The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Game #78, Home Game #40: New Orleans 122, Minnesota 90

Season Record: 19-59

1. Trying to Trade Baskets

The Minnesota Timberwolves shot 73.3% in the third quarter last night, 11-15 FG, including 3-4 from beyond the 3pt arc. The worst shooting performances were Ryan Gomes and Chris Smith at 1-2 FG; Al Jeffeson was 2-3 FG, Rashad McCants was 3-4 FG, and Marko Jaric and Kirk Snyder were each a perfect 2-2 FG. Eight of those eleven baskets were assisted, led by Gomes with three dimes.

^{Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)}

Game #77, Road Game #38: Minnesota 119, Charlotte 121

Season Record: 19-58

1. Plenty of Blame To Go Around

^{AP Photo/Jim Mone}

Game #37, Home Game #18: Golden State 105, Minnesota 98

Season record: 5-32

1. Low IQ. Low skill level. Low chance of winning.

All things being equal, the Minnesota Timberwolves without Randy Foye and Theo Ratliff, opposing the Golden State Warriors on a sub-zero January night having already clearly established themselves as the worst team in the NBA, will lose to the Golden State Warriors.

Game #34, Home Game #17: Miami 91, Minnesota 101

Season record: 5-29

1. The Importance of Glue

Other players scored more points, grabbed more rebounds, doled out more assists, and generally exerted a higher-profile on tonight's rare Wolves victory than the two glue guys I consider to be most crucial to the win, Ryan Gomes and Marko Jaric.

Game #32, Home Game #16: Denver118, Minnesota 107

Game #33, Home Game #17: Dallas 101, Minnesota 78

1. Beating A Dead Horse

Game #30, Road Game #17: Minnesota 82, LA Clippers 91

Season record: 4-26

1. 4th Quarter Follies

Game #28, Road Game #15: Minnesota 96, Portland 109

Game #29, Road Game #16: Minnesota 90, Seattle 109

Season record: 4-25

1. Play Richard

Game # 25, Home Game #13: Indiana 118, Minnesota 131

Season record: 4-21

I usually condense two weekend games into a single trey, but tonight's victory over Indiana was sufficiently exciting and worthy of individual comment that I've decided to file this now and let you folks add comments to this and tomorrow night's road game against New Orleans. I'll return for a trey after the Golden State game on Wednesday night. Until then, Happy Holidays, and hoops, to all.

1. The Iron Man

Game #24, Home Game #12: Golden State 111, Minnesota 98

Season Record: 3-21

Game #21, Home Game #11: Seattle 99, Minnesota 88

Game #22, Road Game #11: Minnesota 92, Milwaukee 95

Season record: 3-19

1. Draw Straws, Flip A Coin, Plug a Leak. Or Not.

After the Timberwolves fell to the equally young Seattle Supersonics at Target Center Friday night, I asked coach Randy Wittman if he had any sense of what he could expect from his team from game to game. "It feels like sometime you plug one hole and then another one leaks," Witt conceded.