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MINNEAPOLIS – The six-game Thanksgiving journey of the Portland Trail Blazers began with very little gratitude.
The Minnesota Timberwolves drove the Blazers 112-96 Friday night at the Target Center, making Portland lose its second consecutive unbalanced defeat at the start of a long vacation trip.
One game after watching, powerless, LeBron James bludgeon them, the Blazers were once again outclassed against a Timberwolves team rejuvenated by the craft of star player Jimmy Butler.
Minnesota (7-9) led by 24 points and never being left behind by one night, the Blazers (10-5) played carelessly, without inspiration and just bad.
SELF-INFLATED WOUNDS
The Blazers were not really good Friday night and they hurt themselves with a lot of damage they inflicted themselves.
The attack was sloppy and uneven, with the Blazers making 18 turnovers that led to 22 points for Minnesota and slashed a mere 28 percent of the three points (8 of 29). And the defense, which had been so good for most of the season, was permeable and inconsistent. Six Timberwolves recorded double-digit scores while Minnesota shot 50% of the field.
And when the Blazers stopped, they often allowed the Timberwolves to resume the offensive rebound, make extra goods and, often, free points.
Between turnovers and second chances, Minnesota took early control and had a 55-43 lead at half-time, assisted by eight offensive rebounds and 14 points for second chance.
At one point in the second quarter, the Blazers imposed turnovers four times in a row.
"We just gave them too many opportunities, either to drop the ball or to make it on an offensive rebound," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts. "We dug the hole in the first half, basically, because of that."
GREAT PERFORMANCE
Andrew Wiggins finished with 23 points and five rebounds, Derrick Rose recorded 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Karl-Anthony Towns added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have won their third consecutive game since the exchange of Butler.
Jusuf Nurkic recorded his eighth double (13 points and 11 rebounds), the highest on his team, in a performance that seemed better than he looked.
OFF NIGHT FOR ALL-STAR
It was an evening to forget for star player Damian Lillard, who had one of his worst performances of the season. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, but was icy and careless with the ball. Lillard scored only 5 of his 18 goals, including 1 of 7 at three points, and made five turnovers.
After the match, he was kicking himself for his mistakes.
"The ball is often in my hands and the team is counting on me to take care of it and ensure that we have quality goods," he said. "And I have not done a great job in this area, sometimes the games go that way."
It was finished when
In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves had a wild possession in which three different players from Minnesota were playing popcorn with the ball under the hoop, circulating it. Finally, someone kicked Rose on the perimeter.
After recovering the pass, Rose hesitated and then passed to Jeff Teague, who was wide open at the top of the key. The starting goalkeeper of the Timberwolves scored three points with a time remaining at 5:46, giving Minnesota a 102-78 lead.
Stotts called a break more than a second later and raised the white flag, emptying his bench while he remained almost a quarter.
ROOKIE JOINS ROTATION
With Seth Curry put away because of a right knee bruise, Stotts took an unexpected direction with his player rotation.
Anfernee Simons inherited Curry's minutes by entering the game to start the second quarter and playing eight minutes in the first half. The 19-year-old Novice Shooting Guard was not shy and was attempting his first shot on the Blazers' first ball in the second quarter, but he was not allowing the first try without an attempt.
Simons scored his first basket with 7:02 left in the first period, finishing a nice pass around Robert Covington near the end of the clock, and finished the first period with four points and two rebounds in 2-for-5 shots.
Simons, who also played in the raking time Friday night, finished with seven points and three rebounds, while making 3 of 7 shots.
"They are obviously preaching me to be aggressive," Simons said. "I wanted to come here and not try to do too much, but once the opportunity has come, take the risk and just live with the results."
NIGHT OF PRINCE
Minnesota honored the Prince music icon throughout the game, adding a little soul and a lot of purple to the Target Center.
The highlight of the evening included the start of Prince-inspired purple jerseys worn by the Timberwolves, but there was a host of Prince-themed specials and videos during the game. Prince's songs were played all night, on timeouts, in-game promotions and even live action scenes like "When Doves Cry" and "Raspberry Beret", as well as d & rsquo; Countless other successes.
The team had even Kevin Garnett, their former star player, sitting on the side of the field and wearing one of those smooth purple jerseys.
Why all this love for Prince? The iconic musician, who died in 2016, is from Minneapolis.
NEXT UP
The Blazers visit the wizards of Washington Sunday at 15h. at the Verizon Center. It's the second and final meeting between the teams this season and the third game of the Blazers' six-game trip.
Joe Freeman | [email protected] | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman
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