TUALATIN, Ore. — With a night to process the loss and a film session, the Portland Trail Blazers still came to many of the same conclusions about Friday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
And Nicolas Batum clarified that he doesn’t want to use his recovery from a right knee contusion as an excuse for his poor outside shooting. Over the past three games, Batum is 10-for-30 from the field, including 0-for-13 from 3-point range.
“It bothered me for a while now, but if I’m going to play I got to play 100 percent,” Batum said. “Everybody gets hurt somewhere, some pain. (I) just have to go through it.”
His coach isn’t worried about the shots that aren’t falling.
“He’s not shooting the ball well,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “Everybody goes through a little slump. Damian had one, Wes had one. Nic is too good a shooter, he’s done if for too long a time not to break out.”
Their film review confirmed that their defense wasn’t where it needed to be in two key facets.
“The transition defense could have been better against a team that doesn’t get out that much,” Stotts said. “I think we could had been better with our weak side help.”
The Blazers now look forward to a young, new-look Minnesota Timberwolves (4-10) team following their trade of All-Star big man Kevin Love.
“They’re going to play hard, they’re athletic,” Wesley Matthews said. “They do a lot of isolations. It’s going to come down to us imposing our will and our style, our way this season.”
The Blazers’ transition defense will be tested against a Minnesota team that loves to run, ranking in the sixth in possessions per game according to Basketball-Reference.
“We have to be careful because they love to run and we have to get back on defense,” Batum said. “We have to do our job and win the game.”
The Timberwolves are coming off a win against the Lakers on Friday. They’ve also gotten breakout performances over the past week from rookies Andrew Wiggins and Zach Lavine.
Former Blazer Mo Williams will make his return to the Moda Center for the first time in a Minneosta uniform. Williams led Portland’s reserves in minutes last season.
“He played well last night,” Stotts said about Williams. “You always want to play well against your former team.”
