The Timberwolves made Saturday at Target Center Naz Reid bobblehead night, and the defending NBA Sixth Man of the Year turned needed starter made it a party with a 114-98 victory over Portland.
Timberwolves, lacking Anthony Edwards among others, roar past Trail Blazers
A huge run in the final minutes settled it as Edwards sat out because of a sore hip and Rob Dillingham stood in for injured Mike Conley at the point.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 9, 2025 at 5:23AM
On a night his team was without several usual starters — including All-Star guard Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle — Reid made five three-pointers, delivered an important steal late in the game and fed Jaden McDaniels for an on-the-run dunk that gave the Wolves a double-digit lead at 104-93 with 2:06 left.
The Wolves trailed by as many as 15 points and remained behind by 13 late in the third quarter before Reid made all five of his three-pointers (on nine attempts) coming out of the third quarter and into the fourth.
His fifth gave the Wolves a 96-93 lead with 5½ minutes left, and they never trailed again.
Reid scored 23 points, even though Portland game-planned to stop him.
“I just see what Ant go through,” he said. “A little less, but I see what Ant go through. It’s tough. You get a little tired. But at that point, it’s mental. How much resiliency do you have? I try to keep playing through all that. Playing on defense as well and make things happen.”
The Wolves led by 16 before it was all done and extended their win streak to three games.
“I’m proud of the guys,” coach Chris Finch said. “This is one of my favorite wins of the year.”
Reid’s third three of the night brought the Wolves within 89-87 early in the fourth. His fourth made three-pointer got the Wolves within 91-90 with less than eight minutes left before the Trail Blazers countered with a three of their own to briefly extend their lead to four points.
The Wolves played on without Edwards as well as veteran point guard Mike Conley on Saturday.
Edwards missed his second game in the past five after he had played every one this season before that. He was out because of right hip soreness.
When asked if he expects Edwards’ injury to be a short-term problem, Finch said: “It’s certainly day-to-day right now. It’s more cautious than anything else.”
Without him, Conley, Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, rookie point guard Rob Dillingham started his first NBA game and did so alongside Nickeil Alexander-Walker, McDaniels, Reid and Rudy Gobert.
Edwards had scored 49 and 41 points in his past two games, victories over Chicago and Houston.
He was ill for the team’s 105-103 loss to NBA-worst Washington — which had lost 16 consecutive games — on Feb. 1.
Conley is out because of a right index finger sprain. Randle has a groin strain, DiVincenzo a great toe sprain.
The first time these teams met this season, the Blazers won back-to-back games in Portland in mid-November, a low point of the Wolves’ young season. They were 8-9 and the Blazers 5-8 after those two games.
The Trail Blazers arrived Saturday 23-29 and 13th in the 15-team Western Conference. But they also had won nine of their past 10 games and six in a row.
On Saturday, they trailed 16-7 midway through the first quarter before a 15-8 burst brought them within 24-22 by quarter’s end.
With starting guard Anfernee Simons and reserve Shaedon Sharpe providing the pulse, the Blazers used a 38-25 second quarter to take a lead that grew as big as 15 points before halftime.
Sharpe had 13 points by halftime, Simons 10 while McDaniels led the Wolves with 12 first-half points.
McDaniels finished with 30 points on 12-for-17 shooting, to go with 10 rebounds. He shot only one three-pointer, and missed.
“He’s been doing this for a while now,” Finch said of McDaniels. “What I love about it, it was such an efficient night. He didn’t need to take a bunch of threes, but he got to the line. I thought he had some really good, smart possessions, too. We needed somebody to take a shot and he was the guy to do it. He was fun to watch.”
The Wolves countered by making a run of their own, right out of halftime.
Their opening 13-5 run brought them within 65-60 with just three minutes gone in the second half.
The Wolves fell back behind as many as 13 points before they started slinging threes to end the third and start the fourth quarter. Reid made one with 14.6 seconds left in the third and another in the fourth quarter’s first 20 seconds.
Jaylen Clark made a third consecutive shot, followed by a Gobert put-back jam and ensuing three-point play, and suddenly it was a one-point game, the Blazers leading 86-85 with fewer than 10 minutes left.
A huge run in the final minutes settled it as their star sat out because of a sore hip and Rob Dillingham stood in for injured Mike Conley at the point.
