Trail Blazers rally from 17 down in the first quarter to beat Timberwolves
Damian Lillard scored 34 points (15 in the third quarter), and the Portland Trail Blazers rallied from 17 points down in the first quarter to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-101 in the Timberwolves’ home opener at Target Center.
The Trail Blazers trailed 34-17 with 45 seconds left in the first quarter. They outscored the Timberwolves 89-67 the rest of the way.
The Timberwolves had the ball down 3 with 10 seconds left, but Allen Crabbe stole the ball from Kevin Martin. A 3-pointer would have tied the game.
During clutch time, the Trail Blazers outscored the Timberwolves 7-6.
For the Timberwolves, Martin scored 24 points off the bench. Ricky Rubio had 12 points (6 on mid-range shots), 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals.
The Trail Blazers shot 46.1% from the field and 30.0% from 3 to the Timberwolves’ 43.0% and 23.1%. The Timberwolves outscored the Trail Blazers 60-24 off the bench. The Trail Blazers were outscored 12-2 in 3 minutes with Davis, Lillard, Leonard, Harkless and Crabbe on the floor together.