11/16 Blazers @ Timberwolves Rapid Reactions

Final Score: Timberwolves: 112, Blazers: 96

Timberwolves:

• Another night since the Jimmy Butler trade, another win for Minnesota. It was an electric night at the Target Center. With the debut of the prince uniforms, and Kevin Garnett in the arena, the Wolves were firing on all cylinders.
• Andrew Wiggins was full of effort for the second night in a row. Wiggins recorded 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Wiggins was 3-8 from three-point range, and it was nice to see Wiggins firing from three, instead of the long twos.
• RoCo was effective in his short time on the court. Covington was in foul trouble all night, but contributed 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in just 23 minutes. After playing 41 minutes on Wednesday night, I guess RoCo just wanted a light minute load tonight.
• Minnesota’s bench contributed 36 points. For Minnesota, at full health tonight, their bench looked strong. Rose led the way off the bench with 17 points on 7-13 shooting. While Okogie didn’t find his way onto the court tonight, the Wolves bench still looked very strong on both ends of the court.
• The Wolves assisted on 29 of their 46 made field goals. Are we sure this is a real Timberwolves basketball team? Just one week ago, things looked as dark as ever. Now, the tides are turning and things are pointing in the right direction.

Blazers:

• Rough night for Portland in Minnesota. After losing to the Lakers on Wednesday night, the Blazers will need to get back on track Sunday against the Wizards.
• Lillard and McCollum were locked up all night. The star Blazer guards combined to shoot just 2-11 from deep, and they were both held under 20 points on the night. The Wolves did a terrific job of containing Lillard and McCollum and it proved big tonight.
• Portland turned the ball over far too many times tonight. The Blazers turned the ball over 18 times, and Minnesota made life difficult for Portland tonight. While Portland was inefficient from three and the free-throw line, the disparity in terms of turnovers benefited the Wolves greatly.
• Gary Trent Jr. showed some life at the end of the game. With the contest out of reach at the end of the fourth, the second-round pick out of Duke saw some action. Trent Jr. posted 8 points in the last 6 minutes of the game, including two threes. While Trent Jr. won’t be seeing normal playing time, at least in the immediate future, it’s nice to see the production out of the rookie.