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The Portland Trail Blazers pulled off the largest NBA upset in 30 years on Sunday by knocking off the Minnesota Timberwolves as 19.5-point underdogs.
The Trail Blazers were missing four starters, including star guard Damian Lillard, and had lost 11 of 12 games heading into the game. But Portland still managed to rally back from a 12-point deficit in the second half to edge the playoff-minded Timberwolves 107-105 in Minneapolis.
“Every single person that got out on that floor tonight, they gave it all they had and that’s all I want from our guys,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. “To play as hard as you can, play unselfish and be a good teammate and see what happens.”
It’s the largest upset via point spread since the Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle SuperSonics as 19.5-point underdogs on April 6, 1993, and the second-largest upset in ESPN Stats & Information’s database, which goes back to the 1990-91 season. The Orlando Magic beat the Chicago Bulls as 21-point underdogs in 1992, the largest point-spread upset in that time span.
Shaedon Sharpe scored 27 points and Kevin Knox added 19 points to lead the Blazers. Sharpe put Portland up 106-103 with 24.1 seconds left, and the Blazers got a defensive stop on the Timberwolves’ final possession to end a five-game losing streak. It was only Portland’s second win since March 6.
It was the third straight loss for the Timberwolves, who are in a crowded battle for a spot in the Western Conference play-in games. The loss also drops the Timberwolves to 5-10 against the five teams with the worst records in the NBA.
“We always fall short, it seems,” Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said of struggling against the bottom teams. “It always haunts us. And tonight, once again, yep.”
The San Antonio Spurs also pulled a big upset Sunday, beating the Sacramento Kings in overtime as 16-point underdogs.
Sunday was the 91st time since 1990-91 that there had been multiple 15-point underdogs in a day. Sunday was the first time two of the underdogs won outright, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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