The Portland Trail Blazers wasted no time starting another streak as they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night, 107-93 at the Moda Center. The Blazers improve to 13-4 on the season, while the Timberwolves fall to 4-11.
The Timberwolves are in yet another rebuilding mode (did they ever truly get out of their first attempt after Garnett left?). With the departure of Kevin Love, this team has shifted dramatically, and they should. Love needed to go. In my opinion, that relationship between Kevin and the organization was becoming more toxic than what it was worth. The writing was on the wall in the sense that there was no way Minnesota was getting better in the West through free agency or trades. They had to restart.
Once LeBron James shipped off to Cleveland, it was obvious where Love was going to end up. There were multiple teams that wanted Love, but one of the two major frontrunners, Golden State, refused to part with Klay Thompson (and with good reason). Minnesota and Cleveland looked to be the only two teams who could make a Love deal work for both sides. In the end, Minnesota got back the number one pick of the 2014 draft in Andrew Wiggins and the number one pick in the 2013 draft Anthony Bennett. Plus, using some other assets, Minnesota was able to grab Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia. Furthermore, the signing of Mo Williams added some veteran leadership as well as players who could actually play.
Coming into this game, Minnesota has been playing pretty poorly (no surprise there). This team is a couple years away from being good. This year is just a growth year for the recently acquired rookies and hopefully some new players down the road. The Blazers are fresh off their first loss in nine games to the Memphis Grizzlies and were looking to bounce back. Minnesota seemed like the perfect team for Portland to face. Their defense is poor and their offense is not exactly lethal.
Furthermore, Minnesota was playing without Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin. Those are the three main weapons for the starting line-up. So, essentially, Portland was playing against a depleted squad. Well, considering the final score of this game, give credit to Minnesota. They played well.
Minnesota was impressive in the first quarter. They outscored Portland by four led by Williams who had 11 points. Their interior passing, especially, was what impressed me. However, probably the biggest issue for Portland was their defense. They allowed Minnesota to shoot 46% in the first quarter. Also, their offensive speed was lower than usual. Passes and rotations seemed sluggish and the Blazers looked one step behind in their plays for the majority of the first quarter. However, any fan could predict that Portland was going to surpass Minnesota at some point. Portland is just a better team and Minnesota was playing without their full arsenal. Also, because of the many injuries and ailments, head coach Flip Saunders was forced to play his starting line-up major minutes. Williams and Young logged 40 and 42 minutes respectively.
Much like the Memphis game, the second quarter was the story of the game. Portland outscored Minnesota 26-14. Portland shot 42% from the field and 50% from three, while Minnesota only shot 32% from the field. LaMarcus Aldridge had six points on 3-for-3 shooting in the quarter and four rebounds. Allen Crabbe, who has been the surprise of this season, had six points on 2-for-2 shooting, both three-pointers. The three-point shot plus defensive adjustments caused Portland to eventually surge ahead.
While Minnesota would keep playing well and get the lead under ten multiple times, Portland always seemed to have one more weapon that Minnesota could not handle. Again, give credit to Minnesota; with a depleted line-up they still forced Portland to play their starters until the final buzzer at the Moda Center. This was simply a case of Portland out-lasting the T-Wolves and just being better across the board.
LA had a fantastic night finishing with 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting along with 15 rebounds and two assists. LA did everything he wanted to. With Pekovic and back-up center Ronny Turiaf out as well, Minnesota had no one to guard him. LA had his way all night and every time he had the ball, Portland got an easy two points.
Wesley Matthews continues his torrid streak. He finished with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting, 6-for-10 from three and had six rebounds and two assists. In his past three games (including this one), he has combined to go 19-for-31 from three-point land. Once Matthews get in a zone, he stays that way for a couple of weeks. Portland should ride this hot streak while they can. It does not come around often and it is ridiculous.
Damian Lillard finished with 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting, 1-for-7 from three with one rebound, three steals, eight assists and one block. Steals are becoming a defensive weapon for Lillard. A person can tell that he is not just focused on defending his man, but rather being active on the defensive end and trying to disrupt other areas. He only scored four points in the first three quarters, but then scored the remaining 13 in the fourth quarter (shocking).
Crabbe has turned into quite the weapon for Portland. He wins my surprise player of the year award as of right now. He finished with nine points on 3-for-5 shooting, all three-pointers and had one assist, one rebound and two steals. Crabbe was the reason Portland got back into the game and really flipped the switch. He was a +16 on the night. He is shooting the ball with extreme confidence. In one play, a fast break occurred and Crabbe got the ball and could have clearly either passed it or gone for the easy two points, but he just pulled up from beyond the arc and made the shot. Crabbe is no longer looking apprehensive and is shooting in rhythm and in a way that he wants to shoot it. Pretty soon, I would imagine that head coach Terry Stotts might start running plays for him if he keeps shooting like this. Furthermore, his defense has been surprising. It has not been lockdown defense, but he was able to grab two steals as well as affect a couple of shots. He still has some kinks in his game, but he has turned to a real weapon for Portland. It makes the choice even harder as to whom to play when C.J. McCollum returns from injury.
Shabazz Muhammad of all people was Minnesota’s highest scorer. He finished with 28 points on 12-for-17 shooting and had five rebounds, one assist and one block.
While Portland did eventually win this game handily, there were a couple of stats that were alarming. One was the turnovers. Portland finished with 18 turnovers. Minnesota finished with 14. Portland was sloppy with the ball once again. Honestly, there was not a section where they turned the ball over six times in a sequence, but throughout the game, Portland would turn the ball over on a fast break or get ahead of themselves and miss a pass or start shooting before the ball actually got into their hands. The turnovers were turned down the last couple of games, but it appears that it needs to happen again. Minnesota scored 13 off of Portland’s turnovers. The free-throw shooting was also suspect. Portland finished going 17-for-25 from the line shooting just 68%. What was most surprising is that Lillard missed a total of three in this ballgame. While the FT line has not quite been a sure thing for Portland like it was last season, Portland is still better than this. I would chalk this up to one of those games, but it is still an alarming aspect to see from such a good free-throw shooting team. What was the main factor for Portland’s victory? The three-point shot as Portland finished going 12-for-33 form beyond the arc.
It was not a pretty game in stretches, but Portland got the job done. Next up, Portland takes to the road for a quick one-game trip as they take on the Denver Nuggets once again in Denver. Ever since Portland’s last visit in Denver, the Nuggets have gone 7-2 including victories against Cleveland, Chicago and New Orleans. The Nuggets are playing the Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back, but I am sure Denver has not forgotten the 84-point first half that Portland slammed on them. Tip-off is on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. PST at the Pepsi Center (Coke is better). Stay tuned!