The Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves played a physical, intense, nip-and-tuck contest on Friday that was a credit to the NBA and the fight both teams are in for postseason playoffs positioning. Both teams shared the ball, shifted up their attack, and went hard for the victory. It ended up in Portland’s hands by a final score of 108-104. The win pushes Portland’s record to 34-36, good for 8th (right now) in the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs race. With the loss, the Timberwolves fall
to 43-27, still holding onto the 4th spot barely, but chased hard by the Houston Rockets.
Jerami Grant led the Blazers with 26 points. Julius Randle scored 19 for the ‘Wolves.
Player of the Game
Grant was not only the leading scorer in this game, he was Portland’s clutch performer. When things got sloppy down the stretch, he bailed out the Blazers with a couple of huge shots on his way to 10-16 shooting for the night, 4-9 from distance. When Portland needed him, he was there.
Stat of the Night
Portland is the most turnover-y team in the NBA this season. They only committed 6 turnovers in the first half, keeping even with the Timberwolves. As a result, they carried a 9-point lead into intermission, and that despite a strong run by Minnesota to close the first half. When they don’t give away games, the Blazers are actually decent at winning them.
Unfortunately, the Blazers committed as many turnovers in the third period as they had the whole game prior. That allowed Minnesota to come all the way back without too much trouble. Portland would finish with 17 turnovers in the game.
What We Noticed
The calendar says 2026 but if you had just looked at the game without knowing, you might have guessed it read 1980-something. Both teams featured their seven-footers at the heart of the offense. Minnesota used Rudy Gobert for screens more often than Blake Griffin uses a napkin for his Lemon Pepper Wings. They also tried to find Rudy inside as much as possible, an approach copied by the Blazers with Donovan Clingan. The modern game will always belong to guards and wings, but Portland used perimeter players to set up lobs and short dishes to their centers (Clingan and reserve Robert Williams III) all night long. This was as close to a 7-footers’ game that I have seen in a long while.
Clingan finished the game with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. Gobert had 18 points, 15 boards, 2 steals, and a block. Way to go, big men!
Up Next
The Blazers will conclude their five-game road trip against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon with a 2:00 PM, Pacific start time.
