Portland Trail Blazers (35-36) beat Minnesota Timberwolves (43-28) 108-104 on the road on Friday, March 20 in a game that stayed within 9 points at every quarter break.
The game, quarter by quarter
The Trail Blazers struck first, taking the opening quarter 33-28 and a 5-point lead after one. The Trail Blazers kept the pressure on with a 35-31 second quarter, carrying a 9-point lead into halftime.
The Timberwolves won the third 27-19 to stay in front, taking a 1-point lead into the fourth. The Trail Blazers took the fourth 21-18; the Trail Blazers finished the job for a 108-104 regulation win.
The edge that mattered
The Trail Blazers grabbed 38.3% of their own misses, while the Timberwolves recovered 29.8%. The Trail Blazers got more from their shots, finishing at 47.3% effective field-goal shooting compared with 44.5% for the Timberwolves. In a 4-point game, the second chances kept adding up.
The Timberwolves did win one battle, ball security: TOV% of 12.7 against 16.7. The Trail Blazers made up for it elsewhere.
At roughly 102 possessions per team, the Trail Blazers produced 105.7 points per 100 possessions to 101.8 for the Timberwolves.
Who made the difference
Donovan Clingan was the game's biggest individual force for POR: 21 pts, 12 reb, 4 ast, 3 blk on 9-13 shooting. His Game Score of 24.4 led everyone. His team was +2 with him on the floor.
Rudy Gobert led the Timberwolves with 18 pts, 15 reb, 1 ast on 7-14 shooting, good for a 20.5 Game Score.
Rudy Gobert (18 pts, 15 reb, 1 ast), Ayo Dosunmu (17 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast), and Donovan Clingan (21 pts, 12 reb, 4 ast) each recorded a double-double.
What it means
By our Win Meter this was an upset: The Trail Blazers entered with about a 28% chance.
Across the last 7 meetings in our records, Minnesota Timberwolves lead 5-2.
The Trail Blazers are now 35-36, and the Timberwolves are 43-28. The Trail Blazers last five before this game: L-W-L-W-W.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.