After the latest loss in a season that has been full of them for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns sat at his locker with his face buried in his hands.

For at least the third time this season, the 21-year-old NBA sophomore put the entire blame on himself and his perceived inability to lead a young and promising roster out of the abyss.

“The more losses we keep accumulating, the more it feels like it’s my fault,” Towns said after the massively disappointing Wolves fell to 5-12 with a 112-103 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday night. “I’ve got to look myself in the mirror and I’ve got to play better. I’ve got to play a level where we can’t lose and help my teammates out the best I can. I didn’t do that tonight. I haven’t done it recently.”

That kind of accountability can be admirable on its face. It shows that Towns is invested in turning one of the league’s perennial losers into a playoff team for the first time in 13 years. But that pressure can also be crushing, and the team that many observers pegged for a breakout season after adding coach Tom Thibodeau last summer appears to be playing with a weight on its shoulders that has been too heavy to carry as the season nears the quarter pole.