, head coach Chris Finch was asked postgame about the defensive breakdowns of the team as of late, as he cited what's gone wrong and made a call to action to try to get the team back to where they've been playing.

"Our inability to contain drives right now is really hurting us. Then discipline on the closeouts and [the] over-helping of places that we didn't want to over-help in and the readiness to contain the next drive," Finch said.

The Bulls shot 44% from the field on Thursday but 44% from three-point range as well, with seven players scoring double-digit points and six players making multiple three-point shots.

"We got to get back to playing defense. We have no defensive personality right now. We got to get back to winning the point of attack," Finch said. Then, when asked why the defensive consistency ebbs and flows, Finch said that's more of a question for his players than himself as a coach.

A team that has prided itself on its defensive abilities, 120.8 points per game during this losing streak, a scoring defense that would rank in the bottom five of the league if averaged through the season up to this point. Even though the Timberwolves boast a Top 5 offense, they simply can't ignore the defensive end.

When it comes down to it, the Timberwolves likely need to make a trade to try to shake things up before the deadline on February 5th. With Rob Dillingham to use as a trade asset, the Timberwolves could benefit tremendously from adding a defensive wing to their rotation off the bench.

Even though this team showed in the first seven games of 2026 that they can be an elite team, the reality is they've lacked consistency all season long, and seem better off making a change then trying to re-work their current situation.