Excitement was high at tipoff of the second annual NBA Cup as the Minnesota Timberwolves traveled to Oregon for a late tip-off in front of local fans beginning at 9:00 PM CT. Gray roses flooded the playing field as Wolves looked to win a 1-0 in their group and progress out of their division. This match was the second of three meetings between these two teams that lasted six days. The Portland Trail Blazers were so exhausted DeAndre Ayton was a late scratch from their usual starting lineup.

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The Wolves started the first quarter extremely slowly on both sides of the field. They were not physical enough defensively and threw the ball away too much offensively. They turned the ball over seven times in the first frame, while the Blazers’ hot shooting pushed them to a 28-17 lead after the opening quarter. Wolves needed to wake up from their slow start if they wanted to start their NBA Cup run on the right note.

The Blazers continued to push into the second quarter, pushing their lead to 14 points. This is when the Wolves started to shake off the rust. They hit some shots and showed more effort on defense to slowly shave away the Portland lead. Naz Reid was true to himself as a bench monster and kept the offense going for much of the quarter. He made shots from outside and used his smooth, gelatinous dribbling to find his way to the basket. Anthony Edwards also woke from his slumber to score 12 of his 14 first-half points in the second frame. While the Blazers kept their hot shooting streak alive, Minnesota managed to cut their lead to seven as they tried to right the ship for the final half.

The offense continued to flow for both teams to start the third quarter, but that quickly dried up for the Wolves. Portland kept coming as shot after shot rang off the rim for Minnesota. Their lack of defensive intensity and poor attacking process continued to dig the hole for Wolves. The icing on the cake that illustrated how the third quarter went was then Deni Avdija cashed in on a buzzing prayer to end the period.

After the corpse of a quarter, Reid gave the offense a jolt with a pair of triples to start the fourth. While the Wolves stepped up their efforts, it wasn’t nearly enough to outscore the red-hot Blazers. Portland punched the Wolves in the mouth from the jump and they were never able to recover.

Key Takeaways

Trail Blazers antithetical games

The Portland Trail Blazers lost to the Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, 134-89. They were 4 of 42 from beyond the arc, scoring 89 points and shooting 34% from the floor overall. It was an uninspiring effort with Chauncey Billups calling his team’s effort “f****** embarrassing”. That message must have resonated with the Blazers roster, as they came out tonight and were the exact opposite of what they were on Sunday. They shot 18 of 32 from three-point range, which was good for 56.3%, and scored 122 points, peppering the Wolves for 48 minutes straight. Minnesota has a lot of things to figure out after tonight.

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Disjointed approach

To me, it felt like the Wolves were completely disjointed all night. Whenever they got something going on the offensive side of the ball, there wasn’t enough effort on defense. Every time they got stops and turnovers, they couldn’t convert those turnovers into points. All in all, it led to a shaky game where they couldn’t get over the hump to eliminate the young Portland team. Props to them for discrediting the Wolves, but it felt like Minnesota did it to themselves a lot. The 23 turnovers also did not help much offensively.

Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels Bright Spots

This game wasn’t much fun most of the time, but I always like to offer something positive because it makes my job much more fun. Jaden McDaniels played extremely well when the game was still in the balance as he scored 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting. He got going early and you could tell he was locked in. He had a much better night defensively and had an impact on both ends of the court. Naz did what he does: score and provide energy from the bench. Reid had 28 points and hit four 3-pointers and whenever the Wolves made a run, he was usually the one to initiate it. You like to see that from a player who has struggled to start the year, and someone who continues to play well.

Highlights of the game

Next

The Wolves will return to the court within 24 hours to face off Blazers on Wednesday 11/13 bee 9pm CT in a back to back. The match will be re-aired on Fanduel Sports North. This time it won’t be an NBA IST game, so Portland will return to their original court.