After a couple huge blowout against tanking teams, the Timberwolves came into Portland with confidence they could beat the Blazers without Jimmy Butler.
Through three quarters, they did that. They held a lead for the majority of the game, contained the star duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and had Karl-Anthony Towns playing like an MVP. It was the best defensive performance they’ve had this season, and they looked like a team that could keep on winning without Butler.
But as the fourth quarter pressed on, the absence of the team’s standing MVP candidate became increasingly apparent.
The Wolves held Lillard to just a pair of makes through the first half, and mostly kept him at bay in the third quarter. In the fourth, he showed off his hero ball chops, dropping 13 points in the fourth quarter and hitting the dagger with three minutes to go.
Towns finished with 34 points and 17 rebounds, showing some great first-half chemistry with Jamal Crawford. Crawford struggled to do much of anything in the second half, but his love of getting the big man going was exactly what Towns needed to get going.
While the pair shared the floor together for much of the fourth, the same success would not take place. Towns had a couple nice exchanges with Tyus Jones, but wouldn’t take another shot after the 6:30 mark in the fourth quarter.
At that point, the Wolves still led 86-84.
From there, the Blazers would go on a run that would effectively put the game out of each. They’re third in the league in 3-point percentage, but wouldn’t truly show that off until this point, when their entire backcourt came through with deep buckets.
The Wolves had 3-point struggles of their own, but they never got out of them. The 4-of-20 line from deep is a bad one on its own, but it gets even worse when considering two of those came when the game was already out of reach.
It wouldn’t be fair or responsible to put this loss entirely on the absence of Butler. For a good stretch of the game, the Wolves played with the Blazers. In many ways, they can still hack it with Portland, who has limitations that have kept them behind Minnesota all season.
But Butler, most nights, is what’s kept them ahead.
Late in the game, when the Blazers started to make their run, the Timberwolves started to falter offensively. Halting a run from Lillard and McCollum can be impossible at times, but the Wolves are still likely a top-10 offensive team without Butler.
Late in the game, they didn’t look that way.
Towns – the game’s most dominant player – not touching the ball for the final six minutes of the fourth quarter is the fault of Towns for not demanding the ball, Thibodeau for not demanding he get the ball, and Jeff Teague for not force feeding him in the post.
Andrew Wiggins played marvelous basketball in the prior two games, but came away with a paltry 7-20 shooting performance. Teague came out hot but was mostly overwhelmed by the Blazers’ stingy defensive wall in the paint.
In other words, this game needed Butler. As good as Towns, Wiggins and Teague can look from night to night, the Wolves have relied heavily on Butler’s ability to get them out of bad situations all year. While some of those games have resulted in “bad hero ball”, it’s mostly been a success story for the Wolves this season.
There’s no way to know for sure if Butler would have saved them in this game. Lillard did exactly what Wolves fans miss about Butler – scored a bunch of points late and played stingy defense down the stretch.
In the meantime, the Wolves will have to keep finding ways to get Towns going like he did Thursday. They’ll have to keep finding ways to get Wiggins and Teague going like they did the two previous games.
It’s going to be a game-by-game grind for the Wolves. Different guys will have to step up and attempt to make up for Butler’s lost impact.
They came into Portland thinking they could win. Through three quarters, they showed they could.
But as the Wolves continue to push for a prime playoff spot, the continued success from their younger stars will come with the undeniable absence of their closer.
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