After the Minnesota Timberwolves blew a 12-point lead in the final seven minutes of the game against Sacramento and lost their fourth straight game, star guard Anthony Edwards didn’t hold back in his assessment of what ails the Wolves this season.

In a candid postgame interview, Edwards called his team “soft” and said they were “front runners” who didn’t seem to be able to tolerate any adversity, and lamented that the fans booed them on their home floor. . The 115-104 loss dropped the Wolves to a disappointing 8-10 on the season. They have lost seven of their last nine games, and most of those have followed a similar script. They fall down double digits, claw back to take the lead and then fade down.

This time the Wolves led 98-86 with 7:17 to play in the game. The Kings outscored them 29-6 the rest of the way and won easily.

“We definitely look like frontrunners tonight,” Edwards said. “We were down, no one wanted to say anything. We stood up and everyone was cheering and hyped. We go back downstairs and don’t let anyone say anything. That is the definition of a frontrunner. We as a team, including myself, were all frontrunners tonight.”

Edwards led the way with 29 points, five rebounds and five assists. But after a 5-on-5 start to the game, he was just 4-on-19 the rest of the game. One of the misses was an ill-advised stepback 3-pointer with the Wolves leading by 10 points in the fourth. It led to an easy run-out for Keon Ellis and sparked the Kings’ comeback.

As he always does, Edwards made sure the criticism he leveled at the team started with his own play.

“I’m going to put this one on me,” Edwards said. “We made the right moves. If I’m the guy, I have to take those shots on the stretch. I missed a few shots and they made shots. So I’m going to take this one.”

The Wolves entered the season with high expectations after their appearance in the Western Conference finals last season. But a major trade just before training camp, sending Karl-Anthony Towns to New York for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, has robbed them of the chemistry and cohesion of last season. Edwards was one of many players frustrated by the erratic start.

“Internally, we’re so soft as a team,” Edwards said. “Not for the other team, but internally we are soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we play with a bunch of little kids. Everyone, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other. And we have to figure it out because we can’t go down this road.”

The Wolves have started a four-game homestand with two losses to the Rockets and Kings that included lackluster defense and glaring fourth-quarter collapses. They have Thanksgiving off and then host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

““I’m trying to get better on that end, figure out what the hell to say to get everyone on the same agenda because everyone has a different agenda now,” Edwards said. “I think that’s one of the main reasons why we’re losing, because everyone there has their own agenda. I suspect their imagination of what should happen and what actually happens.

The fans are taking out their frustrations on a team that has played with poor body language and low energy for most of the season. In both of their most recent home games, the Wolves have been loudly booed when turnovers came in bunches and the defense couldn’t get a stop at the rim.

“As many of us are, all 15 of us, we go into our own shells and just grow away from each other,” he said. “It’s clear. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans are cursing us. That (stuff) is crazy, man. We are booed in our home arena. That’s so fucking disrespectful, it’s insane.”

As players left the locker room after the game, they talked about trying to rediscover a connection that never really materialized this season. Edwards has almost always had a positive attitude, rain or shine, but his words Wednesday night were tinged with frustration at not being able to find the answers yet this season.

“We are so negative now. The last few years we’ve been like that,” Edwards said, clasping his hands together. “And I just feel like we’ve gradually grown away from each other, which is the craziest thing, because most of us have been together. We have two new players, that’s about it. Everyone else has been together.”

Required reading

(Photo: David Berding/Getty Images)