Timberwolves coach Chris Finch last season said the brewing ownership battle among Glen Taylor, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez didn't affect the team at the "troop level."

But the Wolves looked more than a little distracted on Monday night, the same night arbitrators ruled for Rodriguez and Lore in their dispute with Taylor. The Wolves suffered one of their worst losses of the season 128-107 to Cleveland.

They were never in it from the start of a wire-to-wire victory for the Cavaliers, who were up as many as 20 points in the first quarter.

That's because the Wolves opened the night 0-for-16 from the field, the first time that has happened in any NBA game since 2004 and their worst start of a game in franchise history.

"I didn't like much about us tonight," Finch told reporters in Cleveland. "Our start, we missed shots, I thought we would figure out how to get into the game. I didn't like our toughness tonight. I didn't like our offense at all. I thought it just bogged down. Their switching did some of that, too, but I didn't think we were super intelligent on that side of the floor. I didn't like our resistance when it mattered. We've played way better than that. There wasn't a lot to like about tonight."

The Wolves started the game down 16-0 and never threatened after that. The Wolves finished the first quarter only 2-for-21 and were down 30-12. They shot 40% for the night.

Anthony Edwards, who returned after missing Saturday's 114-108 win over Portland because of a sore hip, picked up the offense from the second quarter onward and finished with 44 points. It was Edwards' third consecutive game over 40 points. He finished 8-for-15 from three-point range, but no other Wolves player had above 13 points.

On defense, the Wolves appeared helpless to stop the best team in the Eastern Conference. Evan Mobley was a problem to handle on both ends of the floor. Mobley finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and two steals. Donovan Mitchell added 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting to go with eight assists while Darius Garland added 17. Cleveland shot 51% against a Wolves defense that was a step slow most of the night. Finch also didn't like the Wolves' ball movement, even as they shook off the early offensive drought. He pointed to the team's 17 assists as a lack of sufficient ball movement and playmaking, specifically from Edwards, despite his high point total.

"That's not nearly enough," Finch said of the 17 assists. "You got to move the ball. I think [Edwards] got hot, got some good looks and got to the free-throw line, but we need him playmaking for his teammates at a high level as he can do."

BOXSCORE: Cleveland 128, Wolves 107

NBA standings

The Wolves had a rousing win over Portland on Saturday with Edwards and Mike Conley (dislocated finger) joining the previously injured Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo on the sideline. The Wolves' young players stepped up along with Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid for an exhilarating fourth-quarter comeback. But nobody else had it going Monday outside of Edwards.

The young players who have been so instrumental struggled. The bench was 9-for-30 overall. Rob Dillingham was the team's second-highest scorer with 13 but he needed 14 shot attempts to get there. Reid (10 points), who had been on fire from three-point range the past several weeks, cooled off in a 1-for-6 night.

The Wolves have two more games before the All-Star break, both at home against Milwaukee on Wednesday and Oklahoma City on Thursday.