The Portland Trail Blazers coughed up an ugly 133-109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. The Blazers (26-29) gave the ball away 26 times, allowing the Timberwolves to score 43 points off turnovers en route to the blowout win.
Julius Randle led all scorers with 41 points. Jrue Holiday paced the Blazers with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Scoot Henderson scored 18 points off the bench, while Vit Krejci added 17.
Here are a few key observations from the game.
Turnovers
Turnovers were the
biggest factor in the game. If the Blazers are going to play fast and attack the basket, some turnovers are unavoidable. But against the ‘Wolves, the miscues were particularly egregious.
Sixteen of the team’s turnovers came from Holiday (6), Deni Avdija (5) or Henderson (5). They threw passes into the crowd, dribbled balls off their feet, and committed a careless backcourt violation.
The Blazers need to take better care of the ball, but it starts with the leaders of the team setting a better tone.
Scoot’s Spark
Despite the five turnovers, there is a lot to like about the play of Henderson since returning to the lineup. Through three games, he is averaging 13.7 points and 6 assists in a little under 20 minutes per game.
Against the ‘Wolves on Wednesday night, he provided a boost off the bench when the Blazers starters got off to a slow start. He scored in a variety of ways, outracing the ‘Wolves down the court for a fast-break basket, beating Anthony Edwards off the dribble for a beautiful reverse layup, and moving off the ball for a pair of corner three-pointers.
He finished the first half with 15 points on 4-7 shooting, including 2-4 on three-pointers. He made all 5 of his free throws in 14 minutes. In large part due to his play, the Blazers trailed by just ten at halftime.
Unfortunately, by the time he entered the game in the third quarter, the Blazers had already dug themselves a pretty deep hole as the Wolves stretched their lead to 20 just 5 minutes into the third quarter.
Henderson barely played in the second half as the ‘Wolves pulled away. It will be interesting to see if he is active against the Jazz on Thursday night.
Avdija Contained
Avdija finished with a shocking +/- against the Wolves. The Blazers were outscored by a season-worst 32 points while Avdija was on the floor.
Four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and former Second Team All-Defense Jaden McDaniels led a team effort to keep Avdija in check. The Wolves are one of the few teams with the personnel to match Avdija’s physicality. Coach Chris Finch kept Gobert and McDaniels on the floor for most of Avdija’s minutes and chose to mostly defend him one-on-one.
The strategy limited Avdija’s scoring, but also prevented him from setting up other Blazers for open shots. Avdija finished with just three assists. And with the lane shut off, Avdija was never able to loosen up the defense with his own shooting, missing all seven of his three-point attempts.
The Blazers obviously won’t win many games when Avdija shoots 3-14 and has more turnovers than assists. On the season, they are now 3-19 when Avdija’s +/- is negative. They are 19-6 when he is positive or even.
Minnesota’s All-Star
Avdija wasn’t the only star with below-average numbers. Anthony Edwards, the league’s third-leading scorer (29.6 points per game), was barely needed in this one. His availability was in question leading up to the game due to an illness, but shortly before tipoff, it was announced that he would play.
Edwards finished with 14 points on 5-10 shooting. He clearly played with less aggression and deferred to his teammates. He gets to the free throw line 7.5 times per game, but did not attempt a single free throw against the Blazers.
It felt like an opportunity for the Blazers to take advantage of an ailing opponent, but Edwards’ teammates had other ideas.
Randle dominated, particularly in the second half. He made 14-24 shots, hit 3-7 from behind the three-point arc, and knocked down 10-11 from the free throw line. McDaniels added 21 points and Gobert chipped in 17.
Krejci Looking Good
Vit Krejci had his best statistical game for the Blazers, though much of the production came after the game had been decided. He finished with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, including 3-6 on threes.
Even though the stats came in a blowout loss, the outside shooting is encouraging and should provide a much-needed boost to the Blazers’ offense.
Up Next
The Blazers play their final game before the All-Star break tomorrow night in Utah. Tipoff is at 6:00 PM Pacific.
