For the first time in a week, the Minnesota Timberwolves will arrive at a game in a good mood.
Minnesota will go for back-to-back wins when it tips off against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. It is the last game for the Timberwolves before the NBA All-Star break and the second-to-last game for Portland before the long layoff.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch hopes to see his players continue to perform well after they sprinted to a 138-116 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. Minnesota scored 81 points in the first half, including 41 points in the first quarter.
The lopsided victory snapped a two-game skid for the Timberwolves after players such as Rudy Gobert questioned the team’s effort level and called on coaches to bench starters if necessary.
As far as Finch is concerned, the bad week is over and the team is moving forward.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re really far away from where you want to be, but you’re actually not,” Finch said. “You’ve just got to remind yourself.”
The arrival of Ayo Dosunmu has helped to shake the Timberwolves out of their recent funk. Dosunmu provided a jolt of energy off the bench on Monday, making 9 of 13 shots from the field, and he likely will figure prominently in the rotation going forward.
Minnesota acquired Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls before the trade deadline to add depth on the bench and help push the pace.
“That’s one of my strengths, and I think that’s something that can take this team to another level on both ends of the court …,” Dosunmu said. “We have so many great talents on offense that can score in so many different ways, so adding a different way to the offense is just going to make it harder to guard.”
Meanwhile, Portland enters the matchup on a three-game winning streak after knocking off the Memphis Grizzlies in back-to-back games and then cruising to a 135-118 win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
Toumani Camara will look to stay hot after erupting for career-high 30 points on 10-for-12 shooting in the win against Philadelphia. He made a career-best eight 3-pointer (on 10 attempts) and notched three steals.
Camara credited his teammates for playing a role in his sharpshooting from long distance.
“It felt great,” Camara said. “A lot of great looks, too. A lot of open shots. My teammates found good ways to find me. It felt pretty big (Monday), for sure.”
Deni Avdija in particular helps the rest of the Trail Blazers, Camara said of the player who leads the team in scoring (25.5 points per game) and assists (6.7 per game).
“He’s an All-Star for a reason,” Camara said. “He shrinks the floor a lot. A lot of people just worry about his drives and how aggressive he can be, so it opens up a lot of things for other players. And then he’s very unselfish, and he’s really looking to pass the ball a lot.”
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season. Minnesota won the season opener for both teams 118-114 on Oct. 22 in Portland thanks to a 41-point performance by Anthony Edwards.
