Shaedon Sharpe scored a career-high 33 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-98 on Wednesday night.
Rookie Donovan Clingan had a strong performance with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and eight blocked shots, as the Blazers won against the Timberwolves for the second night in a row. Portland had also beaten Minnesota 122-108 the night before.
Dalano Banton added 13 points for Portland, which picked up back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Toumani Camara finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, and three steals, while Scoot Henderson also scored 11 points.
For the Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards scored 24 points and had four steals but struggled with his 3-point shooting, missing all nine of his attempts. Last Friday in Minneapolis, Edwards made nine 3-pointers and scored 37 points in a 127-102 win over Portland.
Julius Randle had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Naz Reid contributed 15 points off the bench for Minnesota, which lost its third straight game. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 13 points and three steals, and Rudy Gobert finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Portland shot 45.2 percent from the field, including 9 of 25 (36 percent) from beyond the arc. Minnesota shot just 39.4 percent overall and made only 7 of 39 (17.9 percent) from 3-point range.
The Blazers pulled away in the fourth quarter with 13 straight points, going up 89-78. Sharpe finished the run by hitting two free throws with 6:39 remaining.
Minnesota got as close as 96-92 after Gobert’s three-point play with 1:48 left, but Sharpe responded with a 3-pointer just 10 seconds later.
Edwards made a layup to bring the Timberwolves to within 101-96 with one minute left, but Sharpe made two free throws, and Banton completed a three-point play to seal the win for Portland, pushing the lead to 10 with 16.5 seconds left.
Minnesota started strong, looking to bounce back from the loss on Tuesday, and quickly built leads of 11-2 and 16-4. The Timberwolves led 33-23 at the end of the first quarter.
Portland took its first lead at 44-42 on a putback by Camara with 2:38 left in the first half.
The game was tied 48-48 at halftime, with Sharpe scoring 14 points for the Blazers and Edwards having 10 points for the Timberwolves.
Minnesota went on a 12-2 run to take a 70-63 lead with 3:45 left in the third quarter. However, Portland finished the period strong and tied the game at 76 with a 3-pointer by Banton with 35.3 seconds remaining.
