Usually, NBA games aren't played on the same night of the NCAA men's basketball championship, but this is a rare makeup game between Portland and Minnesota. Due to condensation on the court, it was impossible for players to keep their footing on the hardwood. That meant this matchup was postponed from its original March 6th date until now. It's important for the Trail Blazers as they need to win as many games as possible to stay as an eighth seed. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM Eastern time and it can be seen on NBATV, CSN Northwest, and FSN North.
Trail Blazers (38-38, 3rd Northwest)
Portland comes in with a six-game winning streak, winning three consecutive games at home. The biggest was a surprising 117-107 win over Houston last Thursday. The Trail Blazers capitalized on hitting five more 3-pointers. Damian Lillard (26.8 ppg, 5.9 apg) led the team with 31 points and 11 assists -- he also hit all seven free throws.
Center Jusuf Nurkic (10.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg) will be out until mid-April. He suffered a fibular fracture in his right leg at the end of March. He was held out of the contest against Phoenix back on Saturday. C.J. McCollum (23.3 ppg, 3.6 apg) recorded 32 points in Portland's last meeting with the Timberwolves -- they won that contest 112-100.
Timberwolves (30-45, 5th Northwest)
Minnesota has finally found some winning ways against the Pacers and Lakers, but they fell in their previous game to Sacramento 123-117. They allowed the Kings to hit 56.4 percent of their shots. Buddy Hield held up to the opponent's lofty expectations by leading the team with 22 points.
Center Karl-Anthony Towns (24.7 ppg, 12.1 rpg) has put up an average of 31.7 points in his last three games, along with grabbing 11 or more rebounds in two of his last three games.
Small forward Andrew Wiggins (23.2 ppg, 4 rpg) has put up 27 or more points in his last two games.
The Timberwolves are favored by 2 points at home and the total O/U is set at 215.5 points. Portland is 19-7 against the spread in their last 26 meetings in Minnesota.
