Timberwolves defense disappears and so does winning streak in 144-132 loss to Cavaliers

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 10, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

When it mattered, the Timberwolves just couldn’t get enough stops.

The Wolves’ four-game win streak came to an end at Cleveland in a 144-132 loss on Saturday, two days after the Wolves beat the Cavaliers at Target Center.

The Wolves gave up 47 points in the fourth quarter. The Cavs pulled away in the second half thanks to 70% shooting in the third and fourth quarters.

Five Cleveland players scored 20 or more points, with Donovan Mitchell leading the way with 28 while Evan Mobley had 24.

Wolves coach Chris Finch earned a technical foul in the fourth quarter after Cleveland had a 2-to-1 free-throw differential prior to garbage time (25 to 20 was the final tally in favor of Cleveland). Anthony Edwards had 25 points for the Wolves while Julius Randle scored 22.

How it happened

The Wolves led by as many as 12 in the first half thanks to a 14-2 run from a mix of their bench and starters as Edwards rested. Naz Reid had 13 first-half points while Bones Hyland added seven and five assists as the Wolves took control during that spurt, which featured some well-connected basketball at both ends of the floor for the team.

But Cleveland fought back and with some physical play — the Wolves were campaigning for more whistles — the Cavs pulled within 65-63 at the break. Cleveland made an adjustment to its starting lineup from the game Thursday, inserting Sam Merrill for Craig Porter Jr.

But unlike Thursday when the Wolves took control in the third, Cleveland wrestled the game from the Wolves out of the half. The Wolves’ ball movement on offense stagnated and the Cavaliers got Rudy Gobert in foul trouble. The Wolves had 11 made field goals in the third quarter but just three assists.

Mitchell had 26 through three quarters as Cleveland led 99-91 entering the fourth. But shot after shot kept going in for the Cavaliers in the fourth, as Cleveland went on a 12-3 run in the quarter, and the Wolves couldn’t come back.

Ingles in rotation

Mike Conley was out because of rest and with Jaden McDaniels in foul trouble, Finch turned to veteran Joe Ingles as the ninth man off the bench. Ingles appeared in his 12th game, with some of those appearances coming as a late-game inbounder. Ingles finished with five points. Rob Dillingham remained out of the rotation.

Franchise record for Gobert

In hitting his first three shots of the game, Gobert brought his streak of consecutive makes to 18, a franchise record, the team announced. Gobert was 5 for 5 in his previous two games and was 8 for 10 in the previous game when the streak began.

Up next

The Wolves return home for a game against the Spurs on Sunday. It’s the first of two meetings this month against San Antonio at Target Center where the Wolves played on the road the day before.