Nearly seven minutes had expired in the first quarter before the Wolves made their first field goal, a post-up bucket by Karl-Anthony Towns. By that time, they were down by 10 points, and would never realistically challenge the Bulls in this contest.
It was on merit. The beginning of the game featured the worst of Wolves offense--no ball screens, no real movement, and possessions devolving into isolations that resulted in contested jump shots that had very little chance of going in. Meanwhile, on the other end, the Bulls were getting wide open looks from beyond the arc, a trend that started early and continued more or less unabated throughout the game.