Blazers end winning streak, fall in 4th quarter to Timberwolves

Instead of extending their winning streak to four, the Portland Trail Blazers gave away tonight’s game to Minnesota.

Yet another Northwest Division classic game went down tonight between the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Coming into the night riding a three-game road winning streak, the Blazers were a confident bunch. Minnesota was just off a two-point home loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns. It seemed as though all of the momentum would be in Portland’s favor, and so it was early on.

However, lack of playmaking and discipline down the stretch proved faulty for the Blazers, and they finish their road trip with a loss. They fall to 16-14 on the season, 3-1 on the trip.

Minnesota moves to 18-13, holding Portland away from the fourth seed. The Blazers return home on Wednesday to face the San Antonio Spurs.

First Quarter

Damian Lillard only had one point, but his 7 assists helped Portland keep up with Minnesota in the first quarter.

Al-Farouq Aminu continues to impress us all, as he started out the game by hitting all three attempts from three-point land. He finished the first quarter with 11 points, which led both teams. Jimmy Butler had a cool ten points and two assists on 3-4 shooting after one for the Timberwolves.

The game was tied at 24.

Second Quarter

The Blazers started to pick it up in the second quarter, but the T-Wolves weren’t too far behind. Ball movement continued to be the theme, as Lillard reached nine assists before halftime. He had four points and four rebounds as well.

Aminu’s stat line stayed the same, while CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkić combined for 22 points, four rebounds, and two assists in the first half.

Portland had a great 21-39 shooting output for the first half. For the Wolves, Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins struggled early, combining for 12 points on 5-17 shooting. Butler, oppositely, picked up the slack with 15, three and three.

The Blazers led 54-51.

Third Quarter

Portland got into even more of a groove in the third quarter, especially Lillard. He shot 4-10 in the third and nearly had himself a triple-double going into the last period.

Nurkić added eight more points to his night on 3-3 shooting in the quarter, and Shabazz Napier scored nine points through the third to lead Portland’s bench.

Bench scoring is where Minnesota struggled, as Jamal Crawford was the only reserve to score through three (seven points).

Butler stayed strong, pouring in 11 additional points to move his total to 26. Towns and Jeff Teague also hit double-digit points to enter the fourth quarter with 11 and 13, respectively.

Fourth Quarter

Then, the “Jamal Crawford Effect” happened. (The referees happened, as well, but it was mainly Crawford who got Minnesota back in the game.) He exploded for 16 points in the fourth quarter, including an extremely deep three-pointer to cut Portland’s lead to one.

The referees began calling ticky-tack fouls in Minnesota’s favor. It upset the team to the point where Evan Turner received a technical foul midway through the quarter for complaining one of them. This helped the Timberwolves regain the lead, and the back-and-forth finished with game-winning free throws for Butler.

McCollum and Nurkić each finished with 20 points, while Lillard had 17 of his own to go along with 13 assists and eight boards. Ed Davis contributed ten points and snagged seven rebounds off the bench, as Napier led the second unit with 15 points.

For Minnesota, Butler’s 37 points, six rebounds, and four assists seemed dominant and cool. 12-21 shooting overall, 2-3 from 3.

All of the team’s 23 bench points belonged to Crawford, who shot 10-16 (62%) from the floor. Towns (16), Teague (13), and Taj Gibson also hit double figures.

Three takeaways

Portland can be unstoppable on offense

When a team is so dependent on one side of the ball, they are more susceptible to very bad losses. That’s how Portland has been for the past few years, relying on their offense via guys like Lillard and McCollum.

This season has changed that up a bit. Portland is a top-ten team in defensive rating so far, just recently falling outside of the top-five.

But, with that, comes different effort on offense. Lillard and McCollum have not been themselves this season, leading the team to be bottom feeders in field goal percentage. Other role players, plus Nurkić, have been disappointing as well.

Tonight, though, was a showcase of this team’s peak on offense. Lillard became a true point guard, McCollum shot as efficient as we are used to seeing, and Nurkić was able to put in work in the post against a weaker defender in Towns. He is still on limited minutes, so any success he can get right now will be taken.

With Davis and Napier taking advantage of favoring matchups, this Portland offense has a ton of upside. Add in the two rookies stepping up off the bench, McCollum and Nurkić continuing to play well, and Lillard finding his groove for an all-around game, this Blazers offense can return to its normal form and beyond.

They’re not quite unstoppable yet, and have a lot of holes to fill beforehand, but this team is on its way to being great on both ends of the floor.

Is there a need for more veteran leadership?

Teams with plenty of veteran leadership and experience rarely suffer late losses like this. For the Blazers, it has almost become normal to blow fourth quarter leads. We’ve seen it twice in one week and countless times these past three seasons.

Does this mean it’s time to bring in some more veterans?

Doing so could help the team out; Lillard and McCollum are young to be experienced-veteran leaders. Throw in two rookies, and the youth of Nurkic, Maurice Harkless, Napier and Pat Connaughton, and the team ends up being sixth youngest in the league.

The older fellows, Turner and Davis, lack experience as well to be a veteran figure.

Signing or trading for an outside leader on the team may solve a lot of problems for Portland. Having a guy like Andre Igoudala or Dwyane Wade has proven to be vital for playoff teams.

The Blazers don’t have that, putting them at a disadvantage. One move could cancel that out and help elevate the team to the next level.

Minnesota is going to be more than an obstacle for the Blazers

That includes currently, and for years to come. Their roster is deep, young, and experienced, balancing out to one of the best on paper in the league. Trading for Butler and signing Crawford was icing on the offseason cake.

The Wolves have the length, agility, leadership, and defensive mindset to beat nearly every team in the NBA. They’re no strangers to beating the Blazers in dramatic fashions. Towns hit a game-winner against Portland two years ago at the Moda Center to cap off yet another wild game.

Next: Blazers winning weird games this year

Even though Towns and Wiggins struggled mightily tonight, they’ll both only get better and therefore help this team win more often. Being in the same division, Portland will face them at least four times every single year.

Credit the entire team, including head coach Tom Thibodeau, for the comeback win tonight. There will be plenty more to watch, against Portland and many other teams.