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Jan 11, 2016 - 9:11 PM The 3-point line was the Oklahoma City Thunder's downfall in the second stop on a three-game trip, but there's virtually no chance of a long-range rampage hurting them in the finale.

The Thunder will try to avoid back-to-back losses to close what looked like a harmless trip Tuesday night in Minnesota, where the Timberwolves have continued to ignore the 3-point line during a stretch of 10 losses in 11 games.

Oklahoma City (26-12) has established itself as the Western Conference's third-best team behind Golden State and San Antonio, and it's often looked on par with those two while going 15-3 in its last 18 with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook healthy.

But the Thunder had to fight to hold off the West-worst Los Angeles Lakers 117-113 on Friday and couldn't hang on Sunday in Portland. They led by eight after Andre Roberson's 3-pointer with 3:19 left, but the Blazers hit six of their 19 3-pointers in the next two minutes to rally for a 115-110 win.

Considering how contested at least five of them were, Durant didn't seem concerned with the Thunder, who have given up 108.6 points per game over their last eight.

"They were coming off pick-and-rolls, shooting fall-away 3s, step-back 3s," he said. "You've got to give them credit. That's what they do."

That's not at all what the Timberwolves (12-26) do. The Thunder have to forget about the Blazers, who take the fifth-most 3s in the league (28.2 per game), and focus on Minnesota, which averages a league-low 15.2 attempts.

That number's dipped to 12 per contest - with 3.7 makes, for 31.1 percent - over an 11-game dry spell in which the Timberwolves have averaged just 90.3 points.

"Part of it is we're not making shots, part of it is we're not moving the ball enough and part of it is we're too selfish. If you put (all of that) together, it impedes you from the 3-point line," Ricky Rubio said after Minnesota went 4 for 16 in Sunday's 93-87 loss to Dallas - the Wolves' sixth straight defeat.

"Either we learn it, or every game we're going to lose that battle. The NBA right now, it's all about 3s."

Minnesota has been outscored 297-123 from the 3-point arc in this 11-game stretch and been outrebounded by an average of seven per game.

"We're trying not to let a losing mentality set in," Andre Miller said. "It's tough. We have a lot of young guys, a lot of inexperienced guys, and we're just trying to go out there and put a good 48 minutes together on both ends of the court. ... We've gotta figure out how we're gonna get the monkey off our back."

That will be tough to do against a Thunder team they've yet to face but will be quite familiar with by the end of the month. These teams meet again Friday in Oklahoma City and back at the Target Center on Jan. 27.

The Thunder have won seven straight in the series overall and 16 of 18 when both Durant and Westbrook have been on the floor. Oklahoma City won last season's four meetings by an average of 16.5 points despite not having Durant for three of them, with Westbrook totaling 71 points in the two in Minneapolis.

Karl-Anthony Towns continues to impress and Andrew Wiggins has totaled 66 points in his last two games, but one of Minnesota's other building blocks is struggling. The Wolves have been outscored by 147 points in the past 11 when Zach LaVine has been on the floor, and he's totaled just 21 points while shooting 20.5 percent in his last seven.