Portland Trail Blazers guard Martell Webster watched teammate Juwan Howard’s jumper clang off the rim, ran from the right baseline, leaped, and flushed the follow with ferocity. The Rose Garden crowd erupted, cheering not only because Webster added to his impressive total, but because their Blazers reached the century-mark with the slam, extending the already dominating fourth quarter advantage over the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves and awarding them with a free chalupa from Taco Bell.

On the next possession, Webster ran off a screen, caught a pass in stride from Rudy Fernandez, and launched an off-balance jumper from the right wing. The catch-and-shoot 23-footer tallied his 20th and 21st points, and his rebound off Howard’s slam was his 13th and final rebound. He had put the finishing touches on a career game, a performance he, who had been missing in action in the previous fourteen games, and the Blazers desperately needed.

Portland trailed to Minnesota, a team they had blown out in their previous two meetings, early in the third quarter. Then, with just under eight minutes left, Webster woke up his previously boring team, gaining a 52-51 lead with his second three-pointer of the contest. He extended that advantage to four with another three-pointer two possessions later, and then a third-straight longball to hand the Timberwolves a five-point deficit.

Minnesota’s deficit would continue to increase as Portland, fueled by Webster’s three-point barrage, turned on the jets. The Blazers made their next four field goals, three by guard Brandon Roy, and, including Webster’s threes, connected on seven in a row over a four minute span. Despite their hot shooting, the lead was still only seven, but they stayed hot as the Timberwolves went cold, finishing the quarter strong to increase their lead to double-digits: Fernandez hit a three-pointer from point guard Steve Blake, then the Spaniard found Blake for a three-pointer, and then Roy dished off to backup center Joel Przybilla for a dunk. Portland was in cruise control, heading into the final period ahead by thirteen.

Taking out their anger on the Timberwolves in light of a poor performance against Golden State, the Blazers tacked on the points to begin the fourth easily putting away their opponent for the third time this season. LaMarcus Aldridge, who was limited to just two points on one field goal attempt in the first half because of three quick fouls, managed to get in on the fun, making a dazzling hook to begin the quarter, and then a overpowering dunk from point guard Andre Miller after another Webster three-pointer. This dunk gave Portland a eighteen-point advantage, and helped the team continue to turn a once close game into a laugher.

The dunk also gave the Blazers their 41st and 42nd points of the second half’s first fourteen minutes, outdoing their production in the entire first half. They didn’t let up, as Webster, Przybilla, and Aldridge combined to score 17 of their next 19 points, including Webster’s five-point, chalupa-clinching spurt.

Rookie Dante Cunningham, who saw some playing time in the third quarter for his earliest appearance of the season, put the exclamation points on a convincing bounce-back win by draining a 19-footer from guard Jerryd Bayless and firing with a quick trigger off a screen after receiving a bullet from Fernandez for the team’s 103rd, 104th, 105th, and 106th and final points.

Portland not only surpassed the 100-point mark with ease, but they held Minnesota to only 78 points. Granted, the Timberwolves are a struggling offensive team with limited options (they have point guard Jonny Flynn and forward Al Jefferson, and that’s about it), but the Blazers made a statement with defensive intensity that perfectly complimented their offensive show, allowing Minnesota to shoot 37 percent, make two three-pointers, and dish eleven assists.

The offensive show began with Webster and finished with Cunningham. Webster notched his first career double-double, sparking a 57-27 closing run. Cunningham continued to show head coach Nate McMillan that he can be a valuable asset with a silky smooth outside jump-shot. Both were valuable in this game, one very much so and the other minimally, and if both continue to prove their worth, the Blazers can continue to live luxuriously without the injured Travis Outlaw and Nicolas Batum, and dominate the teams they should.

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Notes:

The Blazers hit 10 three-pointers, had 28 assists, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, and though they missed ten free-throws, they committed only nine turnovers.

Andre Miller, hampered by two sprained ankles, came off the bench and played 20 minutes to extend his NBA-leading consecutive games-played streak to an extraordinary 545.

Przybilla scored 14 points while grabbing 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, and Greg Oden had another fine game, scoring 16 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, and blocking 3 shots while committing only 2 fouls in 24 minutes.

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