 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (38-26)
 at PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (34-26)
Tip-off: Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: NA, Total: NA Can Minnesota hold on in the standings without Jimmy Butler? Some unfortunate injuries of varying severity have shaped this season's Western Conference. Kawhi Leonard, Mike Conley, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul Millsap—the list goes on. A particularly devastating addition came about next week, when Minnesota SG Jimmy Butler went down with an injured meniscus that will keep him out indefinitely. When he comes back is anyone's guess. It could be before the playoffs, or it could be next season. It's a tough break for Minnesota, which traded for Butler in the offseason in hopes of making its first playoff appearance since 2004. He was brought in both for his talent and his veteran leadership, with the latter being especially valuable on a young Wolves team. Minnesota could finish as high as third in the West, but it's conceivable that they could drop significantly in the playoff picture—or even drop out entirely—if they fail to find a rhythm with Butler sidelined. And if he's out for the rest of the season, they'd seem like a long shot to win a playoff series. On Thursday night they'll head to Portland to play the Trail Blazers, a team similarly positioned in the middle of the scrum for postseason seeding. It's also a possible playoff preview, as both teams could feasibly finish in the three-to-six range. The two teams have played thrice thus far this year, with the Wolves taking the first two wins and Portland grabbing a 123-114 W on January 24th.Butler brings both elite scoring and perimeter defense every time he steps onto the court, and the Wolves will struggle to replace both. But in their two full games without Butler to this point, they've gone 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 13 points. Naturally, they've turned to their other All-Star, C Karl-Anthony Towns, to carry the load on offense, and he has delivered. Towns posted 22 points and 13 rebounds in a win over the Bulls on Saturday, and he had a game-best plus-minus of +23. 48 hours later he was back at it in a win over the Kings, dominating on the inside with 26 points and 17 rebounds. But Towns was putting up these types of performances before Butler went out, so some other guys are going to need to step up. Fortunately, this team has plenty of talent—the issue is whether they can convert it to productivity. SF Andrew Wiggins, now on a max contract, seemed well-suited to his role as the third option on offense. Is he ready to step back into the No. 2 spot? With 45 combined points on 18-of-33 shooting against Chicago and Sacramento, the early signs are promising for him. PG Jeff Teague and PF Taj Gibson are the remaining veteran leaders in the starting five, and they've played well too. They've each had at least 19 points in each of those two games. PG Damian Lillard finally worked his way back to the All-Star Game this year, and he's proven time and time again that he's more than deserving. In the last game before the break he torched Golden State for 44 points in a Blazers win, and this past Saturday he dropped 40 points—and added a surprising 10 rebounds—in a tight win over the Suns. It was a close call against Phoenix, and playoff-contending teams can't afford to lose to teams that are tanking. Having an always-engaged superstar like Dame on board means that Portland shouldn't lose too many like that. SG C.J. McCollum struggled in that game with his shot, making only eight of 24 en route to 21 points. It was his fourth straight game attempting at least 21 shots, showing just how wholly this offense relies upon the duo of him and Lillard. In the Blazers' defense, the Phoenix game was the second leg of a back-to-back, and they had beaten the Jazz by 19 on the road a day earlier. Dame and C.J. combined for 50, and the rest of the team combined matched them with 50 exactly. C Jusuf Nurkic had 15 points and a game-best plus-minus of +28, and starting PF Al-Farouq Aminu was efficient with 12 points on six shorts and eight rebounds. Aminu is both attempting a career-high number of threes (4.7 per game) and shooting a career-best percentage from deep (39.5%). PG Shabazz Napier is having something of a breakout season as a role player, but his zero points on 0-for-10 shooting against the Suns was pretty ugly.
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