The most recent NBA trade rumors have indicated that there's a deal forming between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers that would ship Luke Ridnour to the coast for Jamal Crawford. Though there doesn't seem to be anything more than rumblings as of now, the fans have obviously caught wind of the rumored transaction.
The Wolves were able to defeat the Blazers on Wednesday night at the Target Center and, complicating the fact that his team lost, Crawford was also being heckled. The fact that he was heckled on the road wasn't a big deal, of course, but the Oregonian's Joe Freeman notes the hecklers used some original material.
As Crawford headed to the bench late in the fourth quarter, with a Blazers loss in sight, a fan from the front row shouted, "It's OK, Jamal. You're going to be a Timberwolf soon."
The player Crawford was at the Target Center likely isn't what the Timberwolves have in mind when looking for a shooting guard, but it sounds as though he's been a bit distracted by the swirling rumors.
"I think at the end of the day, we're only human," said Crawford, who made 3 of 13 shots and scored six points. "So no matter what somebody says, I'm sure it's in the back of their heads. They hear about the rumors and stuff. But we have to be professional and go out and do the best job we can."
If Wes Johnson plays as well as he did Wednesday night, the rumors may be put on hold. The likeliness of that happening isn't very high, however.
For more on the Minnesota Timberwolves, check out Canis Hoopus. You can also check out professional basketball news from around the league over at SB Nation's NBA page.
The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Portland Trail Blazers for the first time at home since 2007 and also won their fifth straight in their own building for the first time since 2007. The 106-94 win was their third straight overall and improved them to 21-19 and into the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Kevin Love led the way for the Wolves with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Wes Johnson contributed 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting (3-for-4 from long distance). Luke Ridnour added 22 points and 5 assists. Rookie Derrick Williams had nine points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
Minnesota scored 61 first half points and took a seven-point lead into the break. In the second half, Minnesota locked down on defense to only allow 40 points. LaMarcus Aldridge had just five second half points after scoring 17 in the first half.
Minnesota hosts the Lakers -- who have lost two games in a row to two really bad teams -- on Friday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves haven't been able to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in Minnesota since 2007, but the 20-19 T-Wolves entered Wednesday night's game as favorites and are just a half of basketball away from ending that drought and winning their fifth straight home game.
Minnesota has a 61-54 halftime lead thanks in large part to the results from beyond the arc. Minnesota shot 8-for-13 shooting from three-point range in the first half and Portland -- despite shooting 56-percent overall -- was just 2-for-11.
Kevin Love, as usual, leads all scorers with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting and also has seven rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge has 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting for the Blazers.
Even though Portland is shooting the lights out, Minnesota is outrebounding the Blazers 24-17, thanks to nine offensive rebounds.
Darko Milicic returned to the starting lineup Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers and scored 13 points to go along with four rebounds and blocked a shot in 28 minutes. Pekovic replaced Milicic partway through the season due to ineffectiveness and injuries from Milicic and has thrived alongside Kevin Love.
"It's difficult. The other reason is they've got to guard Pek on the other end. He occupies whoever they have," Rick Adelman said about the injury, as relayed by Remme via Twitter.
