A fifth straight loss, capped by a 26-point blowout at home, has the Minnesota Timberwolves reeling. But for Anthony Edwards, fatigue is off the table as an excuse, and his patience has clearly run out.

After the game, a reporter pointedly asked Edwards if it’s natural for a team’s performance to dip around the All-Star break.

“I wouldn’t say that, we’re supposed to come out here and play hard,” Edwards clarified after his 32-point game. “I don’t think we can make an excuse cuz we’re tired. Everybody is tired. Everybody is ready to go to the break. But we’re just getting outplayed on the effort part. So we gotta bring it on that side for sure.”

There was no fight from the Timberwolves throughout the game. They never led on the scoreboard after scoring the opening basket. While they did cut the lead to one point before halftime, the Warriors continued to smother their opponents on defense. The home team only shot 38% from the field.

The Timberwolves have dealt with consistency issues throughout the season. Some nights they have played like the best team in the league, while on other nights they have lost to teams below .500, like the Brooklyn Nets and the Utah Jazz. However, over this recent five-game stretch, they have been consistent in playing their worst basketball of the season.

The Timberwolves’ drop in results and ratings is concerning

Throughout the 2025-26 season, the Timberwolves have been a top 10 team in both defensive and offensive ratings. However, in the last five games, their numbers have really dipped. During this tough stretch, they have scored just 110 points per game, while their opponents have scored 118.8 points.

In contrast to their season’s overall defensive rating of 112.8, their rating over the last five games has spiked to 116.2, 23rd in the league. Edwards’ team has an offensive rating of 116.6 points per game. However, it has dropped to just 107.8 points over the last five games, ranking among the bottom four teams in the NBA. Strangely, this has also happened during a period when the Timberwolves have largely been healthy.

Turnovers have also been a concern, with the team committing nearly 16 per game over the last five games, which ranks among the bottom ten in the league.

As far as Edwards mentioning weariness, it might be more than that for the Timberwolves. In the last 15 days, they have played only six games. They had one extra day since the NBA rescheduled the Warriors game by 24 hours. They need to figure out how to get out of this slump, as they face the Dubs to complete their back-to-back set on Monday.