Timberwolves Wrap: Late-game comeback propels Wolves over Blazers

The Timberwolves trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter but used a furious comeback, fueled by Jimmy Butler and Jamal Crawford, to down the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Timberwolves and Trail Blazers entered Monday night’s game with only a half-game separating the Northwest Division rivals. This year, more than any one in recent memory, the tie-breaker between Minnesota and Portland could matter down the stretch of the season.

It was a back-and-forth affair that saw numerous ties and lead changes in the first half before Portland took a three-point lead into halftime. They carried a multi-possession throughout much of the second half; the Wolves did a decent job scoring the ball but simply could not string together consecutive stops on the defensive end of the floor.

The Blazers expanded their lead to as many as 10 points and led by nine heading into the final frame. Lazy defense and sloppy offense was the name of the game for Tom Thibodeau’s crew once again — that is, until Jamal Crawford showed up.

Just days after Crawford mentioned his disappointing share of minutes to Jon Krawcaynski of The Athletic, he dropped 23 points in 23 minutes on Monday, more or less keeping the Wolves afloat when they were in their seemingly endless trading buckets phase in the second half. Outside of a bevy of mid-range jumpers, Crawford hit a shot-clock-beating three from the edge of the center court logo, had a steal that led to a Butler fastbreak dunk and brought the Wolves to within one possession, and a big 3-point play in the final minutes of the game.

With the Wolves down by one point with 8.5 seconds remaining, the Wolves isolated Butler on the left side of the floor. He drove baseline and drew a crowd of three Blazers, and after a pump-fake drew a foul and proceeded to knock down two free throws to give the home team a one-point lead with under three seconds left on the clock.

After a timeout, the Blazers got the ball to Damian Lillard on the left wing, but his 3-point attempt was contested by Taj Gibson and Butler and failed to draw iron as time expired.

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• The Timberwolves defense showed flashes in the first half but was horrible pretty much throughout the second half. Even down the stretch, the Wolves were simply lucky that a couple of balls bounced out and got away with a no-call on a Lillard layup attempts that probably should have been a foul.
• The offense, on the other hand, was decent, albeit mid-range-heavy. Wiggins was horrible, but the rest of the squad did just enough to stay effective. They were bailed out by a Good Crawford game, plus Butler’s tenacity in getting to the rim.
• For as bad as Wiggins was all night, he came up with a key strip of Al-Farouq Aminu in the paint as the Wolves were catching up in the final moments of the game.
• The Wolves had four bench players enter the game. The three not named Jamal Crawford combined to shoot 0-for-5 from the floor.
• Predictably, the Timberwolves struggled mightily to contain the Blazers perimeter players, although it took Lillard 18 shots to get 17 points and turned the ball over six times.

Player of the Game

Jimmy Butler: 37 points (12-21 FG, 2-3 3P, 11-12 FT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals

While Crawford kept Minnesota afloat for much of the second half — including the stretch that Butler was getting his rest on the bench — Butler was playing after hobbling through Saturday’s loss to Phoenix with back spasms, and yet still was tenacious in getting into the paint all night.

He wasn’t content with mid-range jumpers, although that remains a big part of his game. Butler got to the line for 12 free throws and made all four of his freebies down the stretch at the end of the game. He also contributed across the box score and didn’t turn the ball over a single time.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Jamal Crawford: 23 points (10-16 FG, 1-4 3P, 2-2 FT), 2 assists, one rebound, one steal, one turnover
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 16 points (5-15 FG, 3-6 3P, 3-4 FT), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, one steal, 4 turnovers
• Jeff Teague: 13 points (6-13 FG, 1-3 3P), 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers
• Andrew Wiggins: 9 points (4-14 FG, 0-3 3P, 1-3 FT), 6 rebounds, one steal, one block

As mentioned, Crawford was awesome. Towns was uneven, but played solid enough defense down the stretch against a tough Blazers offense.

Teague was steady throughout the game and performed well enough on offense after being asked to do the impossible on defense against Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Wiggins struggled, failing to record an assist and missing a bevy of mid-range jump shots.

Next: 5 goals for the rest of the Timberwolves' season

What’s Next?

The Wolves leave behind their 2-2 homestand and travel to Denver to face the 16-14 Nuggets, who are now tied with Portland and stand one-and-a-half games behind Minnesota in the Northwest Division.