The three-game road trip for the Portland Trail Blazers (19-18) started with a frustrating loss at Minnesota 113-106.
Gary Payton II missed the game with a right ankle sprain, the first game after he made his season debut Monday after missing all of the 2022 portion recovering from a summer abdominal surgery.
Portland could have used Payton’s defensive skill against Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who finished the night with a game-high 32 points.
The first quarter belonged to NBA journeyman Luka Garza, who scored 11 points in the opening frame for Minnesota. Garza competed on the Portland Summer League team last summer.
Jerami Grant went to work in the second frame though to keep the Blazers close, hitting three 3-pointers and going into halftime with 20 points on 7 for 9 shooting. Portland trailed 60-53 at the break.
In the second half, the frustration came with Portland never being able to put together a significant run.
A few times the Blazers were able to pull ahead by one, but Minnesota had an answer each time, most often coming from Edwards who had 19 of his 32 points in the second half.
Damian Lillard tried to twist the hands of the clock to Dame Time with 20 second-half points, but Rudy Gobert went to work in the paint for Minnesota.
The Frenchman scored 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the final 24, finishing with 17 and 12.
In the game’s closing minutes, Edwards stepped up to hit the big shots that buried Portland and kept the Blazers from making any kind of final run in the loss.
Lillard ended up as Portland’s leading scorer with 27 points as Grant left the game briefly in the third quarter with a left quad contusion. He came back in the middle of the fourth and finished with 26 points.
Minnesota’s largest lead was 13 points, but that came all the way in the first quarter at 25-12. Being at arm’s length the whole way, the Blazers in their 22nd road game of the season fell short.
Portland hits the court again at 4 p.m. Friday at Indiana.
Standout stats
Painted out: Minnesota, featuring Gobert, dominated down low with 54 points in the paint compared to 38 from the Blazers. Jusuf Nurkic had three blocks, but it was a rough night otherwise with 10 points and eight rebounds against the Timberwolves big man.
Aerial display: Neither team was feeling it from the 3-point arc. Both sides only made nine 3-pointers with Portland shooting 31% from deep and Minnesota at 37.5%. With the outside shot not falling, both squads attacked the paint and got to the line a combined 78 times. The Timberwolves were 26 for 36 from the line, Blazers 31 for 42.
Game grade: C
The chance was there all game to take control and win, but Portland could never grasp it. The positive side is the Blazers never lost control and stayed in it the whole way, but it was another example of the team struggling down the stretch with no real good chance of winning the game late. Nurkic still seemed to be coming back from the illness he’s been battling with, while the Blazers could have used Payton’s defensive energy in a number of ways. The good part is after this three-game trip, Portland will be at 24 road games so far, meaning it’ll play 28 of its final 45 games of the season at home. But the Blazers will need to pick up a few more road wins if they want to set themselves to take advantage of the second-half home slate.
I'm Pamplin Media Group's managing sports editor, overseeing our sports sections across our entire network. On top of that, I help the Portland Tribune by covering the Portland Trail Blazers and local high school sports. From Colorado, I enjoy the lack of snow in Portland and enjoy a night out perusing the next big food truck.
