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Best of the Season, Part XIII: Blazers beat Minnesota 108-99, finally win five straight

By Matt George Moore

PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 1: Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers high fives teammates CJ McCollum #3 and Evan Turner #1 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 1, 2018 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 1: Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers high fives teammates CJ McCollum #3 and Evan Turner #1 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 1, 2018 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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As we continue our series on the best Blazers wins of the season, we turn to a home game against the aggressive Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Portland Trail Blazers had won plenty of back-to-back games. They’d also won three and four games in a row on a few separate occasions.

But it wasn’t until the first day of March — Portland’s 62nd game of the season — that they finally nabbed that elusive fifth straight win.

And it wasn’t against a patsy, either; it was against the talented Minnesota Timberwolves, who entered the contest at 38-26. (Portland was 35-26 at this point.)

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That’s just a few of the reasons we chose this as one of the best of the season.

Blazers’ Winning Streak

Portland was on a roll, having won four in a row, including victories against the Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz.

And the Blazers were winners of seven of their previous eight games, vaulting them to fourth place in the ridiculously competitive Western Conference.

Portland was also becoming tough to beat at home.

When they dispatched the Timberwolves, it marked the 12th win in their last 13 home games, a stretch that included a nine-game home-winning streak.

In short, Portland was playing its best basketball of the season.

Especially after January 1 — and extra especially after the All-Star break, which was becoming something of a trend for these Blazers.

We examined a few of the reasons Portland was playing so well here.

Some of those reasons: a balanced scoring attack and a steadily improving Jusuf Nurkic.

Timberwolves-Blazers

The Blazers played catch-up for most of their tilt against Minnesota. Damian Lillard missed his first nine shots and C.J. McCollum never got on track (19 points on 7/18 shooting).

But Lillard, who didn’t make a bucket until 1:46 left in the second quarter, made up for lost shots later.

Dame would finish with 35 points on 9/22 shooting.

The game, too, swung in Portland’s favor in an instant.

With the game tied at 86, Portland made three consecutive three-pointers late in the fourth — courtesy of Al-Farouq Aminu, McCollum and Lillard — to go up by nine points.

That was just enough to overcome a huge game from Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 34 points (11/19 from the field) and snared 17 rebounds.

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Portland, meanwhile, had six players with double-figure scoring: Lillard (35); McCollum (19); Nurkic and Shabazz Napier (both with 16); and Aminu and Ed Davis (both with 10).

Final score: Portland 108, Minnesota 99.

It was the kind of well-rounded offense combined with shut-down defense that was beginning to elevate Portland from also-ran to legit contender.

It was win No. 5 in a row — part of a streak that would eventually reach 13 games.

And it was one of the best games of the season.