Wolves win and go 3-0 on road trip, pleasing coach Mitchell

PORTLAND, ORE. – Be it paradox or conundrum, each accumulating Timberwolves victory here late in the season that presents a case for interim head coach Sam Mitchell also makes the job even more attractive for accomplished coaches who'd seek it.

Before Saturday's 106-105 victory at Portland, Mitchell said neither he nor his agent had sought clarification about his future from Wolves owner Glen Taylor.

He also said he doesn't consider each recent victory reason for him to lose the interim title, even if the Wolves went 3-0 on the final road trip of the season.

It ended with Karl-Anthony Towns' stunning winning shot with 1.8 seconds left that trumped Damian Lillard's inexplicable four-point play two seconds earlier.

Towns finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, Andrew Wiggins added 23 points.

"I don't think about wins or losses from that standpoint," he said.

Rather, Mitchell clearly is proud of the development shown by his players and team and attributes it to his decision early this season to develop young talent such as Zach LaVine, Towns, Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng and others.

"It has worked on paper in my mind like I hoped it would," Mitchell said. "This is kind of what I expected and hoped for. It didn't mean it was going to be a guarantee and it all could have blown up in my face, but it's worked out like I thought it could."

He said his decision to develop the young players was the obvious one when it became clear future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett couldn't play 16 to 18 minutes a game, veteran Nikola Pekovic couldn't resume playing a regular role after foot surgery last April, and there were limits to what he could ask from thirty-something veterans Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince.

The Wolves are winners of 28 games overall and six of their past 10, and Mitchell acknowledges the job, because of that developing young talent, has become perhaps the most desirable of all that inevitably will become open once the season ends and playoff series conclude.

"It's funny to me, now all of a sudden this is a great job," Mitchell said. "After last year, nobody wanted this job. Nobody thought this was a good job. Now all of a sudden it's a good job, so I'm proud of that."

Wolves owner Glen Taylor last month said he'll keep General Manager Milt Newton doing his expanded duties at least through this summer, but he left the team's coaching future unanswered, saying only that it and other matters will be addressed after the season ends Wednesday.

When asked if he was given clearance or told to commit to the team's youth, Mitchell said: "All I was told was, 'Coach the team.' I wasn't told to develop this guy or do this and do that. Mr. Taylor told me to coach the team the way I saw fit.

"It gave me leeway and freedom, and that's why I have so much respect for Mr. Taylor and why I have no problems with his thought process and how he does things."

Mitchell was named interim head coach last September when the team announced coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders had been hospitalized because of complications from his cancer treatment. Saunders died in October.

"Mr. Taylor has said all along he's going to wait until the end of the season," Mitchell said. "That's just how he does things, and you know the Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules."

• Former Wolves player and assistant coach Terry Porter stopped by the Timberwolves' morning shoot at the University of Portland and visited with former teammates Mitchell and Garnett, among many others. Porter lives in Portland and recently was named the university's head coach.

• At least five members of the Wolves' scouting staff — including Newton — attended Saturday's Nike Hoops Summit international all-star game played Saturday afternoon at Moda Center. Towns, Wiggins, Jones and Shabazz Muhammad all played in the event in recent years.

• LaVine obtained 27 tickets for family and friends in the closest thing he has to a home game. He grew up three hours away in Seattle.