The Minnesota Timberwolves have not won many games this season. Their win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night was just their third in their last 14 tries. Despite the exciting overtime victory, T-Wolves coach Flip Saunders was in no mood to celebrate after the game.
Instead, Saunders was annoyed by about 25 text messages he received informing him that the Jazz broadcast announcers on the NBA League Pass channel were accusing his team of tanking.
“That’s totally irresponsible, we’re not tanking games,” Saunders told reporters, per Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. “If that’s so, then [Utah] got beat by a team who was tanking. … We’re playing to win. Our guys are out there: We won two games ago at New York, we lost in the fourth quarter against Charlotte last night. We’re not tanking games. It is irresponsible for them to go on TV saying that. If you work at ESPN, you get fired for saying stuff like that.”
The tanking questions were raised mainly because Ricky Rubio and Kevin Garnett were sidelined with injuries. That didn’t stop Zach LaVine from scoring 27 points while leading the way with rookie sensation Andrew Wiggins.
If Saunders tried to tank against Utah, it didn’t work. The Timberwolves have won just 16 games this season, but let’s remember they lost their best player to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Plus, did you hear what Saunders said to JJ Redick during a game earlier this month? That doesn’t sound like a guy who has given up.
