Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves lose in Portland

The Timberwolves could not stop an onslaught of 3-pointers from the Trail Blazers on Wednesday night in Portland as their two-game win-streak came to an end.

A 2-1 record against three likely playoff teams and including two road games without Jimmy Butler? I think most Timberwolves fans will take that.

After beating Toronto at home on Saturday and the Clippers in Los Angeles on Monday night, the Wolves succumbed to not having their superstar against Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers in Portland on Wednesday.

The Wolves played well early and took advantage of a sloppy (yet somehow still foul-less) first quarter, but their defense failed them late in the frame, allowing Portland to close to within four points heading to the second quarter.

A Wolves lineup without Andrew Wiggins or Karl-Anthony Towns held its own for the opening four-plus minutes of the second, but as the quarter wore on the Blazers took advantage of some sloppy play from Minnesota, and namely, Jeff Teague. It was a 54-54 game at halftime.

The third quarter felt more like what Wolves fans are used to seeing when their squad is in Portland — a lot of threes, a loud crowd, and, rather suddenly, a double-digit deficit. After a flurry initiated by Lillard in the middle of the quarter, the Blazers outscored their guests by a tally of 43-30 in what was basically a sequence of Portland hitting a 3-pointer and the Wolves answering with a two-point bucket.

The fourth quarter saw the Wolves draw within seveon points early, but poor pick-and-roll coverage once again bit them hard as C.J. McCollum knocked down a 3-pointer to propel the Blazers’ lead back to double-digits.

The Wolves didn’t get within 11 points until the final minute of garbage time, well after Tom Thibodeau had waved the white flag by emptying his bench with just over three minutes remaining.

Tweet of the Night

This was from halftime of the game, but a solid second half only increased the below numbers.

Key Takeaways

• If the Wolves are going to get out-shot from beyond the arc (which is virtually every game), they have to have a convincing win at the free throw line. They usually do quite well when it comes to drawing fouls, but when they don’t, there’s the potential for games to get ugly. The Blazers made 17 3-pointers, compared to the Wolves’ six. Portland attempted 21 free throws to the Wolves 22, but Minnesota didn’t start to rack up foul shots until the game was pretty much in hand.
• The lack of touches for Towns continues to be confounding. Only two nine field goal attempts in the first half game and three before the fourth quarter. It’s certainly less glaring on a night in which Wiggins scores 40 points Minnesota lost by POINTS; but the Wolves only threw the ball to him in the post a handful of times. (Yep, this takeaway was from Monday night, and only needed to be slightly altered to remain relevant after this one. KAT simply has to get more touches; two of his six baskets were off of putbacks. It’s getting to be kind of crazy.)
• It would be difficult to name a player on the Timberwolves that played well defensively in this one. Marcus Georges-Hunt again struggled to get through screens. Towns and Gorgui Dieng either forgot or were unwilling to play up high enough on pick-and-rolls in the middle of the floor, too often sagging towards the paint and allowing Lillard and C.J. McCollum to shoot open 3-pointers. Teague and Tyus Jones couldn’t slow Lillard down at all.
• With the return of Jamal Crawford, Shabazz Muhammad received a DNP-CD after appearing in the last two games. In classic Crawford-in-Portland fashion, he launched 10 shots in 20 minutes of playing time. He was largely effective, however, getting fouled on two 3-point attempts, including one that turned into a 4-point play.
• The defense has regressed over the past handful of games, but it just goes to show how valuable Jimmy Butler is to the team defense as a whole. It’s hard to say that it’s a true back-slide in terms of overall defensive performance and improvement on the season, but we’ll know more once Butler returns.

Player of the Game

Damian Lillard: 31 points (9-17 FG, 6-11 3P, 7-7 FT), 6 assists, 4 rebounds, zero turnovers

Lillard took advantage of being guarded by Teague, as well as the Wolves ‘ poor pick-and-roll coverage. He was in clear celebration mode after being named to his third All-Star game just 24 hours prior, knocking down six 3-pointers and largely controlling the game.

It would have been just as easy to pick McCollum for this award, as Dame’s backcourt mate dropped 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Andrew Wiggins: 24 points (11-17 FG, 2-4 3P, 0-2 FT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, one block
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 16 points (6-9 FG, 2-4 3P, 2-2 FT), 9 rebounds, one assist
• Jeff Teague: 15 points (4-12 FG, 0-1 3P, 7-7 FT), 3 assists, 2 rebounds, one steal
• Jamal Crawford: 19 points (7-10 FG, 1-2 3P, 4-4 FT), 5 assists

A combined four free throw attempts from Towns and Wiggins simply won’t cut it. Teague was awful early and just okay in the second half. And Towns’ nine field goal attempts? Not enough.

Next: Twitter reacts to the Timberwolves All-Star selections

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves will head back south to take on the mighty Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Thursday night. The game will be broadcast on TNT at 9:30 p.m. CT.