Beat The Blazers

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

7/13 on threes. Lillard's just feeling it.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

this is closer than it should be

[KiwiMatt]

Terrible finish, how have the Wolves let them back in this game? Especially against a Blazers team who must be running on empty.

[Porckchop]

Lillard just shows how average Ricky really is.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

And there you have it. A win against the Blazers. What a game from Love, Pek, Martin and unfortunately Lillard.

[thedoper]

Lillard just shows how average Ricky really is.

Calls his D into question a bit too. He is consistently late on rotations and closing out on his man. I still like Ricky a lot as a player but if he can't put together at least one good shooting quarter a game we will have some trouble.

[Porckchop]

Be careful calling out Rickys D on here! Rickys only flaw is his shooting:/

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Wes Mathews always gets hot against us. In the past, however, there's been a point guard guarding him, which likely played into his favor. I expect if nothing more for Martin's length to bother him beyond the arc.

Wes was held in check. 4-13 from the field, 2-9 from 3. Only 16 points for him. I'll take that.

Love vs Aldridge. The top two power forwards in the game. Should be a great matchup between them.

Love dominated tonight. They had to start doubling. 29/15/9. Please, someone outside of the Wolves Nation try and argue that Love isn't the best PF alive. He's a beast.

Pekovic vs Lopez. I expect Lopez to get a couple blocked shots, but I really think Pek's going to be a handful for him all night. Just my opinion.

Lopez blocked Pek once. Pek got blocked by Batum later in the game, but like I said would happen, Pek was a handful. Dropped an efficient 30 tonight. MURDER.

Lillard's going to get his; he's too good of a scorer. It's about limitiing efficiency, though. Hopefully Ricky can hold Lillard in check.

Well, this didn't happen. Lillard was terrific and kept Portland in it til the end. I seriously think he's their best player, not LA. 36/6/6 on 13-24 shooting and 7/14 from 3 (couple of those were halfcourt chucks)? YEESH!

I have this as a win for Minnesota. Portland played a tough game against the Cavs last night while we rested. We're at home. We absolutely need to get this victory.

We got the win. We're back at .500 where we need to quit falling under. Hopefully our guys build on this victory, take care of the Lakers on Friday and get some momentum before this "easy" stretch.

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

Just got back, some quick thoughts:

Great win, despite limping to the finish line. Pek and Love were sensational. Ricky had a very nice first half and then reverted back to the player that can't make a shot. Also his defense on Lillard was questionable but at the same time Lillard simply made a lot of long 3's.

The crowd was so-so, they were into it but I think everyone was a bit taken aback that we were up 30 in the first half. There was also no doubt in my mind Portland would still make a run, but they actually got closer than expected.

My dad was at the game with me and he doesn't watch nearly as many games as I do. He commented on how beautiful the Wolves passing game was. A simple comment and a simple truth: the Wolves are not going to out-athletic other teams. They have to play smarter and move the ball and take advantage of match ups. Tonight they did that with Pek, and also other guys were making smart cuts to the basket. Ricky's passing also was as good as I've seen it in a while in the first half.

Three final thoughts: props to Dante for playing as hard as he did after last night's injury--I was shocked he was able to play at all. Shved: is whatever was wrong with him finally subsiding?--he's put together a few decent games in a row--hope he keeps it up. And Pek: Wow. Simply owned anyone who tried to guard him. The variety of ways he scored was beautiful. Love it. Earning his paycheck.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Be careful calling out Rickys D on here! Rickys only flaw is his shooting:/

Is Rubio still the most important and best player on the team?