The Portland Trail Blazers earned a rare victory against a good team on Tuesday night when they blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves on their home floor. On Wednesday, the same two teams played the second night of a back-to-back against each other. The book said the Timberwolves would get revenge and take down the Blazers with ease.

Portland hasn’t read that book.

Shorthanded, without starters Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton, who were also missing backup center Robert Williams III, the Blazers still took the Timberwolves to school. Excellent defense from Portland’s wings, backed by rookie Donovan Clingan as the lone standing center, led Portland to a surprising 106-98 victory.

Here are the factors that contributed to the win for Portland.

Clingan Strong

After the first few minutes of the game, Donovan Clingan did an excellent job of taking up space and converting shots in the bottom lane on the defensive end without making any mistakes. It was his steadiest defensive performance yet, and also his most explosive. Clingan’s shot blocking in the second half was miraculous. His teammates were tall and lean enough to slow the penetration. That was all he needed to hone in on. He even got a flat-footed block against Rudy Gobert in the fourth quarter.

Clingan also made some nice passes to cutters from the top of the field in the second half. Nice.

The rookie finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 8 blocks.

Temporary defensive problems

When Portland’s defense works, it works pretty well. But if not, it tends to domino into oblivion. That happened tonight under three circumstances.

The first came when Minnesota knocked them right to the ground. As we’ve said before, this is a big no-no, especially for a team as young and fast as the Blazers. However, the ‘Wolves were less successful with unhindered breaks than with quick hits against single, overmatched defenders.

The second came on bad switches. With their length and relatively parallel level of defensive prowess – especially across the wing corps – Portland has adopted switching as their preferred tactic against opposing screens. It works well enough if they have a healthy lineup. Missing so many players will impact their ability to execute the plan. They either get caught with a slow player like Clingan on the ball or a short player like Scoot Henderson in the lane. They can get away with this against second opponent units. Not so much against top scorers like Anthony Edwards or huge giants like Rudy Gobert.

On the rarer occasions when the Blazers actively sent help, a quick pass to the open man or an easy offensive rebound from an unguarded Minnesota Big resulted.

Put all of these together and you’ve had it pretty easy for the Timberwolves for a while. They scored 33 in the first quarter and seemed to run away with the game.

Small ball to the rescue

The solution to the above came from an unexpected source.

The Blazers did well in the second period when, without centers, they fielded a lineup of forwards, wings and Scoot Henderson. They stood strong in the middle of the court and stopped penetration when the Timberwolves went one-on-one. Once the ball stopped moving forward, Portland took advantage of the stall with busy hands, forcing steals and runs.

It was kind of a big deal, as the momentum continued for most of the game, even when Clingan checked back in as a true center. It’s a reminder of how defensive the Blazers’ big guards and small forwards are. The ability to rotate multiple players between 6’6 and 6’9 really makes a difference for Portland’s defense.

Kris Murray deserves a special mention. He engaged in multiple defensive possessions, beating his man on the spot and forcing saves or turnovers. It was a great achievement for a lower rotation player.

Sharp recording

It’s hard to pick a hero for Portland in a game where they made Super Friends, but Shaedon Sharpe was a one-man circus on the court tonight. He seemed to know the Blazers were missing a goal with Ayton and Simons out. Shaedon took the ball to the rack with authority, absorbed the contact and stood up for looks that ultimately looked easy (though they certainly weren’t). He saved the game for the Blazers late by taking the right of Gobert and scoring on him repeatedly.

Sharpe finished with a team-leading 33 points in 36 minutes. It’s good to see his promise come true in a fiercely contested match.

Scoot pick-and-roll

Scoot Henderson probably wishes he could watch Rudy Gobert every game. Henderson and Clingan teamed up for multiple pick-and-roll plays, forcing the French center to help stop penetration on the drive. Scoot’s vision and passing were flawless in those situations. Gobert wasn’t quick enough to stop Portland’s point guard, nor agile enough to recover to Clingan before the ball arrived. The resulting scores were both sweet and crucial to Portland’s mid-game success.

Damian Lillard barbecued Gobert regularly. It appears the Blazers have another point guard who can do this, just in a different way.

Henderson finished the game with 5 assists, albeit against 5 turnovers. For once, the former weighed more than the latter.

Paint points

Sharpe starred in tonight’s dunk-o-thon, but he was far from alone. This was the best game of the entire season in terms of flushes for the Blazers. The lack of centers on the home side and awkward pivots for the visitors resulted in open lanes and a lot of highlight material. That’s a rare and welcome sight in Portland.

The Blazers scored 52 points tonight, beating the bigger, more experienced and more talented Timberwolves by 2 points.

Minny Threes

Portland took advantage of the ‘Wolves’ googly-eyed shooting from distance tonight. Their games were no better than last night, when Minnesota shot a respectable 37.1% from the arc. The ‘Wolves just missed a lot of open shots, much to Portland’s delight.

Minnesota shot just 7-39, 17.9%, from distance in the game. Anthony Edwards, one of the league’s most prolific shooters from distance, shot 0-9.

Next

Box score

The Blazers now have a few days off before facing the Atlanta Hawks at Pacific on Sunday at 3 p.m.