Something’s not clicking in Minnesota! After a historic run last year, their season is off to a very shaky start currently ranked 11th in the West. And they fell below .500 last night with a tough overtime loss against the Rockets. Obviously, one reason behind their struggles is the departure of Karl-Anthony Towns and the adjustment period for Julius Randle. However, the latest recruit, along with Rudy Gobert, exposed one glaring issue, hurting them the most.

The Wolves were outscored by six points in the first quarter yesterday. Something similar happened during the recent Raptors game as they got outscored by five points in the opening quarter. Notice a pattern?

Well, Randle surely did as he said post-game, “We gotta start games better. Quarters, halves, all those different type of things better.” Yes, they often dig themselves into a big hole because of their lackluster start to games.

Sure enough, that’s indirectly affecting their ability to close out games strong, “Yeah, I mean it just takes a lot of energy.” Moreover, Gobert shared a similar sentiment as he addressed what the squad is missing, which causes their slow starts. “Maybe some urgency, I think. From what it feels, it feels like when we start the game, the other team is a little more alert, a little more physical. Yeah, we always take one quarter or one half to get going.”

Obviously, muscling a comeback every night is not possible, even for the greatest of teams. Therefore, the Wolves must come out with high energy from the very first play and take charge early. Moreover, Gobert claimed they remained aware of this issue, expressing, “We know it. We have talked about it a few games ago about starting the games better.”

Alperen Sengun dominates “Too Small” Rudy Gobert, as Julius Randle and Co pay the price

As Randle remarked, the Wolves could not maintain the lead and close out strong because of the effort spent making up for their initial lack of energy. The young Rockets squad went on a massive run to send the game to overtime. The situation worsened in OT as Alperen Sengun bullied Gobert inside the paint and scored multiple points on him. Adding to the insult, Sengun hit the four-time DPOY with a “too small” taunt after scoring a turnaround floater over him.

Sure enough, the Wolves could not muscle another comeback and lost by six points. And Randle was left disappointed after the embarrassing loss. “It was tough. We fought extremely hard to get back in the game and you know had a lead down the stretch. We just gotta close it out better… We just didn’t tonight.”

Well, if the Wolves hope to turn their season around, Chris Finch will have to find a way to motivate his squad to come out with more energy and overcome the issue that Randle and Gobert exposed. Otherwise, they might not reach the same heights they did last year.