Timberwolves 121, Trail Blazers 113
Kevin Martin scored 29 points as Minnesota turned away visiting Portland.
Gary Neal scored a season-high 27 on 8-of-11 shooting off the bench and Ricky Rubio collected 13 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who snapped a four-game slide. Andrew Wiggins added 18 points and three steals in Minnesota’s highest-scoring game of the season.
Damian Lillard had a huge fourth quarter and finished with 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who were playing their first game without starting guard Wesley Matthews (Achilles). LaMarcus Aldridge added 21 points and eight boards and Nicolas Batum scored 17 for Portland.
The Trail Blazers pulled within 94-93 on Dorell Wright’s 3-pointer with 6:30 left but Neal finished off his run of 11 straight Timberwolves points with back-to-back jumpers to push the advantage to 98-93. Lillard exploded for 11 points in the final 48 seconds but Minnesota went 12-of-12 from the free-throw line in the last minute to close out Portland.
Lillard, Batum and Wright nailed 3-pointers on consecutive possessions through the middle of the third to put the Trail Blazers in front 49-40, and the lead was 55-51 at the break. The Timberwolves opened the third with a 12-2 spurt to jump in front and led by as much as eight before settling for an 81-77 lead heading into the fourth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Arron Afflalo got the start in place of Matthews and scored 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. … The Trail Blazers went 14-of-27 from 3-point range while the Timberwolves hit 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. … Rubio posted his fifth straight double-double.