The set-up: The 38-26 Minnesota Timberwolves are sitting in the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference but are only four games clear of the ninth-place LA Clippers. That tightly-bunched field is even more of a concern to Minnesota since it lost All-Star Jimmy Butler to a knee injury over the weekend. He is expected to be out for at least the rest of the regular season following surgery on his right knee. The T-wolves will visit Moda Center tonight to take on the 35-26 Portland Trail Blazers, who are in that pack of teams stuck between three and nine. The Blazers come in having won four in a row and currently sit tied for the No. 5 seed with the Pelicans, 1 1/2 games behind the T-wolves and 2 1/2 games clear of the No. 9 Clippers.

Minnesota: The T-wolves are winning the games they are supposed to win and breezed past the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings in the last two games to move ahead of the San Antonio Spurs, despite the loss of Butler. Minnesota replaced Butler (22.2-5.4-5.0) in the starting lineup with power forward Nemanja Bjelica, who contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals to Monday's win at Sacramento. Wiggins is now playing "the 2" and is picking things back up after a brief slump. He has scored over 20 points in each of the last three games and checks in at 17.7 & 4.1 on the season. Let's not forget center Karl-Anthony Towns (20.3 & 12.3), who leads the NBA with 54 double-doubles.

Portland: The Blazers welcome Minnesota to town playing well and have a top-four spot in the West in their sights. Lillard scored 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting and added 12 assists in Tuesday's win over the Kings to cap a strong February. He averaged 31.4 points in 10 games during the month, including a 50-point outburst and two other games in which he scored at least 40. Lillard (26.3-4.5-6.6) and McCollum (21.6) comprise one of the NBA's best backcourts, although the only other Blazer scoring in double digits is center Nurkic (14.1 & 8.3).

The pick: Minnesota head coach Tom Thibodeau has gone big (the 6-10 Bjelica) as he tries to make up for the loss of Butler. The problem won't be at the offensive end, as Minnesota scores 111.4 points per 100 possessions, third-best in the NBA behind Houston and Golden State. However, the Timberwolves are 24th in defensive rating and Butler was their best defender. Also of note is that Minnesota features four of the league's top-10 players in minutes played, with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in the first and second slots. It should then come as no surprise that Minnesota also ranks as the NBA's worst fourth-quarter defense by a full three points per 100 possessions. Portland comes in having won 11 of its last 12 home games and the home team has won all three previous matchups this year between these two teams, including the most recent contest, a 123-114 Portland home win on Jan. 24. Should be another high scoring game tonight. Make the Over a 10* play.