Minnesota suffered an embarrassing defeat Tuesday in Portland as they were blown out by the short-handed, hapless Blazers.
It happens in the NBA. There are 82 games. Teams play below their capabilities on occasion over the course of five months. The good news for the Timberwolves was they got to come back one night later for retribution on the same floor against the same team.
Surely, Minnesota would impose its will against an inferior opponent.
Or at least that’s how it figured to go. The Blazers, after all, are supposed to be a candidate to land the No. 1 pick in next summer’s NBA Draft. The Timberwolves are supposed to be title contenders, though that feels like a far-fetched concept after Wednesday’s debacle.
Minnesota did indeed jump out to a big advantage Wednesday, leading 24-11 at one point in the opening frame. But it was all Blazers from there.
The Wolves fell 106-98 in Portland — their third-straight loss — as the Blazers completed the two-game sweep of last season’s Western Conference runners-up. And they did so without three of their top seven players. Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons and Robert Williams were all out for Portland.
But the Blazers (5-8) did have a bevy of young, talented and — most importantly — hungry players in action each of the last two games. The latter showed itself again and again Wednesday, as the Blazers were the clear aggressors on both ends of the floor. They won the 50-50 balls and set the tone with their physicality.
That team was the Wolves a year ago. They’d be the ones using their style of play to ground their opponents down to a pulp by game’s end. But it’s tough to set a tone when you can’t contain the ball handler. When you can’t secure rebounds. When you can’t take care of the basketball.
Minnesota (6-6) pulled within six points midway through the fourth quarter on a Naz Reid triple. It then forced a miss on the other end. But it couldn’t complete the possession, as Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe leapt in for a thunderous putback slam. Sharpe finished with 33 points, scoring at will down the stretch to put the Wolves to sleep. Rookie center Donovan Clingan finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks as he dominated the interior. Those were the two best players on the floor in a game that featured Anthony Edwards.
In that sense, the world was upside down Wednesday in Portland. Or maybe it’s just Minnesota’s current reality.
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