Wolves Edged by Blazers
Jonah BallowWolves Editor/Writer
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"The last five minutes of the second quarter, they just got on this little roll, we couldn't find a way to stop them, and they came out in the third quarter and just punched the game away for us," head coach Kurt Rambis said.
Minnesota could not establish offensive flow in the second period, only shooting 23.5 percent from the floor. The scoring drought was in large part due to the length on the wings for Portland. Starting small forward Nicolas Batum floated around the perimeter and damaged the Wolves by hitting 5-of-8 long bombs while recording a career-high 31 points.
"Their shooters have size and are able to see over things," Rambis said. "Remember, they have a lot of players that are hurt, too. There's a lot more to them; they understand who they are as a ballclub, where their strengths are and where their weaknesses are, and they play unselfishly and move the basketball. They do a great job playing defense, too."
During the first period, both teams mainly concentrated on producing inside the paint. Al Jefferson seemed determined to vault out of a mini-slump over the past five games. Throughout the early stages of the game, Jefferson tallied 13 first quarter points on a mixed-bag of tricks, attacking newly acquired Blazers big man Marcus Camby. Jefferson eclipsed his point total from his previous five outings in the first period and finished with a team-high 19 points.
"He was doing a much better job adhering to the concepts that we're trying to get across to him: punching in, sealing, being aggressive and assertive. He just got a lot of that early in the ballgame, more so than in the second half. He wants to go to a block, have the ball thrown to him, and then create something. We're trying to get him to understand that he can create his shot without the basketball. That's what we're looking for him to do," Rambis said.
LaMarcus Aldridge matched Jefferson early in the game, hitting face-up jumpers along with strong back-to-the-basket post moves. In 31 minutes of action, Aldridge was efficient, recording 21 points on 50 percent shooting.
Another disparity that directly hurt Minnesota's attempt to reverse an 11-game losing skid against Portland was seen at the charity stripe. For the second straight game, the Wolves amassed a total of 17 free throws. The Blazers spent considerable time at the line with 35 shots, hitting 80 percent and improving to 35-27 on the season following a painful overtime loss on Friday night.
"Good playoff teams understand that that's how you can get points on the board -- by just being aggressive. Sometimes we do too much settling in those situations," Rambis said.
The Wolves limited star shooting guard Brandon Roy to seven points and Andre Miller scored four points at the point guard spot. Off the bench, Ramon Sessions was aggressive in the second half, drilling 11 of his 13 points. Rookie Jonny Flynn dished out a team-high seven assists and Kevin Love added six boards but zero rebounds on the offensive glass.
On a side note, Darko Milicic continues to add a defensive dimension to Minnesota's frontline. The former No. 2 overall pick swatted three shots on Saturday night for the third time in five games in a Wolves uniform.
"I told our team after the ball game that 'use the rest of the season as a learning opportunity, because we're going to be playing a lot of teams that are in playoff position, so they're going to come out and play really hard and really well. So, we're going to have to step up and play better and learn from this experience," Rambis said.
The Wolves return to the practice floor on Monday afternoon with ample time to prepare for a Wednesday road challenge against Dallas.
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