Timberwolves lose emotional home opener

Ahead of their home opener Monday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves gave a poignant tribute to Flip Saunders. The Wolves' head coach and president died last week after a battle with Hodgkin lymphoma.

But even with a hometown crowd cheering them on against the Portland Trail Blazers at Target Center, the Timberwolves had a tough game.

Saunders was laid to rest at a private service on Saturday, and the first two games of the season were on the road so it wasn't until Monday night that fans were finally able to pay their respects to the man who led the team to the playoffs eight seasons in a row in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and returned in 2013 to rebuild a franchise that had fallen on hard times.

Ahead of the game, many former NBA players and coaches including Larry Bird, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley shared their memories of Saunders in a video tribute. It included the entire Timberwolves roster, except for Kevin Garnett who'd known Saunders for two decades. Garnett had hoped to participate, but was said to be too overcome with emotion.

The crowd stood in a darkened Target Center as the video played on the scoreboard. And few people sat down with dry eyes after Timberwolves General Manager Milt Newton recalled this conversation he had with Saunders.

"I remember the first time you told me you loved me. That really hit me because usually at this level, people try to keep those types of feelings to themselves," he said. "I'm glad you were able to say that while you were here. But I just want to tell you I love you, too. Rest in peace."

After the tribute, there was a moment of silence punctuated with a Timberwolf howl.

Once the game got underway, the Wolves held a commanding lead — by 17 points late in the first quarter. But by the half Portland led 54-53, and the Timberwolves struggled to catch up.

With a minute to go in the game the Trailblazers led by three points. Andrew Wiggins appeared to tie the game with a tip-in, but officials called basket interference. A video review upheld that call, and the Timberwolves were unable to score again. The final score: 106-101.

At a news conference, coach Sam Mitchell said the first home game without Saunders was an emotional one for the team. But Mitchell said that's not an excuse for losing.

"We just made some bad mistakes at the wrong time," he said. "We just fouled too much, committed silly fouls away from the basket when there wasn't even a play for us going toward the basket."

In the locker room, veteran shooting guard Kevin Martin, who led the Timberwolves with 24 points, said he's confident that this young team will grow and improve this season. He brushed off a suggestion that the sadness of the past nine days affected their performance.

"At the end of the day, it's just a game of basketball and tonight we came up short," he said.

Center Karl-Anthony Towns said he took all the emotion of the pre-game tribute to Saunders and brought it out on the court.

"I just cried the whole time, the whole pregame. So I was emotionally drained coming out," he said. "I just tried to use my energy in a good way, and just use it for our team."

The Timberwolves, now 2-1, host the Miami Heat Thursday.