Excitement was high for the tip-off of the second annual NBA Cup as the Minnesota Timberwolves traveled to Oregon for a late tip for the local fans, starting at 9:00 p.m. CT. Gray roses flooded the court as the Wolves looked to go 1-0 in their pool and make it out of their division. This game marked the second of three meetings that spanned six days between these two squads. The Portland Trail Blazers were depleted as DeAndre Ayton was a late scratch from their usual starting line-up.

The Wolves started the first quarter extremely sluggish on both ends of the floor. They were not physical enough defensively and threw the ball away too much on the offensive end. They turned the ball over seven times in the first frame as the Blazers hot shooting propelled them to a 28-17 lead after the opening quarter. Wolves needed to wake up from their slow start if they wanted to begin their NBA Cup run on the right note.

The Blazers kept up their hot shooting into the second quarter as they pushed their lead all the way up to 14 points. This is when the Wolves started to shake off the rust off. They hit some shots and showed more effort on defensive to slowly shave down the Portland lead. Naz Reid was true to himself as a bench monster, buoying the offense for much of the quarter. He was hitting shots from the outside and using his smooth, jelly-like dribbling to find his way to the basket. Anthony Edwards also awoke from his slumber as well, scoring 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 down to seven, as they looked to right the ship for the final half.

The offense continued to flow for both teams to start third quarter, but that dried up quickly for the Wolves. Portland kept coming as shot after shot clanged off the rim for Minnesota. Their lack of defensive intensity and bad offensive process kept digging the hole deeper for the Wolves. The cherry on top that illustrated how the third quarter went was when Deni Avdija cashed a buzzer-beating prayer to end the period.

After the corpse of a quarter, Reid gave a jolt to the offense with a couple triples to start the fourth. While the Wolves ramped up their effort, it was not nearly enough to top the red hot Blazers. Portland, right from the jump, punched the Wolves in the mouth 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 134-89 on Sunday. They were 4 of 42 from beyond the arc, scored 89 points, and shot 34% from the floor overall. It was an uninspiring effort that had Chauncey Billups calling his teams 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, pummeling the Wolves continuously for 48 minutes. Minnesota has many things to figure out after tonight.

Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images

Disjointed Approach

To me it felt like the Wolves were completely disjointed the entire night. Every time they would get something going on the offensive side of the ball, there was not enough effort on defense. Every time they would get stops and turnovers, they could not turn those turnovers into points. All-in-all, it lead to a wonky game where they could not get over the hump to take down the young Portland team. Props to them for discombobulating the Wolves, but it felt a lot like Minnesota were often doing it to themselves. The 23 turnovers offensively did not help a lot either.

Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels Bright Spots

This game was mostly not very fun, but I always like to provide something positive as that makes my job way 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 impacted both ends of the court. Naz did what he does: provided scoring and energy off the bench. Reid had 28 points and hit four three pointers and every time the Wolves made a run, he was usually the one that spurred it. You love to see that from a player who has struggled to start the year, and one who continues to play well.

Game Highlights

Up Next

The Wolves will return back to the court in 24 hours to face the Blazers on Wednesday, 11/13 at 9pm CT in a back-to-back. The game will be televised on Fanduel Sports North once again. This time, it will not be an NBA IST game so Portland will be back to their original court.