The morning the Minnesota Timberwolves season tipped off, President Gersson Rosas tried to sound the alarm that there might be nights like Thursday's 135-117 loss to the Trail Blazers in Portland, Ore.
"This team has an upside even this season, but we've got to go through some growing pains and we've got to grow together," Rosas said on Dec. 23.
The growing pains were throbbing against the Blazers, who ran circles around the Wolves in a hair-pulling 47-point second quarter that laid bare everything that was wrong with the Wolves' defense.
When Rosas made that statement, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie were still healthy, and while their injuries, especially Okogie's, have hurt the synergy the team has tried to develop on both ends, it's hard to imagine their absences are the sole reasons why the Wolves have had the worst defensive efficiency in the NBA.
It's also hard to explain how nights like Thursday happen, which was a continuation of recent blowout losses to the Clippers, Lakers and Wizards.
The Wolves had been competitive in their recent home-and-home series against Denver, but Thursday was a step backward in their quest to find an elusive win since Towns dislocated his wrist. They have now lost six straight, with some losses feeling like they should count for more.
Damian Lillard had his way with the Wolves in scoring a season-high 39 points to go with seven assists and seven rebounds, which earned him an early exit to watch the fourth quarter from the bench. His perimeter partner C.J. McCollum added 20 while Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points and seven rebounds as Portland led by as much as 33.
D'Angelo Russell continued his strong offensive play with 26, and that led a very short list of positives for the Wolves. Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 26 on 9-for-21 shooting as he dominated garbage time, but Malik Beasley shot just 3-for-13 for 12 points while Ricky Rubio had 10 assists.
The night started harmlessly enough for the Wolves as Russell was cooking early and matching Lillard shot for shot through the first quarter.
Russell went 5-of-6 in the quarter for 11 points while Lillard countered with 15. The Wolves kept within range even as Russell's teammates struggled to get going offensively. Juancho Hernangomez, who had his best game of the season against Denver, missed his first four shots. Still, the Wolves were up 29-28 after one.
But in the second, the Blazers began target practice. The Wolves defense was helpless to stop them, especially in transition, as Portland raced out to 18 fast-break points in the first half. Portland was averaging 13.1 fast-break points per game entering Thursday.
The Wolves made Portland look like it was in a different stratosphere. The Blazers shot eight of 10 from three-point range, Lillard did whatever he wanted offensively to the tune of 26 first-half points and Portland put up that 47 spot on the Wolves in the second.
The Star Tribune did not travel for this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews.
