National Basketball Association
Minnesota 114, Portland 112
When: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 14, 2021
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials: #70 Phenizee Ransom, #23 Tre Maddox, #3 Nick Buchert
Attendance: N/A

Rookie Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 34 points to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 114-112 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in Minneapolis.

Edwards made six 3-pointers en route to eclipsing his previous season high of 28 points, set in Minnesota's 112-104 setback to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 16.

Ricky Rubio celebrated his 600th career game by recording 15 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who snapped a seven-game home losing skid.

Jaylen Nowell scored 14 points off the bench and Karl-Anthony Towns collected 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in the win.

Damian Lillard finished with 38 points for the Trail Blazers, who fell for the second time in six games and were thwarted in their bid for their first season sweep of the Timberwolves since the 2012-13 campaign.

Gary Trent Jr. scored 21 points and Carmelo Anthony added 16 in the loss.

Portland trimmed a once-14-point deficit to two and appeared to regain possession after Rubio was called for a charge with 29.7 seconds to play. The call was overturned to a blocking foul, however, and Rubio made both free throws to give Minnesota a 108-104 lead.

Trent misfired on a 3-point attempt and Rubio sank a pair of free throws to extend the advantage. Lillard halved the deficit by making three from the charity stripe, but Rubio made two more free throws to essentially seal the win.

Minnesota bolted out of the blocks to begin the third quarter, scoring 14 of the first 20 points to take a 61-55 lead. Edwards sank a pair of 3-pointers to highlight that surge, however he was slow to get up after colliding with Enes Kanter on a driving layup with 2:46 left in the third quarter.

The Timberwolves picked up the slack as Nowell scored the first five points of the fourth quarter before Naz Reid's tip-in extended the team's lead to 83-72. Anthony and Lillard converted from long range to keep Portland within earshot, but Edwards re-entered the game and promptly drained a pair of 3-pointers to push Minnesota's advantage to 97-84 with 6:32 to play.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Portland   Minnesota
Damian Lillard 38 Scoring Anthony Edwards 34
Carmelo Anthony 5 Assists Karl-Anthony Towns 8
Enes Kanter 11 Rebounds Jarred Vanderbilt 9
Damian Lillard 8 Free Throws Made Josh Okogie 10
Gary Trent Jr. 2 Steals Jarred Vanderbilt 2
Carmelo Anthony 1 Blocks Jarred Vanderbilt 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Portland 112 43.8 17-45 17-21 22 42 3 6 12
Minnesota 114 49.3 13-38 29-39 24 45 4 6 12
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against L.A. Lakers. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .222 after a win and .233 after a loss.
  • Portland will play their next game at home against New Orleans. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .545 after a win and .625 after a loss.