There aren’t a ton of certainties in the NBA, but there’s one that’s tried and true: Winning ugly is always better than losing pretty. Just ask the Minnesota Timberwolves which side of their 124-118 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers they’d prefer to be on.
It wasn’t always aesthetically pleasing basketball for the Blazers Saturday, but they did the gritty things necessary to take the upper hand in this one, and the Wolves didn’t. Portland imposed its will on offense, forcing enough contact to go 25-for-28 from the free throw line and turning 11 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.