National Basketball Association
Portland 102, Minnesota 97
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 5, 2013
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
#27 Dick Bavetta, #43 Dan Crawford, #7 Kevin Fehr
Attendance:
16220
By SportsDirect Inc.
Trail Blazers 102, Timberwolves 97: Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews each made five 3-pointers en route to 26 points as visiting Portland completed its four-game road trip with its 10th win in 13 overall contests.
Damian Lillard scored 20 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 14 and nine rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who were 16-of-24 from 3-point range. Matthews finished 5-for-7 from beyond the arc after going 5-for-8 in Friday's victory over Memphis.
Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and 15 rebounds, Dante Cunningham added 10 and 12 and Derrick Williams scored 18 points off the bench for Minnesota, which was without forward Kevin Love due to a broken hand suffered in Thursday's win at Denver.
Portland ended the first quarter with a two-point lead and quickly stretched it to 14 as it began the second with four 3-pointers, including three by Matthews. The Trail Blazers were 7-of-10 from beyond the arc in the period and took a 53-43 advantage into the break.
The 3-point barrage by Portland continued in the third as Lillard began the quarter with his third of the night and Batum made long shots 42 seconds apart to give the Trail Blazers a 73-51 lead with 4:06 remaining.
After Portland's first three baskets of the fourth were made from beyond the arc, Minnesota used a 19-3 run to get within four with 5:15 left. The Timberwolves scored seven straight points to make it a two-point game with 1:19 to go, but Aldridge hit a turnaround jumper with 37.1 seconds remaining to seal the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Portland went 3-1 on its road trip. ... Williams scored nine straight points for the Timberwolves in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. ... Minnesota fell to 15-30 at home against Portland. ... Batum and Matthews were a combined 10-of-13 from 3-point range, while the entire Timberwolves team was 5-of-16.
Top Game Performances
Portland |
|
Minnesota |
Nicolas Batum 26 |
Scoring |
Nikola Pekovic 21 |
LaMarcus Aldridge 6 |
Assists |
Jose Barea 7 |
J.J. Hickson 11 |
Rebounds |
Nikola Pekovic 15 |
Wesley Matthews 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Luke Ridnour 7 |
LaMarcus Aldridge 2 |
Steals |
Dante Cunningham 2 |
Nicolas Batum 3 |
Blocks |
Dante Cunningham 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Portland
|
102 |
43.0 |
16-24 |
12-13 |
22 |
39 |
8 |
3 |
13 |
Minnesota
|
97 |
41.8 |
5-16 |
16-18 |
22 |
52 |
8 |
6 |
13 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game at home against Atlanta. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .438 after a win and .571 after a loss.
-
Portland will play their next game at home against Orlando. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .529 after a win and .562 after a loss.