Wolves 127, Blazers 102: The Dream of the Tank is Alive in Portland

A dominant 37-point performance from Anthony Edwards propelled the Wolves to a win on back-to-back nights

The games don’t stop coming. After a 20-point fourth-quarter surge to beat the Chicago Bulls last night, the Minnesota Timberwolves are right back in action tonight back home at Target Center against the Portland Trail Blazers.

After last night’s game, many Wolves players talked about playing good defense from the start of the game, not just when they are losing. They did just that to start this game as they forced Portland to miss their first 11 shots from the floor, leading to a 10-0 Wolves lead and a Chauncey Billups timeout.

The first-quarter domination would continue for the Timberwolves coming out of the timeout, building a 35-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Adding in the fourth quarter of the last game, the Wolves outscored their opponents by a total of 49 points in their previous two quarters of play.

The Timberwolves leading scorer in the period was Naz Reid who knocked down two 3-pointers, a floater, and this alley-oop slam with Anthony Edwards on the other end.

Minnesota would grow the lead to as high as 27 points before an 18-5 run by Portland over a five-minute stretch kept the game from getting too far out of hand before halftime.

With the Timberwolves now up by only 12, they would immediately respond with an and-1 from Edwards and a 3-pointer from Donte DiVincenzo to push the lead right back up to 18.

The two teams would trade scoring runs before the half with Portland scoring nine straight points, cutting the lead to just nine, followed by the Timberwolves scoring seven straight points. The Wolves would take a 64-51 lead into the halftime locker room.

Edwards was Minnesota’s leading scorer with 18 points including four makes from beyond the arc. Robert Williams III would lead the way for Portland with 13 points off the bench.

The Trail Blazers would open the second half by again cutting the Wolves lead down to nine before another classic Edwards scoring boomlet to push the lead right back up to 17.

That scoring burst would only be the start for the Wolves in the third quarter as they were seemingly able to score at will, building a 98-75 at the end of three quarters.

That lead would prove to be plenty as the Wolves would lead by 20 or more points for the remainder of the game, with the end of the bench coming in with about five minutes to go in the game. The Wolves would finish with a 127-102 victory, their second win in as many nights.

Edwards put on a masterclass in this one, scoring 37 points, along with six rebounds and five assists. Ant continued his dominant shooting streak to start this season, going 9-15 from long-range. Scoot Henderson was the leading scorer for Portland, scoring 16 points, adding four rebounds and three assists.

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Key Takeaways

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Anthony Edwards Continues Scorching Hot Shooting

Through nine games of this NBA season, Edwards is averaging over 5.5 3-pointers per game, a mark only surpassed by the greatest shooter of all time, Stephen Curry.

There has been discussion of whether or not Edwards is shooting too much from beyond the arc, but as long as he keeps hitting them at this rate, it is going to be hard for people to disagree with his current shot mix.

Ant talked in the locker room postgame about what he is seeing from opposing defenses that has caused his increase in 3-point attempts.

“It’s kind of funny because Mike [Conley] be trying to tell me, get downhill. And I’m like, bro, they going under. You know what mean? I work on my game too much to try to force going downhill. If they can keep going under, I’m gonna shoot that. I really be surprised at this point like I made like two threes in the first quarter today and then in the third they just I came out of made one and they kept going under I’m like alright I’m gonna keep shooting.”

Ant also talked about the improvements he has made to his shot and what went into those improvements this summer during his time with USA Basketball.

“I was talking to KD after a practice like trying to figure out my footwork for my shot and that’s why my shot was up and down in Olympics. I was trying to figure out like how I’m gonna learn how to catch a shoot at a higher clip and I was trying to figure out type of ways. I watched Dame, I watched Steph, and I watched Klay, and I watched KD, and I tried KD way it didn’t work. I tried Steph way it didn’t work, and then I watched Dame, and then I started doing Dame’s shot and it’s been working for me.”

Eventually, there will come an adjustment from opposing defenses that doesn’t allow Edwards to walk into open 3-point attempts. At some point, teams will no longer go under on screens and Ant will need to adjust.

Early in his career, Edwards may have just continued to put up as many 3-point shots as possible given how well it was working to start the year. This version of Edwards will likely take what the defense gives him and start attacking downhill.

Ant is reaching this level that many superstars reach where opposing defenses don’t really have an answer for every aspect of their game. They can either take away the 3-pointers or let one of the most athletic players in the NBA start attacking the basket. Just ask John Collins if that is a good defensive strategy.

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Rudy Gobert’s Quiet Defensive Dominance

While Ant deservedly gets all the shine from a performance like tonight, Rudy Gobert was also dominant in this game, even if it may not look like it if you were to skim through the boxscore. The Trail Blazers missed nine layups in the first quarter, most of which came with Gobert lurking in the paint, ready to disrupt any offense that came into the paint.

While Gobert’s three blocked shots obviously stand out as providing value for the Wolves defense, there were many more times when Portland players wouldn’t even attempt shots near the rim in fear of Gobert’s presence.

Julius Randle talked in the locker room after the game about what Gobert’s presence does to opposing offenses.

“He alters a lot more shots, he block shots obviously. But he just discourages guys from coming in there period. And sometimes he doesn’t even get the block shot, but he changes shots and just changes what your goal is.”

There was a lot of discourse before the season about Gobert being an overrated player. Some of that even came from Trail Blazers’ coach Chauncey Billups who criticized Gobert’s ability to guard in space. Gobert was unwilling to take the bait when asked about Billups after the game saying, “I’m just doing what I need to do for my team.”

While Gobert’s contributions to the Timberwolves have not be flashy or stand out on a boxscore or highlight reel, he provides an immense amount of value to a Wolves team whose identity has been defense going on over a year.

Defensive Intensity Right from the Start

After the win against the Bulls where the Wolves trailed for a majority of the game, everyone who spoke to the media acknowledged that they were not playing complete games on the defensive end of the floor. It has especially been a problem to start games with the turnaround only coming once the Wolves fall behind.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch talked on the podium after the game about making defensive intensity a point of emphasis from the opening tip.

“Our first-half defense, our first-quarter defense, and our first six-minute defense have been very subpar. Big point emphasis today coming out and establishing ourselves defensively.”

The defense clearly made an impact early in the game as they prevented the Trail Blazers from scoring until the 6:48 mark in the first quarter.

Early in this season, the Wolves defense has not had nearly the same impact as it did last season when they finished on top of the NBA in defensive rating. If they are able to come close to that sort of impact while keeping up their improved offense, the Wolves will be a very difficult out come playoff time.

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Up Next

The Wolves finish up their mini two-game homestand with a matchup against Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat on Sunday. The game will begin at 6:00 PM CT, airing on FanDuel Sports Network North.

After that, the Wolves have two more games against these Trail Blazers in Portland on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Wolves fans might need some coffee for those as they each begin at 9:00 PM CT.

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Game Highlights