of portland trailblazers who played Yukon Cornelius Minnesota TimberwolvesBumble and bounce off the wolves on Monday night for a 133-112 victory that saw silver, gold and peppermint all in one. cleaned up. This is one of the things Portland easily won on the season.
If you missed the action you can read our article Click here for quarterly summariesThen there are other observations from the game.
nasty woman
In fact, Portland didn’t play an ideal match tonight. They missed a ton of threes. Their release on the other shot wasn’t entirely untouched, perhaps seeing Rudy Gobert’s closing. Their defense was inferior. (Minnesota shot 50% of his off the floor and spent the majority of the game over 40% of his out of the arc.) Damian Lillard erased all of that as a minor footnote. He needed two things. It’s a half-baked screen and ball. Considering them, he spun gold out of straw, scoring 38 points on 13-21 shooting and 11-17 from range. He scored 27 points in the half and shot 8-10 from the arc. At times, he seemed determined to break Clyde Drexler’s all-time franchise scoring mark, but is still some 100 points away. , he tied a career-high with 11 threes in those.
nook work
Jusuf Nurkic started this game loaded for Gobert. He rebounded hard, attempted several 3s, and drove down the lane. The threes didn’t fall, so he fired them. The Blazers were able to set up the same relatively solid screen that Nurkic provided, while he offered even more quickness and maneuverability, so they ended up going with Drew Eubanks for the big stretch. rice field. Eubanks also rewarded the Blazers well. But aggressive he Nurk is usually good he is Nurk and tonight it was.
Nurkic had 14 points and 16 rebounds in 25 minutes, while Eubanks had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 17 minutes (including an impact from Rudy Gobert).
Three
This year’s Trail Blazers rely less on 3-pointers than they have in years past, but when they do hit triples, they’re very hard to beat. Minnesota didn’t have too much trouble scoring tonight, but every time they scored, Lillard and the Blazers hit another 3-pointer that looked like it was stabbed out of Minnie’s bucket. If you hit one and you only get back one point on the scoreboard, it’s very difficult to catch up. Portland tonight he shot 21-46, 45.7% from distance. This is a big factor. Seven players at least he hit one triple.
lose one’s physicality
The Timberwolves entered this game in an attempt to get more physical against the Blazers. Typically, Portland drives into the teeth of the rough-and-tumble defense to attract contact and get to the line. They took opposite courses tonight. As the larger Wolves players approached the ball, Portland passed it before it could be firmly sealed or touched. It seemed like a game of proximity between an adult and an 8-year-old, the same size Timberwolves were trapped that prevented them from recovering when that trap failed. They ended up hitting players where the ball was when the Blazers drove or sunk shots around them.
high screen, no roll
Portland had a pretty good strategy in tonight’s screenplay. They threw the pick high off center. But rarely did the picksetter roll in the middle. This kept both the attacking player and Gobert out of the lane. It also put a lot of pressure on dribbling defenders to avoid the now longer lasting screens… ‘Wolves rarely did that. Left wide open, the result is what we’ve heard about some sections above.
On the one hand, the Portland center is most effective at making that roll. On the other hand, sacrificing it took a tooth out of Minnesota’s defense in return for Portland’s fourth choice… whatever Drew Eubanks. As you can see, both pivots worked fine. It was a nice touch for this opponent.
rebound
The Blazers won the board battle tonight, 43-30, including 11-7 on the offensive grass. That’s a pretty good indicator of how hopelessly this game fell apart for his T-Wolves. Plus, given how the Blazers feasted off the perimeter, dominant lane control added hot sauce to the winning burrito.
running tally
The Blazers also dominated in the fast-break points, which technically should have been Minnesota’s advantage. Instead, the tally read that he was 24-17, Portland, and even though the Blazers gave away his 19 turnovers to opponents. It wasn’t fair.
Simmons Still Woo Chi
Not to cast a dark cloud over the proceedings, but those waiting for Anfanie Simmons to get out of her slump will have to wait a little longer. Scored 12 points. But he had 6 assists!
take it slow
Finally… finally! The Blazers actually extended their lead, extended it even further, and held it until the final period. This allowed them to rest the starters. And instead of biting their nails, Moda Center’s raucous crowd was able to party all through Q4.
next
The Blazers are currently on a six-game trip before Christmas. It starts Wednesday night in San Antonio with a 5:00 start in the Pacific.
