Blazers get run ragged and torn apart on the road by a dominant Timberwolves team
Continuing the trend of three-game streaks, Portland takes their third consecutive loss to end a tough road trip in Minnesota.
Even while holding a small lead early in the game, there was a visible difference between the 29-16 Timberwolves and the 22-21 Blazers.
A physical brand of basketball and the continuous urge to push the pace were, from the very beginning, playing against the young and admittedly road-weary Portland squad. The Blazers held the lead for the first six minutes, but then Damian Lillard committed what was (already) Portland’s fifth foul of the quarter.
You may as well have considered the tone set for the evening.
Blazers have another second quarter to forget…
Portland led 33-31 at the end of the first quarter, due largely to the Blazer bench outscoring their Minnesota counterparts. Our boys in the Red n’ Black then went completely scoreless for nearly eight minutes, with a pair of free throws from Evan Turner earning our first points of the quarter with only 4:40 to go.
The Blazers would score a eight more points in the half, while giving up 26 in the second quarter.
That’s a total of ten scored points in the second, after a comfortable 33 in the first. Let that inconsistency sink in.
After Portland had led by two after 12 minutes, we trailed by 14 at haf, 43-57.
Second Half
The deficit stretched into the low 20’s, but Portland’s guards kept pushing. CJ McCollum with floaters, Dame driving through the paint, and Pat Connaughton nailing some clutch shots from beyond the arc.
There was a moment, near the end of the third quarter, and after a 16-3 run, that the Blazers’ deficit had been cut from the low 20’s to the low 10’s.
But within minutes of starting the final quarter, the Timberwolves’ lead would balloon back to the low-and mid-20’s. With just under six minutes to play, Coach Stotts inserted a lineup including Jake Layman, Noah Vonleh, and Meyers Leonard. This essentially means throwing in the towel with nearly half the quarter left.
Throughout the first half of this season, one of the complaints about this roster has been their inability to put together 48 minutes of solid basketball. Tonight, they barely reached 42.
Final score: Portland 103 – 120 Minnesota.
Three Takeaways:
Shabazz is the man, and Patty ain’t bad either!
When things were (first) seeming to get out of hand in the first half, in comes Shabazz Napier with a quick 3. He then draws FT’s AND follows it up forcing a TO on Andrew Wiggins. And finally, a midrange jumper puts him at seven. Straight. Points.
Minutes later, Bazz blocks Jeff Teague in the post with about a minute left to play in the quarter. Teague knew he was there right in front of him. He just didn’t know Shabazz is the MAN.
Then, Bazz didn’t play the second half. (There was some mention postgame of a back issue but no official word as of yet from the Blazers.)
But along comes Pat Connaughton, and it became clear that Portland still has some serious talent backing up it’s most serious talents.
The question moving forward will be whether those talents are best used as pieces of the Blazers’ future, or if more value would be gotten as trade pieces.
Weaknesses of the Blazers’ three-guard lineup becoming more clear…
Portland’s guard play looked relatively sharp (which wasn’t difficult, given the frontcourt shortcomings). However, the disadvantage of the three-guard lineup was exposed a bit tonight. Similarly to the games against Milwaukee, Portland’s defensive weaknesses are highlighted when playing against length and athleticism.
Without a few small-ball bigs to pass to, the secret weapon that is the three-guard lineup is… still just three guards.
Nurk can’t help if he can’t stay on the floor, but Zach Collins will!
Jusuf Nurkic continues to play an emotional brand of basketball. On some nights it fuels his game to another level. On other nights it makes him a target, either for crafty veterans drawing fouls or for NBA Officials who need to assert their authority.
In these cases, he won’t be able to stay on the floor if he can’t fall back on solid fundamental basketball.
But Zach Collins’ bread and butter is solid fundamental basketball.
Next: Bleacher Report suggests Blazers trade for Kent Bazemore
If Collins keeps getting Nurk’s minutes, it’s going to be that much harder for Nurk to demand a high price tag in the offseason.
This could help the Blazers keep him. Or, if Collins adds some weight, they won’t feel like they have to.
The Blazers return to Portland to face the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, Jan. 16th at 7 p.m., PT.