The Minnesota Timberwolves posted their lowest shooting percentage in the Tom Thibodeau era in Sunday's 111-81 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers held the Timberwolves to 31.2 percent shooting on Sunday night, which was their lowest mark from the field in the Tom Thibodeau era, according to Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. However, it must be noted that the Wolves were without the services of Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose.
Doing some sorting through Basketball Reference and it appears as if the 31.2 percent the Wolves shot tonight represents a new low for the Thibodeau era.
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) November 5, 2018
The last time the Wolves shot worse in a game appears to be 29 percent in a loss to Miami on Dec. 7, 2013, a date which lives in infamy.
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) November 5, 2018
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 23 points, marking his fourth straight game with 20 or more. In the end, though, it simply wasn't enough.
The Blazers are currently the best free-throw shooting team in the NBA — a strength they took advantage of against the Timberwolves on Sunday night. In the end, Portland went 28-of-32 from the charity stripe.
“Defensively, the penetration really hurt us,” Thibodeau told ESPN after Sunday's game.
The Blazers are off to a solid start this season. In fact, with Sunday's win, Portland is now carrying a 7-3 record.
“To be sitting where we are now, I'm sure people didn't expect it,” Damian Lillard told ESPN. “I think we're playing good basketball. We've been pretty consistent with the things that we need to do to win games and it's showing.”
Jusuf Nurkic led the Blazers in scoring on Sunday night. In his 23 minutes of playing time, the 7-foot Bosnian racked up 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 12 rebounds, two assists, and one block.
“When everything go well, it go well,” Nurkic told ESPN after Sunday's game. “We came ready after back-to-back and a bad loss.”
The Blazers will be back in action on Tuesday, when they'll welcome the Milwaukee Bucks to the Moda Center. Tip-off is set for 10:00 p.m. ET.
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