The Blazers are a well-rested group and will seek to take advantage of their extended home stay when they take on the Timberwolves, who just haven’t learned to win on the road this season. Minnesota visits the Rose City for the first time after dropping the first two games of the season series against their division rival at home.
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SCHEDULING
It could be a sign of improvement shown by the Timberwolves but the two games prior to the start of their four-game road trip still ended up in the loss column. Minnesota gave the Eastern Conference-best Cavaliers all they could handle Monday at The Q before falling 114-107. Two days later at home against the Northwest Division-leading Thunder, the T-Wolves went down to the wire in a fast-paced thriller before succumbing 126-123. Minnesota begins the road trip at Utah on Friday and has lost nine straight away games. The T-Wolves are allowing averages of 110.2 points and 50.2 percent shooting during the road slide, but they have at least been more competitive overall of late.
Sunday’s contest is the fifth in a season-long seven-game home stay for the Blazers with an unusual amount of time off in between games. The long home stretch and extra days off afforded the team an opportunity to get “back to some basics” with more teaching time between games, Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. Portland entered its home-stand having played more games than any other team in the league and were tied for the most road games through the first half of the year. The lighter schedule has given the team some welcome time off.
INJURIES
Minnesota’s Kevin Martin hasn’t played in a week while he continues to recover from a sore right wrist. Martin has struggled with his shot all season and its unknown if the lingering injury has contributed to his shooting woes. Also, Kevin Garnett missed a pair of games early in the week with a sore knee. While not the force he once was, Garnett’s value to the team as a veteran leader for the youngsters can’t be overlooked. Both players are considered day-to-day.
Reserve guard Pat Connaughton is nursing a bone bruise in his left ankle and is questionable to play. The rookie from Notre Dame has seen limited playing time this season, scoring just 12 points in 19 games.
KEY MATCHUP
Karl-Anthony Towns has turned into Minnesota’s best player – sorry, Andrew Wiggins – and his skill level and maturity are advanced beyond his years. He stepped into a favorable situation and has proven he can handle most everything tossed his way. KAT is playing significant minutes and the young Wolves are empowered to play aggressively. His back-to-the-basket skills may not be there quite yet, but Towns has some versatility on offense and will benefit from Wiggins’ understanding of how to get him the ball. If you had to build out what the modern NBA center should look like, his skillset would be similar to that of Towns, who’s learning impressively on the fly and the likely front-runner for the Rookie of the Year. He averages 16.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks and it’s funny to imagine what might have happened last year at Kentucky if he played more than 21 minutes per game. Towns will have a big advantage over Portland’s Mason Plumlee and Myers Leonard down low, and if Wiggins feeds the beast, Towns will improve his case for the ROY.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Not much was expected from the Blazers this NBA season after four starters off last year’s Northwest Division winning club exited the Rose City. But Tuesday’s win over the Kings gave Portland six wins in eight games and vaulted the Blazers into the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. It’s not a good spot to be in if it holds with Golden State or San Antonio waiting when the postseason rolls around, but considering the expectations, the Blazers will take it. And since the Timberwolves haven’t sniffed the playoffs since 2004, they would gladly switch places with Portland. With a nucleus of young players, the T-Wolves have hopes for the future, unfortunately the future isn’t now.
Portland 112, Minnesota 105
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