Scouting Report: Wolves vs. Trail Blazers

On Saturday, the Minnesota Timberwolves ended a road losing streak against the Portland Trail Blazers that dated back to the 2005 season. Tonight against the Blazers, the Wolves will look to beat Portland at home for the first time since 2007.
Minnesota and Portland will square off tonight at 7 p.m. tonight at Target Center for the second of their three meetings of the year. With a win the Wolves would secure the season series against their divisional rival, and at the same time they would win their fifth straight home game for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
But in order to get to that point, Minnesota will need to hold off a Trail Blazers team that is trying to leapfrog them in the Northwest Division standings. Portland is 19-19 on the year but has struggled on the road, posting a 5-12 mark away from the Rose Garden. They’ve lost three of their last four road games and three of four overall, while Minnesota has won seven of their past 10 games since losing four straight from Feb. 8-13. Last time out
The Wolves stole a 122-110 win from Portland on Saturday thanks to one of their most complete games of the season. Minnesota scored 40 points during the first quarter, ended with 38 in the fourth and in between withstood the Blazers’ runs that threatened to chip away at their lead. Forward Kevin Love led the way with 42 points and 10 rebounds, while Ricky Rubio had 10 of his 12 assists in the first quarter and Martell Webster finished with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Derrick Williams also had 5-for-8 day from the floor and finished with 15 points. Meanwhile, Minnesota held Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge to 14 points and 7 rebounds—he’s averaging 21.6 points and 8.3 boards a night this season. Key matchup: Guard play