Timberwolves at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers are fighting for homecourt advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, and might need it more than any other team. The Trail Blazers will try to confirm their homecourt dominance when they host the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Portland fell 106-96 at Brooklyn on Monday to drop to 19-19 on the road — the worst mark of any of the teams in the top seven in the West. The Trail Blazers are locked into the No. 4 spot thanks to their Northwest Division title but could still start on the road if they can’t manage to make up some ground on the Los Angeles Clippers or San Antonio Spurs. Portland’s road woes even extend to Minnesota, where the Timberwolves have beaten the Trail Blazers twice this season. Ailing Minnesota will limp into Portland on Wednesday with a seven-game losing streak after falling 116-111 at the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (16-61): Minnesota trimmed its injury list from eight to seven when Kevin Martin (hamstring) returned to the lineup Friday, and after one game spent shaking off the rust against Orlando, Martin poured in 37 points to go along with eight assists Tuesday. That spark sent the Timberwolves to their highest point total in a month but still could not get them into the win column. Rookie point guard Zach LaVine continued his stellar play with 21 points and 11 assists Tuesday — the third time he has gone over 20 points in the last four games.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (50-27): Monday’s loss comes with an asterisk, as Portland elected to leave LaMarcus Aldridge (thumb), Nicolas Batum (back) and Chris Kaman (thumb) home from the one-game, cross-country trip. “I think we did a good job, showing fight and playing hard,” C.J. McCollum, who started in place of Batum, told the team’s website. “Obviously, we were short-handed tonight, so we just wanted to come out and be aggressive.” The setback, combined with Tuesday wins by San Antonio and the Clippers, leaves the Blazers with the sixth-best overall record in the West, 1 1/2 games behind the Spurs and two back of the Clippers and Grizzlies.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves F Andrew Wiggins is averaging 24.3 points over the last three games.
2. McCollum has scored in double figures in four straight games.
3. Portland G Damian Lillard scored 36 points on Monday, his first 30-point outing since March 7 at Minnesota.