Shaedon Sharpe continued a hot run and helped lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a win on the road over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Sharpe produced a team-high 27 points, six rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes of work in the 107-105 victory, which snapped a five-game losing streak. He went 9-of-19 from the field, including 2-of-7 from 3-point range, in his 12th start of the season.
The seventh pick registered his third straight game with at least 25 points. He became the first Trail Blazers rookie to achieve that feat since Kelvin Ransey in 1981. He is the first since Damian Lillard with multiple games of at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists (2012-13).
Three straight 25+ point games for Shaedon Sharpe 🔥
Today: 27 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, W
First Blazers rookie to do it since Kelvin Ransey in 1981 pic.twitter.com/qOIY4vLUGo
— NBA (@NBA) April 2, 2023
The Trail Blazers played the spoiler role with the victory against a Timberwolves team fighting for playoff positioning. Minnesota, which was a 19.5-point favorite, dropped its third straight game to fall to ninth in the standings with just three games to play.
Portland was without seven players in the contest, including Lillard (calf), Jerami Grant (quad) and Jusuf Nurkic (knee). The team has opted to hold those players out for the rest of the season, creating more minutes for the Sharpe and others.
Sharpe has emerged as a key player throughout the season with the Trail Blazers and represents a large piece of the future. He looks to be closing his rookie campaign on a high note and will head into the offseason with some incredible momentum.
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