Damian Lillard had 34 points and seven assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat Minnesota 106-101 after the Timberwolves honored fallen coach Flip Saunders with an emotional pregame tribute.
Lillard made 14 of 25 shots, C.J. McCollum scored 18 points and Al-Farouq Aminu had 17 points and nine rebounds for Portland, which trailed by 17 points in the first quarter after an inspired start by Minnesota.
Kevin Martin scored 24 points and Ricky Rubio had 12 points, nine assists and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves two days after they attended Saunders’ funeral. They whittled a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to three with 10 seconds to play. But Martin was stripped while trying to shoot a 3 and the Blazers hung on.
