Things were looking good for the Timberwolves in this game. They held an eighteen-point lead over the Kings at halftime, with Robert Covington contributing eighteen points of his own, meaning that even without Covington’s considerable contributions, the game still would have been tied at that point. The lead eventually extended to a maximum of 24 points.
With eight minutes left, the Wolves were up by 22 and feeling pretty good about themselves. There was probably lots of high-fiving and laughter and smiling on the bench. Timberwolves fans started leaving the arena to beat the traffic, secure in the knowledge that the Wolves’ seven-game losing streak had finally been broken.
Then things started going a bit south, but they were still up by fifteen with two minutes left, and they were probably thinking “It’s just the Kings, they’re as futile as we are if not more futile, they can’t keep this up.” But the Kings (or, more specifically, Buddy Hield) DID keep it up, and the game went to overtime, and then…
The Wolves lost. Covington had three points in the entire second half and three points in the overtime. Jimmy Butler watched from afar and laughed. Nemanja Bjelica watched from nearby and laughed. If the fans had any emotions left after being abused so cruelly by the team that they foolishly decided to attach their fandom to, I give them credit. At least when I was a fan of some bad Bucks teams, they were supposed to be bad so they were meeting my expectations. This Wolves team is meeting nobody’s expectations.