Player grades from Minnesota Timberwolves’ win over Portland Trail Blazers
By Ben Beecken
The Minnesota Timberwolves held on late to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers behind a career-high 34 points from Anthony Edwards.
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Ladies and gentlemen, the Minnesota Timberwolves are 2-1 since the All-Star break.
Sure, it may not be that big of a deal. But it’s the small things, and there’s clearly been quite a bit of progress since A) new head coach Chris Finch arrived, and B) the team had a chance to practice together a few times.
A couple of weeks ago, if you had seen a Karl-Anthony Towns line consisting of only 13 points, eight rebounds, and seven turnovers, would have have surmised that there was any chance at all the Wolves could have emerged victorious?
Nope. But it happened on Sunday night at Target Center, because Anthony Edwards dropped 34 points on 24 shots and threw in a poster dunk over Robert Covington and a pair of threes splashed in Carmelo Anthony’s face for good measure.
The Wolves once again got off to a slow start, but thankfully, so did Portland. The two teams started a combined 2-of-15 from the field with four turnovers in the opening four minutes of the game. Minnesota led by a 24-20 margin at the end of the first frame.
But the Wolves second unit struggled in the middle stages of the second quarter and Portland surged ahead to take a two-point lead by halftime.
For the second straight night, the Wolves won the third quarter against the Blazers. Edwards began to assert himself as Portland continued to double-team Towns on nearly every catch. By the fourth quarter, Edwards was in complete control of the game, clearly obsessed with taking it to Anthony nearly every time down the court.
Damian Lillard did his thing down the stretch, but it wasn’t quite enough. The Wolves had a pair of crucial replay reviews go their way in the final minutes, Ricky Rubio hit eight consecutive clutch free throws, and the Wolves rebounded well enough to keep the Blazers down by three or more points until Covington hit a meaningless 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Minnesota Timberwolves Player Grades vs. Portland Trail Blazers
B-. Karl-Anthony Towns’ game was something of a roller coaster. While he put up eight assists to go along with 13 points and eight rebounds, he also committed four fouls and seven turnovers. The Blazers continued to double him in the post, and while KAT mostly made the right decisions, there were some rough patches. The Blazers had a solid plan to slow down Towns over the weekend, but the supporting cast did just enough to keep the Wolves in both games and Towns didn’t make too many mistakes of aggression.. Center. Minnesota Timberwolves. KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS
Minnesota Timberwolves. ANTHONY EDWARDS. A. This was arguably the best game of Anthony Edwards’ rookie season to date. His shot selection was shaky to start, but he was fantastic in the second half. In addition to dropping a career-high 34 points (12-24 FG, 6-14 3P, 4-4 FT), Edwards had yet another poster dunk and knocked down consecutive 3-pointers over Carmelo Anthony. Ant continues to improve, and he’s showing an edge and want-to that wasn’t obviously part of his prospect profile. It’s exactly what the Wolves need.. Wing
B+. Ricky Rubio was much better defensively than he was in Saturday night’s matchup against Lillard, but he shot just 1-of-5 from outside the arc and 3-of-10 from the field. Still, he went 8-of-8 on free throw attempts as the Wolves iced the game to bump his point total to 15 along with seven assists and five rebounds with only one turnover. All things considered, it’s a performance the Wolves will take from Rubio every night.. Point Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves. RICKY RUBIO
After playing crunch time minutes on Saturday, Layman started again but only saw 21 minutes of court time on Sunday. He was quiet, finishing with five points, two rebounds and an assist. The Wolves were comfortable rolling with a combination Juancho Hernangomez and Josh Okogie at the 3 for much of the game.. Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves. JAKE LAYMAN. B
A. Jarred Vanderbilt was fantastic. He had 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field and pulled down nine rebounds in 22 minutes. Vando also had three blocks and two steals and was all over the court. This was the type of game that makes it clear that Good Vando could be a rotation player on a playoff squad.. Big. Minnesota Timberwolves. JARRED VANDERBILT
Jaylen Nowell had his second consecutive fantastic performance, dropping 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 4-of-8 outside the arc. He also had four rebounds, two assists and a steal in 25 minutes and was on the court for stretches during crunch time.. Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves. JAYLEN NOWELL. A
NAZ REID. A-. Naz Reid received the opportunity to play quite a bit of power forward in this game alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, and he did a decent job when asked to guard Anthony. Naz only had six points and four rebounds in 19 minutes, but finished with a +7 plus-minus and generally had a solid performance.. Center. Minnesota Timberwolves
JOSH OKOGIE. A-. Josh Okogie had a great game, somehow getting to the free throw line 11 times and knocking down 10 of his free attempts. Those were his only 10 points, as he shot only 0-of-2 from the field, but he also pitched in with five rebounds, three assists, and a steal and some fantastic defense on Lillard, who finished with five turnovers to only four assists.. Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves
JUANCHO HERNANGOMEZ. B-. Without Jaden McDaniels available, backup forward minutes went almost exclusively to Juancho Hernangomez. And for the second consecutive game, he played well. This time it was only five points and four rebounds, but he was decent defensively and aggressive when he needed to be on offense. Additionally, he played a fair amount at the 3 spot as part of a massive lineup with both Towns and Reid.. Foward. Minnesota Timberwolves
All things considered, this was one of the better Wolves performances of the entire season to this point. Hard to complain about splitting a pair of close games with the Portland Trail Blazers.
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Up next for the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Wolves head out on the road for a three-game West Coast trip. They’ll take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at 9:30 CT.