The Portland Trail Blazers fell behind big early to the Minnesota Timberwolves, battled back to trail by just single digits in the third quarter and then were completely destroyed the rest of the way.
Minnesota won 128-91 to send both teams to the All-Star break.
Jerami Grant led the Blazers with 20 points and Anfernee Simons scored 12 with six assists. Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 34 points. Karl-Anthony Towns put up 23 points with eight rebounds.
Fourth quarter: The Timberwolves continued to dominate in the fourth quarter and at one point led by 38 points.
Third quarter: Timberwolves 99, Blazers 76
The Blazers closed the gap to 73-65 before Minnesota closed the quarter with a 26-11 run.
Anthony Edwards scored 15 in the quarter for the Timberwolves to reach 31.
Jerami Grant leads the Blazers with 20.
Halftime: Timberwolves 66, Blazers 51.
The Blazers turned things around in the second quarter by outscoring Minnesota 37-22.
Anfernee Simons scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and handed out four assists. Jerami grant scored nine points.
The Blazers shot 65% from the field while Minnesota shot just 31.8%.
At the half, Edwards leads Minnesota with 16 points. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14.
Grant leads the Blazers with 13 points.
First quarter: Timberwolves 44, Blazers 14.
Welp, that escalated quickly. Minnesota shot 63% from the field while the Blazers hit on just 20.8% of their shots while committing four turnovers.
Minnesota grabbed 26 points in the paint and scored 11 second-chance points.
Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 13 points. Toumani Camara scored five for the Blazers who went 1 of 9 on threes.
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Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard Scoot Henderson returns to the starting lineup Thursday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Moda Center.
Henderson will start alongside Anfernee Simons, Toumani Camara, Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton.
Check back late for game updates
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PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS VS. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
What: Trail Blazers (15-38) vs. Timberwolves (38-16), 7 p.m., Thursday.
Where: Moda Center
PROJECTED STARTERS
Blazers: G Anfernee Simons (23.3 ppg., 5.3 apg., 3.5 rpg.), G Matisse Thybulle (5.4 ppg., 1.3 apg., 1.9 rpg.), F Jerami Grant (21.7 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 2.7 apg.), F Jabari Walker (8.3 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 0.8 apg.), C Deandre Ayton (14.2 ppg., 10.6 rpg., 1.6 apg.).
Timberwolves: G Anthony Edwards (26.1 ppg., 5.2 apg., 5.2 rpg.), G Mike Conley Jr. (10.6 ppg., 6.5 apg., 2.9 rpg.), F Karl Anthony-Towns (22.5 ppg., 8.4 rpg., 2.9 apg., ), F Jaden McDaniels (10.5 ppg., 2.6 rpg., 1.3 apg.), C Rudy Gobert (13.8 ppg., 12.5 rpg., 1.2 apg.).
BLAZERS’ TEAM RATINGS
Offense: 108.9, 29th. Defense: 117.1, 22nd. Net: Minus-8.3, 26th.
TIMBERWOLVES’ TEAM RATINGS
Offense: 115.0, 17th. Defense: 108.6, 1st. Net: Plus-6.5, 3rd.
STATS OF INTEREST
The Blazers duo of Grant and Simons must perform better than they did on Tuesday. They combined to shoot 11 of 36 (30,6%) from the field for 32 points. The Blazers likely need at least 25 points from each player to have a chance to win on Thursday. Often times, it’s those two who lead the way on offense. But while they struggled on Tuesday, the rest of the team shot 54.9% from the field.
PREDICTION
The Blazers showed well on Tuesday but the Timberwolves demonstrated their superiority while dominating the fourth quarter. And that was after playing the previous night. With a day off, the Timberwolves will be even better and win again on Thursday.
BROADCASTS, ODDS, INJURIES
Radio: Rip City Radio (KPOJ 620 AM).
TV channel: Root Sports PLUS (in Portland: Comcast 1253; DirecTV: 688).
Watch the game live online: You can watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial). You can also get this game on DirecTV Stream’s “CHOICE” package (promotional offers), if you are out of fuboTV trials, or simply prefer that platform and their pricing plans. If you already have a cable or satellite provider that carries Root Sports and want to watch online, you can watch this game live on Root Sports Live.
ODDS (Oregon Lottery/DraftKings)
Moneyline: POR +340 | MIN -440
Spread: POR +9 | Over/Under: 216
INJURIES
Blazers: Malcolm Brogdon (right elbow tendinitis), Shaedon Sharpe (lower abdominal surgery), Rayan Rupert (right ankle sprain), Moses Brown (left wrist surgery) and Robert Williams III (season-ending right knee surgery) are out.
Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards (right knee soreness) is available. Wendell Moore Jr. (left knee soreness) are questionable. Jaylen Clark (Achilles rupture rehab) is out.
NEXT UP
All-Star Break. The Blazers next play Feb. 23 at home against the Denver Nuggets.
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-- Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)
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