The games don’t stop coming. After a 20-point fourth quarter surge to beat the Chicago Bulls last night, the Minnesota Timberwolves are right back in action tonight back home at Target Center against the Portland Trail Blazers.
After last night’s game, many Wolves players talked about playing good defense from the start of the game, not just when they are losing. They did just that to start this game as they forced Portland to miss their first 11 shots from the floor, leading to a 10-0 Wolves lead and a Chauncey Billups timeout.
The first quarter domination would continue for the Timberwolves coming out of the timeout, building a 35-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Adding in the fourth quarter of the last game, the Wolves outscored their opponents by a total of 49 points in their last two quarters of play.
The Timberwolves leading scorer in the period was Naz Reid who knocked down two 3-pointers, a floater, and this alley-oop slam with Anthony Edwards on the other end.
Minnesota would grow the lead to as high as 27 points before a 18-5 run by Portland over a five-minutes stretch kept the game from getting too far out of hand before halftime.
With the Timberwolves now up by only 12, they would immediately respond with an and-1 from Edwards and a 3-pointers from Donte DiVincenzo to push the lead right back up to 18.
The two teams would trade scoring runs before the half with Portland scoring nine straight points, cutting the lead to just nine, followed by the Timberwolves scoring seven straight points. The Wolves would take a 64-51 lead into the halftime locker room.
Edwards was Minnesota’s leading scorer with 18 points including four makes from beyond the arc. Robert Williams III would lead the way for Portland with 13 points off the bench.
The Trail Blazers would open the second half by again cutting the Wolves lead down to nine before another classic Edwards scoring boomlet to push the lead right back up to 17.
That scoring burst would only be the start for the Wolves in the third quarter as they were seemingly able to score at-will, building a 98-75 at the end of three quarters.
That lead would prove to be plenty as the Wolves would lead by 20 or more points the remainder of the game, with the end of of the bench coming in with about five minutes to go in the game. The Wolves would finish with a 127-102 victory, their second win in as many nights.
Edwards put on a masterclass in this one, scoring 37 points, along with six rebounds and five assists. Ant continued his dominant shooting streak to start this season, going 9-15 from long-range. Scoot Henderson was the leading-scorer for Portland, scoring 16 points, adding four rebounds and three assists.
This story will be updated throughout the night after coach and player media availabilities.
Up Next
The Wolves finish up their mini two-game homestand with a matchup against Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat on Sunday. The game will begin at 6:00 PM CT, airing on FanDuel Sports Network North.
After that, the Wolves have two more games against these Trail Blazers in Portland on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Wolves fans might need some coffee for those as they each begin at 9:00 PM CT.
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