Trail Blazers vs. Timberwolves final score: Portland beats Minnesota, 102-97

Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and 15 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season but it wasn't enough to beat Portland, as the Timberwolves fell to the Trail Blazers, 102-97, on Saturday.

The Timberwolves trailed 79-61 heading into the fourth quarter but went on a 26-12 run to pull within four, 91-87, with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Portland answered with a 5-0 run to extend its lead to 96-87 with 1:57 remaining in the fourth quarter and were able to hang on for the rest of the game to secure the win.

Portland was led by Nicolas Batum who scored 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field including five three-pointers.

Kevin Love did not play against Portland, as it was announced before the game that he had re-fractured his third metacarpal on the same hand that he injured in the preseason that caused him to miss the first three weeks of the season. Ricky Rubio missed his fourth consecutive game due to back spasms.

The win improved Portland to 18-15 on the season while dropping Minnesota to 15-15.