National Basketball Association
Portland 108, Minnesota 99
When: 10:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 1, 2018
Where: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Officials: #77 Karl Lane, #9 Derrick Stafford, #3 Nick Buchert
Attendance: 19533
Damian Lillard shook off a poor shooting start to score 35 points as the Portland Trail Blazers rallied for a 108-99 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night at Moda Center.

CJ McCollum added 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic and Shabazz Napier 16 apiece for the Trail Blazers (36-26), who won their fifth straight game overall and 12th of 13 at home.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 34 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves (38-27), who had won two straight. Andrew Wiggins added 21 points for Minnesota.

Lillard missed his first nine shots from the field - six of them from 3-point range - but scored 22 points in the second half, sinking 7 of 10 shots. The Blazers outscored the Wolves 33-21 in the fourth quarter.

Towns had 21 points and eight rebounds as Minnesota took a 49-44 lead into intermission, but it could have been more. Portland shot .327 in the half, going 0-for-13 from 3-point range.

Portland scored the first seven points of the third quarter to go ahead 51-49. The Wolves climbed back to go on top 76-66 late in the quarter. The Blazers cut it to 78-75 heading into the final period.

Towns hit a pair of free throws to give Minnesota an 86-84 lead with 6:30 remaining. Lillard's jumper tied it at 86-86.

Al-Farouq Aminu, McCollum and Lillard sank consecutive 3-point shots, the latter giving Portland a 95-86 advantage with 3:01 to go. The Wolves got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The Timberwolves hit 10 of their first 17 shots but still led only 20-15. The Blazers finished 6-for-24 from the field - missing all 7 3-point attempts - yet trailed only 24-19 heading into the second quarter.

Minnesota extended the margin to 32-23. Portland closed to within 40-35, but the Wolves stepped it back up to 47-36. They settled for a five-point bulge at the half.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   Portland
Karl-Anthony Towns 34 Scoring Damian Lillard 35
Jeff Teague 5 Assists Evan Turner 6
Karl-Anthony Towns 17 Rebounds Al-Farouq Aminu 12
Karl-Anthony Towns 11 Free Throws Made Damian Lillard 13
Jeff Teague 2 Steals Shabazz Napier 2
Karl-Anthony Towns 3 Blocks Ed Davis 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Minnesota 99 44.7 4-20 19-21 16 49 7 5 15
Portland 108 39.1 9-30 27-35 17 48 6 9 8
Upcoming Games
  • Portland will play their next game at home against Oklahoma City. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .611 after a win and .538 after a loss.
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Utah. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .526 after a win and .667 after a loss.