Running on empty, Wolves fall 112-100 in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. – Where's a little condensation when you really need it?

The Timberwolves could have used some Saturday night when they finally met Portland 19 days after a scheduled game together at Target Center was postponed until April.

Or perhaps it would just delay the inevitable, which on Saturday was the Trail Blazers' convincing 112-100 victory at Moda Center.

Three weeks ago, the Wolves could clearly see the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot ahead of them fairly late in a season that still held hope.

Running on empty Saturday, they lost their sixth consecutive game, this time to a Blazers team that now has won 10 of its past 13 games and still can't catch streaking Denver for that final playoff spot.

"We got behind early, and it was a hard hole to dig out of,'' coach Tom Thibodeau said. "A team like this, you give them confidence early and they're hard to stop.''

The first time these teams met this season, Blazers guard CJ McCollum scored a career-high 43 points on New Year's Day night in Minneapolis and Portland won 95-89.

"I don't know how to describe it,''Thibodeau said of McCollum. ''It's just a knack for getting to spots and getting stuff done. Just creative, crafty. He has a knack for doing things, really stuff you can't teach. That's the best way to describe it: Just a good feel for the way to play the game."

The Wolves passed on the chance to take McCollum ninth overall in that 2013 draft, fearing he was too small (6-3) and slight to play shooting guard in the NBA. Instead, they opted to trade that ninth pick to Utah for the 14th and 21st picks. The Wolves chose guard Trey Burke for the Jazz, which in turn selected Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng for the Wolves.

The Blazers then took McCollum 10th overall out of Lehigh. Nearly four years later, McCollum and dazzling point guard Damian Lillard, who had 21 points Saturday, have become one of the NBA's most dynamic backcourts.

Andrew Wiggins led the Wolves with 20 points and Karl-Anthony Towns and Ricky Rubio each scored 16.

On Friday, the Wolves led 108-100 with fewer than 2 ½ minutes left and lost 130-119 to the sinking Lakers in Los Angeles after they allowed a 21-4 run that ended the fourth quarter and started overtime.

"We have to get back to playing defense," Thibodeau said. "If you want to win, that's what you have to do. There's no easy way out, no shortcuts. It's about disciplined. It's about doing your job so everyone count on you."

]The teams' March 6 game was delayed until April 3 — NCAA Final Four title night — when an unusually warm and humid March day in Minnesota mixed with a sheet ice laid under the Target Center court for an ice show and college hockey tournament.

Or rather, the two things didn't mix.

They met Saturday for a regularly scheduled game in Portland. The last time these teams played there, the Wolves ended an eight-game losing streak at the Moda Center by winning 106-105 in last season's final week.

They did so after Towns' 6-foot hook shot with 1.8 seconds left deafened a loud Saturday night and sent the Wolves home for the season's final two games after they had won at Golden State, Sacramento and Portland on the same trip.

A week after that, Wolves owner Glen Taylor agreed with Thibodeau on a five-year, $40 million deal to become coach and president of basketball operations.