Blazers Youngsters Shock Wolves, 106-98

For the second night in a row, the Portland Trail Blazers outplayed the Minnesota Timberwolves for a wild 106-98 victory. The Blazers looked loose and energetic, and the Timberwolves, who fell to .500 for the season, couldn’t hit the shots that weren’t blocked and couldn’t stop Portland from getting to the rim. Let’s dig in.

Blazers of the night: Donovan Clingan and Shaedon Sharpe. Portland’s rookie led the way on the interior defense all night, enjoying the fruits of the pick and roll with Scoot Henderson and Dalano Banton. He finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocks. Sharpe owned the Wolves tonight, showing his offensive skills to seal the game with 33 points with 6 rebounds.

Key stat: The Timberwolves scored 2 points in the first 5:30 of the fourth quarter. The Wolves shot 18% from three in the game, and while Portland’s aggressive defense helped, many of the misses were open. It was a disastrous performance and there could be panic in the Minnesota front office tonight.

What we’ll remember: The young kids’ breakout game. Without Deandre Ayton (injury) and Anfernee Simons (illness), the Cubs completely ran circles around the Timberwolves, who often looked lost and unprepared.

Box Score

What’s next: A glorious break for the Blazers. Portland will get three full days off to rest and recover and will show up on Sunday at 15:00 against the Atlanta Hawks.