Preview: Wolves vs. Portland
December 5, 2015 at 5:55AM
Preview: The Trail Blazers begin a four-game trip that takes them to Milwaukee, Cleveland and Phoenix after Thursday's 123-111 home victory over an Indiana team that had won nine of 10 games before that. They have started the season 8-12 after losing four of five starters from last year's team. … The Wolves are 2-7 at home and 6-3 on the road after Tuesday's 96-93 home loss to Indiana.
Players to watch: Blazers point guard Damian Lillard scored 34 points against the Wolves in November, has scored 30 or more points in two of his past three games against the Wolves and has reached at least 20 points in nine of 13 games against them. … Third-year guard C.J. McCollum scored 21 points and had five rebounds and five assists Thursday and is averaging 19.6 points a game. The Wolves passed on drafting him with the ninth pick in the 2013 draft and traded the pick to Utah for the 14th and 21st picks.
Injuries: Wolves C Nikola Pekovic (Achilles surgery) is out indefinitely. The Blazers report no injuries.
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The Timberwolves turned on their defense and turned a deficit into a comfortable winning margin over the course of about five crucial minutes.
