Trail Blazers Rookie Dominates in Win Over Timberwolves

Portland rookie Donovan Clingan saw his best professional game on Wednesday night.

Nov 13, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) warms up before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images / Soobum Im-Imagn Images

In just his second career start, Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan saw the best performance of his young career on Wednesday.

In over 30 minutes, Clingan scored 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting, adding an elite 12 rebounds with one assist and a ferocious eight blocks. He finished as a +13 in the much narrower contest.

The performance was obviously pivotal to the Trail Blazers win in taking down a better opponent in Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Drafted at No. 7 overall, Clingan has been long thought of as a day-one NBA contributor, helping the UConn Huskies to back-to-back national titles with stingy rim protection, dominant interior scoring and a dash of big man play-making.

But it’s been no secret he hasn’t gotten off to the start many had hoped for in red and black.

Through 12 games, Clingan has averaged just 4.8 points per game in 14.5 minutes per game. He’s grabbed 4.9 rebounds and shot just 20% from beyond the arc on extremely limited volume.

He’s been able to keep up his shot-blocking production, nabbing 1.6 per game, rounding out to nearly four per game per 36.

But things seem to be trending his way.

Wednesday night wasn’t his only solid game of the week. Against the Grizzlies just days ago, Clingan added a then-career-high of 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, with one steal and block apiece. The performance jump-started his move to the starting lineup, where he was able to shine versus Minnesota.

The 7-foot-3 behemoth will look to continue his hot stretch of production against No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher and the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, Nov. 17.

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