The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, with Carmelo Anthony passing Hakeem Olajuwon on the all-time scoring list.
They met at the Target Center Saturday night. Minnesota came into the game holing the NBA’s worst record at 8-23.
Portland Trail Blazers get win, Carmelo Anthony passes Hakeem Olajuwon
The first quarter showed why they owned that record, Portland outscored them 33-24.
The second was evenly scored; both teams put 33 on the board, with Portland taking a 66-57 lead at halftime.
The Karl-Anthony Towns led Timberwolves showed Portland why they should not count them out quite yet, as third belonged to them, adding another 37 to the Blazers 27, taking a 1 point 94-93 lead to begin the 4th.
The Blazers managed to pull off the win in a back and forth final quarter getting the 125-121 win, and improving their record to 22-15, good for a tie with Denver for 5th.
Even though the Blazers managed to get the “w,” the night belonged to Carmelo Anthony. Anthony passed Hakeem Olajuwon‘s 26,946 points for 11th place in the NBA’s all-time points category. Before the game, Anthony needed 15 (26,931) to accomplish it. He finished with 26.
“I’m still here, I’m still playing, I’m still going, I’m still enjoying the game, I’m still happy, that’s all that matters,” he told Brook Olzendam during her postgame interview in what it meant to pass Olajuwon. “We all know what Hakeem did to the game, for the game. His mark he left on the game, this will be unprecedented. I’m just happy to be here man.”
Anthony needs 357 points to overtake Elvin Hayes and 10th place in scoring.
Damian Lillard and Enes Kanter both had double-doubles for Portland. 25 Points, 10 assists in 36 minutes of action for Lillard. 20 Points 11 rebounds while playing 32 minutes for Kanter.
Towns led all scorers and recorded a double-double himself. 34 points, 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. Anthony Edwards, the top selection in the 2020 Draft netted himself 21 points, 8 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Both teams will face each other tomorrow night at The Target Center, tipoff 5:00 pm. The Blazers return to the Moda Center Tuesday for a 5 game homestand beginning with the New Orleans Pelicans.