MINNEAPOLIS _ It was a rather typical evening for the Timberwolves. Or should we call them the Minnesota excavators?
The Wolves started slowly, digging a hole. They proceeded worked hard to fill that hole back in.
But not quite enough.
Monday, against a Portland team still battling for the third spot in the Western Conference, the Wolves dug a 19-point hole in the second quarter, rallied to take a three-point lead into the fourth before falling to the motivated Blazers 132-122 at Target Center.
Down four early in the fourth quarter, the Blazers got 10 points _ including three 3-pointers _ from reserve guard Seth Curry in a 21-7 run that put them up 124-114 with 4 { minutes left in the game. It was one final hole the Wolves (34-43) couldn't dig out of.
In a game of runs, it was decisive.
Enes Kanter, filling in for injured center Jusuf Nurkic, scored 20 points with 11 rebounds. Portland guards Rodney Hood (21) and Damian Lillard (15) combined for 36 points. Curry scored 19 off the bench as Portland (49-28) won for the seventh time in eight games.
Andrew Wiggins led six Wolves players in double figures with 21 points. Gorgi Dieng scored 18 off the bench, nine in the third quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 with 12 rebounds, but needed 21 shots to do it.
It appeared the Wolves had avoided the slow starts that have plagued them of late, with Towns scoring seven points in an 11-5 start for the Wolves over the first 4 minutes.
It did not last.
After a 4-for-4 start, the Wolves made just five of their final 19 shots of the first quarter. After taking an 11-4 run on two free throws by Towns with 8 { minutes left in the quarter, the Blazers out-scored Minnesota
Over the final 8-plus minutes of the quarter the Blazers out-scored the Wolves 33-12 the rest of the way, taking a 38-23 lead into the second quarter.
Reasons for this: The Wolves shot 39.1 percent, were out-rebounded 16-6, allowed Portland nine second-chance points while scoring none of their own. The one-two punch of Kanter and Hood (12 points each) outscored the entire Wolves team over the first 12 minutes, with the Blazers building a 24-8 edge in points in the paint.
Unlike recent games, the Wolves bench wasn't able to push the Wolves back into the game in the second quarter. This time it was the starters.
Down 17, the Wolves ended the quarter on a modest 12-6 run to pull within 11 at the half.
Saric had 11 points in the quarter and Wiggins had five, including a jumper to end the first half.
Still, after two quarters the Blazers had scored 75 points, shot nearly 64 percent and had made 10 of 16 3-pointers.
The Wolves made a move in the third quarter.
Wiggins had eight points and Towns had six in a 16-6 run that pulled the Wolves within 86-82 with 5:16 left in the quarter. Out of a time out Portland scored five straight pushing the lead back to nine.
Portland still led by nine after Lillard's 3-pointer.
But the rest of the quarter was all Wolves, led by Jones and Dieng. Jones scored the first two baskets in a 12-0 run that ended the quarter. After a Lillard turnover Dieng scored. After a Wolves steal Dieng scored on a put-back with 1:45 left in the quarter and the Wolves were within three. Out of a time out Hood missed, then Anthony Tolliver hit a 3 with 1:13 left to tie the game.
The Wolves weren't done. Dieng blocked Lillard, then scored at the other end. After Lillard was called for a travel, Dieng hit one of two free throws to end the quarter with the Wolves up 100-97.
