PORTLAND, ORE. – Given the late start time for the game, if viewers fell asleep or turned off Thursday’s 128-91 Timberwolves victory over the Blazers after the first quarter, they might not think much happened between then and the final buzzer.
The Wolves won the first quarter by 30, and it seemed like all was well in the final game before the All-Star break. But they were hardly able to coast after such a hot start. They lost focus and let the Trail Blazers back in the game over the next 18 minutes of game action.
Midway through the third, just when it looked like this threatened to join the list of calamitous losses they accused in recent weeks, the Wolves, and in particular Anthony Edwards, made sure it didn’t.
They turned the game into the comfortable victory it seemed like it would be after that strong start, and they head into the break in sole possession of first place in the Western Conference by 1 ½ games over Oklahoma City.
Edwards, who finished with 34 points, seven assists and six rebounds, had 13 in that 44-14 first quarter for the Wolves, and then he had 15 in the third. All of those third-quarter points came after the Blazers cut the lead to eight. Karl-Anthony Towns pitched in 23 points, nine in the decisive third. Jerami Grant had 20 for Portland.
The Wolves could not have asked for a better start to the evening, and that was almost as factually accurate as it was figuratively. Only one other time in franchise history did they have a better first quarter than Thursday.
The Wolves opened up a 44-14 lead after one, and the 30-point lead was the second largest positive point differential they’ve had in a single quarter in franchise history. The only better quarter was a 31-point lead after a first quarter on Feb. 7, 2001 against the Kings. It was also the best point differential after a first quarter in the NBA this season.
The Wolves shot 17-for-25 in the quarter with Edwards scoring 13 of those. McDaniels had nine while Gobert had six points and nine rebounds, thanks in part to a 5-for-24 showing from Portland in the quarter.
So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the level of seriousness dropped in the second quarter, which the Wolves lost 37-22, and they went into halftime up 15, 66-51. If you needed any visual proof that their attention to detail waned, Towns attempted a behind-the-back pass out of a double team in the corner, while Edwards tried to bank in a free throw toward the end of the quarter.
All this while Portland was trying to make its run and get back in the game. The Wolves were just 7-for-22 in the quarter while Portland started hitting shots (13-for-20).
When a team loses focus in a game like that, it can sometimes be hard to get it back. It got worse for the Wolves before it got better. The Blazers cut the lead to eight, 73-65, with 6 minutes, 21 seconds to play.
BOXSCORE: Wolves 128, Portland 91
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Then the Wolves, and in particular Edwards, finally woke back up. Edwards scored 15 points in the third quarter, and all of those points came after Portland cut the lead to eight. He got to the free throw line, hit a three, and had a few layups. Towns also got going, and he was the beneficiary of extra attention Portland started to pay Edwards late in the quarter. He had nine as the Wolves went on a 26-10 run to close the quarter. They led 99-76 after three, and they actually achieved their largest lead of the night, 38, in the fourth quarter after going up 30 in the first. But it was a bumpy ride in between.