The Timberwolves went into Sunday’s matchup hoping to gain ground in the Western Conference standings with a win at home over the Portland Trail Blazers, a team playing without its best player in Damian Lillard.
CJ McCollum, who started at point guard in Lillard’s stead, made sure that didn’t happen.
McCollum got off to a hot start, making 5 of his first 6 shots en route to 13 first-quarter points. He would finish with 43 points on 16-of-25 shooting, as Portland defeated the Wolves, 95-89.
The sole bright spot for the Wolves was rookie Kris Dunn — who, upon entering the game, managed to slow McCollum down and, in turn, temporarily suppress Portland’s offense. The Wolves held the Blazers to just 13 points during the second, and headed into the locker room at halftime ahead by the score of 49-37.
Dunn did not return to the floor until the 1:00 minute mark of the third.
By then, McCollum had put up 14 points and dished out three assists.
Portland headed into the final frame leading 69-64.
Consecutive bad offensive possessions late, in which Wiggins and LaVine committed turnovers on forced drives to the basket, prevented the Wolves from pulling within four with under two minutes to play.
President-coach Tom Thibodeau called his team’s second half performance a total breakdown.
“The thing that’s concerning is that it’s another big halftime lead that we don’t protect,” Thibodeau said. “We don’t come out with the urgency and the understanding of playing 48 minutes, and how important that is, and how hard you have to play.”
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After playing arguably his best game of the season, Dunn, who finished with 11 points, four assists, three rebounds and three blocks — in addition to his quality defense on McCollum — downplayed his performance in his conversation with the media following the loss.
“Nah,” Dunn said, when asked if he felt this was his breakthrough game.
“I feel like I can do a lot more. It takes time. Like I said, I’m trying to learn the game more and more. I don’t know when my breakthrough game is, but this wasn’t it. I was just trying to do as much as I can for the team, and really bring the defensive intensity.”
