Julius Randle erupted for 41 points and added seven rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 133-109 on Wednesday night, snapping Portland’s three-game winning streak.
Randle punctuated his dominant performance with a windmill dunk late in the game that brought the Target Center crowd to its feet. Jaden McDaniels chipped in 21 points for Minnesota, which closed out its pre–All-Star break schedule with back-to-back home wins.
Anthony Edwards, listed as questionable due to illness, started and finished with 14 points. The Timberwolves were coming off a 138-116 victory over Atlanta that halted a brief two-game skid.
Minnesota built control in the second quarter when McDaniels’ floating jumper stretched the lead to 50-38. He scored 15 first-half points as the Timberwolves carried a 61-51 advantage into halftime. In the third, Edwards and Randle hit consecutive 3-pointers to extend the margin to 73-59, and Rudy Gobert’s dunk capped a 16-2 run that made it 79-59.
Portland trimmed the deficit to 96-82 with a 10-3 burst late in the third quarter but never seriously threatened in the fourth.
Jrue Holiday led the Trail Blazers with 23 points, while Scoot Henderson added 18 in just his third game back after missing the first half of the season with a hamstring injury. Portland committed 25 turnovers and trailed by as many as 28 points. All-Star Deni Avdija finished with 11 points, and Shaedon Sharpe missed his third straight game with a left calf strain.
Up next:
The Trail Blazers visit Utah on Thursday night. The Timberwolves host Dallas on Friday, Feb. 20.
