Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves blowout Blazers, win 5th straight

The Timberwolves finished their five-game homestand with a perfect 5-0 record after another easy win, this time over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Timberwolves improved to 9-1 in the Northwest Division and 23-6 in the Western Conference with a dominant win over the Trail Blazers on Sunday night at Target Center. Additionally, their home record now stands at a fantastic 18-6.

The Wolves, who sit fourth in the West, are now five games ahead of No. 5 Oklahoma City and only a half-game behind No. 3 San Antonio.

Despite a sluggish start that saw Minnesota trailing by two after the first quarter, the Wolves used an impressive stretch in the second frame to build a 14-point halftime lead. Also important was that Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Shabazz Napier each picked up a pair of personal fouls in the opening period, which forced coach Terry Stotts to be somewhat creative with his rotation.

In the second quarter, Portland only made two (2!) field goals and committed seven turnovers, and while the Wolves were just okay on offense, it was enough to feel pretty good about the proceedings at the break.

The third quarter saw the Wolves build a 24-point lead before a 14-4 run from the Blazers, keyed by a flurry of 3-pointers, made things somewhat interesting. Portland never got closer than 11 points, however, and the home team pulled away early in the fourth quarter.

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• One obvious benefit to another lopsided result is the modest minute totals played by the Wolves starters. Karl-Anthony Towns led the team with 36 minutes, followed by Jimmy Butler (34), Andrew Wiggins (31), Jeff Teague (29), and Taj Gibson (29).
• If you take a screen-shot of the box score, well, this is about as perfect of a look as the Wolves’ starting five will have. The minutes breakdown is great, KAT had 20 and 11, Butler had a balanced game with 24 on 11 shots, plus five rebounds and four assists, Wiggins had 17 points on 11 shots and contributed in other categories, and Teague managed a 20-plus point game for just the third time this year, plus added eight assists.
• There are a number of reasons why this particular win was important. This includes the head-to-head matchup (Wolves are now 2-0 against Portland this year) and the divisional and conference tiebreakers. And let’s not minimize the mental advantage that finishing a homestand undefeated has over finishing 4-1 and losing the last game before heading out on a road trip and playing five of the next six games away from home.
• This is mostly just a weird stat, but Gorgui Dieng somehow only attempted two field goals, making one, in 20 minutes of play. He did add two blocks and play some fantastic interior defense.

Player of the Game

Jimmy Butler: 24 points (7-11 FG, 1-1 3P, 9-11 FT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers

It would have been easy to pick Butler, Towns, or Teague for the Player of the Game tonight, but Butler controlled the game and calmed things down when the game was still close in the first half. In the second half, he got to the line at will.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Karl-Anthony Towns: 20 points (6-11 FG, 2-3 3P, 6-7 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal, 2 turnovers
• Jeff Teague: 22 points (8-15 FG, 1-1 3P, 5-6 FT), 8 assists, 2 steals, one rebound, 2 turnovers
• Andrew Wiggins: 17 points (8-11 FG, 0-1 3P, 1-2 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers
• Jamal Crawford: 10 points (3-9 FG, 2-7 3P, 2-3 FT), one rebound, one assist, one steal, one block

Next: Andrew Wiggins has all of the tools...

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves will jet away from the friendly confines of Target Center for a Tuesday night matchup against the Magic in Orlando. Then it’s an extremely difficult matchup in Houston on Thursday before they head back home for yet another one-game “homestand”.