PORTLAND, Ore. – The Timberwolves had confidence going into Monday's rematch with Portland that if they could just defend Damian Lillard without fouling, they'd have a good chance of winning.
The good news for them: They sent Lillard to the free throw line just one time Wednesday night.
The bad news: Lillard didn't need any free throws because he was on fire from 3-point range
The Trail Blazers torched the Wolves 133-112 after beating them on Saturday behind 38 points and 11 three-pointers from Lillard. Lillard put on a clinic as the Wolves struggled to maintain any semblance of defensive cohesiveness in trying to guard him. He was 11 of 17 from 3-point range and 13 of 21 overall.
Lillard didn't play in the fourth as Portland had the game in hand and had an ice bag on his thigh after a collision with Kyle Anderson. That prevented him from threatening the NBA 3-point record of 14 held by the Warriors' Klay Thompson.
Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 20 rebounds for Minnesota while D'Angelo Russell added 23. Jerami Grant had 24 for Portland.
Lillard had a tough night shooting from the field against the Wolves on Saturday. He made his mark by hitting all 15 of his free-throw attempts, much to the chagrin of the Wolves, who thought the officials gave them a bad whistle.
The opposite happened from the jump on Monday. He began his night by hitting eight of his first 10 threes in the first half. The Wolves hit just four as a team over the first 24 minutes.
The Wolves looked lost defensively and had little clue how to guard Portland's dribble penetration and ball movement. Lillard finished with 27 in the first half.
The Wolves played a fairly clean first half offensively. They shot 55% and had just five turnovers. But they couldn't keep pace with Portland, especially when the Blazers were hitting from outside.
Gobert had an effective half statistically; he had 10 points and 15 rebounds in the first half while D'Angelo Russell, who stayed in the game after a painful looking collision with Josh Hart, had 15. The Wolves never led in the first half and trailed by as many as 15 before going into halftime down 70-59.
Lillard didn't let up in the third quarter and added three more 3s to pump his total up to 11 with 4 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the third. But despite Lillard's hot shooting, the Wolves still hung around within 10. The Wolves still felt like they were just a few positive defensive possessions away from making a serious run at Portland. They couldn't execute one.
After leading 88-78, Portland went on a 16-2 run that essentially ended the game. They did this without Lillard hitting a three as others got involved in the party.
Grant had 10 in the third quarter, including a pair of threes in that run. The Blazers led 106-84 going into the fourth, and didn't need Lillard the rest of the night.
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