It’s no secret that the Minnesota Timberwolves have championship aspirations as superstar guard Anthony Edwards begins to enter his prime with uber-talented pieces surrounding him like defensive stalwart Rudy Gobert, star forward Julius Randle, and a litany of valuable role players, including Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid.

The issue for the Timberwolves is that they’ve dropped back-to-back games in utterly heartbreaking fashion, falling on a game-winning floater by Phoenix Suns guard Collin Gillespie with 6.4 seconds left on Friday before blowing an eight-point lead in the final minute of Wednesday's loss to the Sacramento Kings.

The Timberwolves eventually lost to the Kings in overtime, but the loss was emblematic of an even larger problem: the team’s inability to close out games even when in the most promising of positions. Gobert blamed it on the defense’s stagnation at the end of the game and credited the hustle of an under-talented but scrappy Kings team.

“I think we got a little stagnant defensively,” Gobert said. “The ball stopped moving. I think on the other end, they made some plays. They made some hustle plays, they made some big shots, big plays down the stretch and they got back in the game. Some bad turnovers and just some really rough plays from our team.”

Disconnected

Gobert also noted the sense of disconnect between him and his Timberwolves teammates on the court, admitting that he believed the team let the frustration mount and ultimately get to them in the end, which is no way for a team with legitimate championship aspirations to function.

“It seems mostly like mental lapses,” Gobert said. “It's just, like, we didn't play super connected. And then I feel like we let the frustration get to us. You can't do that if you want to be a championship team. You can't do that.”

Gobert further explained his displeasure with how he and the team performed on Monday, but he mostly admonished their effort and called the team out for its lack of spirit.

“Until the buzzer sounds, we still have an opportunity,” Gobert said. “Tonight it felt like, if you look at the body language and things like that, it felt like we didn't have no spirit … We all know talking is great, but let's see if we care. Let's see if we actually care about doing the things that we need to do to win.”

The Timberwolves will look to bounce back on Wednesday, but the odds will be stacked against them with the Oklahoma City Thunder playing host.