CHARLOTTE — The adrenaline had worn off from Wednesday's emotional win over the Heat and the Timberwolves were without one of the heartbeats of their team, injured guard Patrick Beverley.
The Wolves had a challenge in front of them Friday night in Charlotte — keep the same energy they had Wednesday and find a way to continue playing well, especially on the defensive end, with Beverley out.
That was easier said than done as a hot-shooting Hornets team made easy work of the Wolves and snapped their five-game win streak in a 133-115 Wolves loss at Spectrum Center.
Kelly Oubre had 27 of 7 of 13 three-point shooting, which tied a career high as he made the Wolves pay every time he left them open. Charlotte hit a season high 23 of 40 three-pointers against a Wolves team that entered the night No. 1 in defending the three.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and seven rebounds for the Wolves while Malik Beasley and D'Angelo Russell finished with 18 points.
Jaden McDaniels started in place of Beverley, who will be re-examined after two weeks because of a left adductor strain, and the Wolves came out with a lack of focus on offense with four turnovers in the first 3 minutes, 10 seconds of the game. That prompted coach Chris Finch to use a timeout as Minnesota to prevent the Wolves from falling into a hole early.
Despite their seven first-half turnovers they stayed within a possession or two of the Hornets thanks to Russell's shotmaking. Russell was 5 of 5 from the field and the Wolves were able to keep it within 30-28 after the first quarter.
Charlotte wrested control of the game away from the Wolves in the second quarter and led by as many as 16 as some of their bench players got hot. Oubre and Jalen McDaniels, brother of Jaden McDaniels, each hit three from beyond the arc in the first half as Charlotte finished the first half 11 of 21 from deep. That three-point proficiency, along with 17 fast-break points in the first half, opened up Charlotte's lead. The Wolves led 35-34 when the Hornets went on an 11-0 run spurred by five points from Gordon Hayward.
Charlotte led 66-50 with 1:12 left in the half when the Wolves closed on an 8-2 run but botched a fast break, which led to a Charlotte layup as time expired.
Towns had a strong offensive burst to start the third quarter as the Wolves continued jockeying for position, but Oubre began to bury them. He hit four threes in the third, most open looks from the corner. Charlotte went on a 10-0 run that made the score 94-77 with nine points in that run being threes from Oubre. Towns finished with 11 in the third but the Wolves still trailed Charlotte 99-83 after three.
The Wolves failed to make a push early in the fourth, the crowd started doing the wave and Finch emptied his bench with a back-to-back with Philadelphia on tap Saturday.
The Wolves entered the night leading the league in three-point percentage defense with opponents shooting 30.1% from there. That statistic can have a double meaning — it can let you know you might be playing OK defense beyond the arc but some of three-point defense is getting lucky that opponents are missing shots.
The Wolves were allowing the eighth most "wide-open" three-point shots entering the night, according to NBA.com and too many open looks from Charlotte went down Friday.