It wasn’t the sexiest game of the night, but the game between Wolves and Blazers turned out to be a fun game of basketball. Damian Lillard was very good, but it was Wolves who took a major hit at home. Anthony Edwards guided the pack by being ultra decisive, well helped by Rudy Gobert and Taurean Prince.
All the stats of the match can be found here!
Minnesota was desperate for another win after a solid home triumph over the Nuggets on Monday. Facing the Blazers, the opportunity was indeed tempting: a team fighting for the Playoffs, at home. We’re not going to lie to each other – at home, moreover – success is a must. Especially when you know that the Wolves have just come out of a very dirty series of six defeats in a row. Without Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards is responsible for leading the troops. Spoiler: he did it brilliantly.
His line of stats tonight? 32 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, 11/26 shooting. Ant’ goes on for a seventh meeting in a row with more than 25 points, further proof – if one was needed – that the boy takes on the role of boss of his company rather well. squad. The game itself? An almost continuous exchange of baskets between the two teams. The Wolves did count nearly ten points ahead several times in the game, but never took the opportunity to send Portland into the ropes. If Luke Garza initially took over the scoring, it was very quickly Toto Édouard who took over. Ultra clutch at the end of the match, he scored 13 of Wolves’ last 17 points, Mr. Clean the type. And go ahead he sends a huge arrow from the three-point to bend the case, solid from solid.
Nice win for Wolves, happy for them.
Taurean Prince was perfect, Anthony Edwards clutch like never before, Rudy very solid on both sides when it counted.
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) January 5, 2023
Rudy Gobert? Hefty on both sides of the field, quite clean at shooting but also at the time of swallowing (lol) rebounds and sending opponents back where they came from. Statistically speaking? Small double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, to which you can also add 3 blocks and 2 interceptions. The recent rumors around his integration into Wolves may have worshiped him, who knows… Also note the good performance of Taurean Prince, who notably caused a significant force pass on Shadeon Sharpe in the last two minutes to recover possession.
On the Blazers side, he will probably have lacked a bit of aggressiveness, even if Damian Lillard completed the match with 27 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and a huge shot from the parking lot to allow his people to continue to believe in it in the last minutes, in ultimately unsuccessful. Portland collapsed in the money time, the fault of too hesitant actions and too poorly managed defensive sequences to hold the acceleration of the Wolves. Final score 113-106, and hope for a better future for Minnesota.
Source : ESPN