DiVincenzo identifies key defensive lapses and a lack of physicality that have been costing Minnesota wins.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the middle of a rough patch and Donte DiVincenzo knows it.
After a 115-96 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, the veteran guard didn't sugarcoat the situation, pointing to physicality and defense as the biggest things holding Minnesota back right now.
"One thing I know about this team is we can respond, and I think that's what we gotta do," DiVincenzo said. "They came in and just played more physical than us, so yeah, respond tomorrow."
The loss dropped Minnesota to 32-22 on the season and marked their third defeat in their last four games, with all three coming against sub-.500 teams.
Sunday's game against the Clippers (25-27) was supposed to be a bounce-back spot, but Kawhi Leonard had other plans and torched the Wolves for 41 points.
Minnesota shot just 8-of-33 from beyond the arc and turned the ball over 20 times.
A Rough Night for DiVincenzo and the Offense
It was a game to forget for DiVincenzo on the stat sheet.
He and Jaden McDaniels combined for just three points as neither player could find a rhythm.
Anthony Edwards led the team with 23 points but went 0-for-6 from three and had four turnovers in the first half alone.
Still, DiVincenzo was more focused on the defensive end and where the Timberwolves keep falling short.
"If we can stop some runs, I think that's when our offense starts, and once you get stops and runs, everybody's touching the ball and moving the ball," DiVincenzo said. "I think there's more use when you look at the half-court, but we don't get stops and we're trying to be physical and we're trying to get into something, they're trying to make a play and they're trying to be aggressive."
For DiVincenzo, it all comes back to getting stops and running in transition so the ball moves before defenses can set up.
When the Wolves aren't doing that, everything stalls and the half-court offense turns into a grind.
Are the Timberwolves Still Contenders?
That's the big question right now. On paper, this team has all the pieces.
Edwards is averaging 29.7 points per game this season and earned his fourth straight All-Star nod.
DiVincenzo has been solid all year with 13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 39.2 percent from three.
The team also just added Ayo Dosunmu at the trade deadline, a player who brings exactly the kind of two-way play Minnesota has been missing since Nickeil Alexander-Walker left in the offseason.
But this season has been a rollercoaster.
The Wolves have beaten three of the top four teams in the NBA, including the defending champion Thunder, but they've also dropped games to four of the six worst teams in the league.
That kind of inconsistency is what separates a contender from a pretender, and DiVincenzo knows the team has to figure it out fast.
"I think the energy right now feels like we lost five in a row," DiVincenzo said after the game. "But this team responds, and whatever the coaches bring to us tomorrow, we have to address."
Minnesota hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night at Target Center, another game they should win on paper.
Whether they bring the effort to do so will say a lot about where this team is headed.