Wolves Establish Dominance Over Blazers, 120-103

Whelp. After beating Oklahoma City to open their four game road trip, the Portland Trail Blazers lost the next three, including Sunday night’s disheartening 120-103 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Pat Connaughton scored 18 off the bench to help the (lost) cause, with Damian Lillard scoring 21 and CJ McCollum 18.

Here were a few essentials from tonight’s game.

• Two fouls were committed while typing this recap. We don’t usually focus much on fouls, but it was one of the stories of this game. Fouls were a bugaboo all night for the Blazers. By early in the second quarter, their three-guard rotation was in foul trouble. All of them. Minnesota maintained an edge in free throws and fouls all night. Just the tired legs at the end of a road trip for Portland? Whatever the reason, it set the early tone for the game, and left a bad taste in the fans’ mouths.
• Minnesota simply looks like the better team. It took many years for them to reach this point, but the Timberwolves look like the future, and the Blazers look like the leftovers of the past. Minny outclassed the Blazers most of the night, finally busting open the game in the third, then handily weathering a single Blazers run.
• For Minny, it was the best of times. Not only did Minnesota enjoy watching their rising Timberwolves, but just prior to the game, they saw their long-suffering Vikings win one of the greatest games in franchise history. It was so memorable, even the Blazers stopped their warmups to watch the end with the attending Wolves fans.

Box Score

Highlights:

What’s Next:

A long trip home, and a game against the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night.