The Minnesota Timberwolves went home with a 22-point loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. After being down by just five at halftime, the Wolves scored only 43 points in the second half to make the final score 109-87. 

Of course, this was yet another contest where Minnesota was forced to play without Anthony Edwards. Detroit was also without its best player in Cade Cunningham, but that didn't stop the Pistons from really ratcheting up the defensive pressure and burying the Timberwolves in the second half. 

After the game, Rudy Gobert was asked in the locker room if he felt like the loss was more related to Minnesota's self-inflicted mistakes, or if Detroit's defensive pressure played a larger role. 

"There's been previous games where we had that kind of same feeling," Gobert said. "And a lot of those early games, for some reason, you add that to what they do defensively ... I think it just put them in front defensively." 

There's certainly a reason the Pistons still look like the best team in the Eastern Conference even with Cunningham sidelined. Detroit shot 52% from the field and 38% from three while outscoring Minnesota 60 to 32 in the paint.

Tobias Harris led seven Pistons players in double figures with 18 points, doing most of his damage in the first quarter as Detroit jumped out to a 33-24 lead. The Wolves cut it to five at halftime, but the second half belonged entirely to the Pistons.

Minnesota's shooting was dreadful on the night. It was only the 13th time in franchise history the Timberwolves shot 32% or worse from the floor, and they shot just 21% from three to go along with it.

Julius Randle went 2-for-13, Naz Reid went 3-for-15, and Bones Hyland went 2-for-10. Those three combined to go 7-for-38, and that's simply impossible to overcome regardless of who you have healthy.

Donte DiVincenzo led the Wolves with 22 points but needed 18 shots to get there. Mike Conley and Terrence Shannon Jr. combined for just 11 points on 10 shots. On a night where Minnesota needed contributors to step up, almost nobody answered.

The bigger picture is concerning for a Wolves team with championship ambitions. Edwards is out, Jaden McDaniels didn't play, and Ayo Dosunmu was unavailable. The injury context matters, but the Pistons dominated wire to wire even with their own absences.

The good news is that Edwards has been cleared to return to on-court activities. Getting him back healthy before the postseason is far more important than any regular season result.

Minnesota heads into the final stretch of the season at 45-29 with Detroit coming up again this coming Thursday in a road rematch. The Timberwolves will get their chance to respond quickly.