NBA Final Score: Trail Blazers 122, Timberwolves 108: Portland Thrashes Minnesota in NBA IST Action

Excitement was high for tip-off for the second annual NBA Cup as the Minnesota Timberwolves traveled to Oregon for a late tip-off for the local fans, starting at 6 p.m. 9 p.m. CT. Gray roses flooded the pitch as Wolves looked to go 1-0 in their pool and clear out of their division. This match marked the second of three meetings spanning six days between these two teams. The Portland Trail Blazers was exhausted as DeAndre Ayton was a late scratch from their usual starting lineup.

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The Wolves started the first quarter extremely sluggish on both ends of the floor. They weren’t physical enough defensively and threw the ball away too much on the offensive end. They turned the ball over seven times in the first frame as the Blazers’ hot shooting led them to a 28-17 lead after the opening quarter. The Wolves needed to wake up from their slow start if they wanted to begin their NBA Cup run the right way.

The Blazers continued their hot shooting into the second quarter as they pushed their lead to as many as 14 points. It was here that the wolves began to shake off the rust. They hit some shots and showed more effort on the defensive end to slowly shave down the Portland lead. Naz Reid was true to himself as a bench monster driving the offense for most of the quarter. He hit shots from outside and used his smooth, jelly-like dribbles to find his way to the basket. Anthony Edwards also woke up from his slumber and scored 12 of his 14 first half points in the second frame. While the Blazers kept their hot streak alive, Minnesota managed to cut their lead to seven as they looked to right the ship for the final half.

The offense continued to flow for both teams to start the third quarter, but it quickly dried up for the Wolves. Portland kept coming as shot after shot clattered off the rim for Minnesota. Their lack of defensive intensity and poor offensive process continued to dig the hole deeper for Wolves. The cherry on top that illustrated how the third quarter went was when Deni Avdija cashed in a buzzer-beater to end the period.

After the dead quarter, Reid gave the offense a boost with a pair of triples to start the fourth. While the Wolves stepped up their efforts, it wasn’t nearly enough to top the red-hot Blazers. Portland, right from the jump, punched the Wolves in the mouth and they were never able to recover.

Key takeaways

The Trail Blazers’ antithetical game

The Portland Trail Blazers lost to the Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies 134-89 on Sunday. They were 4 of 42 from beyond the arc, scored 89 points and shot 34% from the floor overall. It was an uninspiring effort that prompted Chauncey Billups to call his team’s effort “f***** embarrassing”. That message must have resonated with the Blazers roster when they came out tonight and were the complete opposite of what they were on Sunday. They shot 18 of 32 from three-point range, good for 56.3% and scored 122 points, pounding the Wolves nonstop for 48 minutes. Minnesota has a lot to figure out after tonight.

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Disjointed approach

To me it felt like the Wolves were completely disjointed all night. Every time they got something going on the offensive side of the ball, there wasn’t enough effort on defense. Every time they would get stops and turnovers, they couldn’t convert those turnovers into points. All in all, it led to a lopsided game where they couldn’t get over the hump to take down the young Portland team. Props to them for discombobulating the Wolves, but it felt a lot like Minnesota often did it to themselves. The 23 turnovers didn’t help much offensively either.

Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniel’s Bright Spots

This game wasn’t much fun for the most part, but I always like to give something positive as it makes my job a lot more fun. Jaden McDaniels played extremely well when the game was still in the balance as he scored 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting. He started early and you could tell he was locked in. He had a much better night defensively and made an impact on both ends of the court. Naz did what he does: provided scoring and energy from the bench. Reid had 28 points and hit four three-pointers, and whenever the Wolves made a run, he was usually the one to spur it. You love to see that from a player who has struggled to start the year and one who continues to play well.

Game highlights

Next

The Wolves will return to the field in 24 hours to face the game Blazers on Wednesday 13/11 on 9 p.m. CT in a back to back. The match will be televised on Fanduel Sports Nord once again. This time it won’t be an NBA IST game, so Portland will return to their original court.