Anthony Edwards scored 34 points to finish off a two-game scoring spree against Portland as the Minnesota Timberwolves notched a 128-91 victory over the host Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
Edwards scored 41 points on Tuesday in Portland as Minnesota won 121-109 in the opener of the two-game set. On Thursday, he made 12 of 21 shots and had seven assists and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who won the final four contests of a five-game road trip.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and eight rebounds for Minnesota (39-16), which has the best record in the Western Conference entering the All-Star break. Jaden McDaniels scored 17 points, Mike Conley and Monte Morris had 12 points apiece and Rudy Gobert added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who led by 30 points after the first quarter.
Jerami Grant scored 20 points and Scoot Henderson added 15 points for the Trail Blazers, who trailed by as many as 38 while losing their sixth consecutive game.
Toumani Camara had 13 points and Anfernee Simons scored 12 for the Trail Blazers, who made 37.3 percent of their shots and were 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) from behind the arc.
Minnesota shot 51.7 percent from the field, including 11 of 30 (36.7 percent) from 3-point range. Naz Reid added 10 points for the Timberwolves.
Minnesota started quickly and led 44-14 after the opening quarter. Edwards capped a 13-point period with a three-point play with 2.1 seconds remaining.
The Trail Blazers scored 26 of the first 39 points in the second quarter to move within 57-40 on Jabari Walker’s basket with 4:17 left.
Minnesota was up 66-51 at halftime with Edwards’ 16 points leading the way. Grant had 13 in the half for Portland.
In the third quarter, the Trail Blazers scored nine consecutive points to cut the Timberwolves’ lead to 73-65 with 6:43 left.
However, Minnesota answered the charge with nine straight points of its own and dominated the rest of the game.
Edwards drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 20 with 1:36 remaining in the third. Edwards followed with a dunk and Towns scored four straight to make it 99-73. Portland’s Duop Reath made a trey with 3.1 seconds left, and the Trail Blazers trailed by 23 entering the final stanza.
Edwards connected on a 3-pointer and Morris followed with a jumper to make it 112-81 with 6:34 to play before Edwards exited.
–Field Level Media
