In letting go of so many winnable games earlier this season, the Timberwolves have made themselves vulnerable to missing the playoffs via the play-in tournament.

Without much margin for error, every night from here to season’s end gets magnified. Every loss is lost ground or a missed opportunity to keep up with the competition, and that’s why Monday’s loss to the shorthanded Pacers hurt so much.

“I know who’s above us and who’s below us, but … it’s still up to us,” forward Jaden McDaniels said. “We still got to win games to be able to be in the running.”

Perhaps Monday would serve as a wake-up call for the Wolves ahead of two games against a similarly depleted Pelicans squad, the second-worst team in the Western Conference.

But it didn’t, and the Wolves on Wednesday lost another game they should have won, 119-115 to New Orleans. Zion Williamson scored 29 for New Orleans on 12-for-16 shooting while Anthony Edwards had 29 for the Wolves on 5-for-19.

Even as their offense has improved this season, the Wolves want to be a defensive-minded team. Their defense wasn’t up to par Monday or Wednesday, and they tried to win in spite of that as New Orleans shot 53%.

The Wolves trailed 96-91 entering the fourth quarter, and it stayed close while the Wolves played the first few minutes with Edwards on the bench. When he checked back in, it was 103-103 with 6 minutes, 58 seconds to play. With the Wolves down three and 3:08 to play, Edwards knotted it back up 112-112 with a three-pointer, but Bruce Brown put New Orleans ahead 115-113 with his own trey.

The Wolves tied the score when both Naz Reid and Julius Randle hit one of two free throws on the same possession before Kelly Olynyk scored to put New Orleans back ahead 117-115.