With Andrew Wiggins battling an illness, second-year player Shabazz Muhammad played 30 minutes in Portland Sunday night, scoring a career high 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting.
The rest of the team mustered just 65 points however, and the Trailblazers toppled the Timberwolves 107-93, dropping Minnesota to 4-11 overall while improving to 13-4 themselves.
“I thought we played really hard. We didn’t always play smart,” head coach Flip Saunders said after the game.
His Wolves got off to a good start, leading 26-22 after the first quarter thanks to 11 points from point guard Mo Williams (playing against his former squad).
Minnesota then built its lead to 8 early in the quarter before Portland took over for good, outscoring the Timberwolves by 18 points over the next two quarters and never looking back.
LaMarcuis ALdirge led the way for the Blazers, putting in 26 points while pulling down 15 rebounds. Wesley Matthews scored 23, and Damiam Lillard added 17 of his own.
Williams finished with 21 points for the Wolves, while dishing out 11 assists. He was the team’s second-highest scorer behind Muhammad, who found what worked and went to it.
Of his 17 shots, all but two came within the paint, from around the basket. His other two shots were just a few feet farther out, one on each side of the block.
Wiggins, who the Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda says played through suspected food poisoning, played 18 minutes and scored 7 points.
The Wolves are back in action tonight, traveling south to play the Los ANgeles Clippers (11-5) at 9:30 p.m. CST.
