But on the floor -- where games are won and lost -- the guys with flecks of gray in their hair, always seemed to make the plays when it mattered most. It's why the Portland Trail Blazers are a special team.

Watch Steve Smith find a soft spot in the defense for a 3-point jumper here.

Then Scottie Pippen slips through a crack to reach the glass, score and draw a foul there.

Ultimately, there is Arvydas Sabonis, the 7-3, 310-pound center, taking up enormous chunks of space, hitting from the perimeter, blocking shots and passing to the open man.

Experience, more than anything else, explains why the Blazers were able to pull out an 86-82 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night in the Rose Garden. The victory gives the Blazers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 NBA playoff series, with Game 3 Sunday in the Minneapolis Target Center.

"There's no question they're a team with a lot of experience," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "When we'd have lapses, they'd take advantage of it."

How close was this game statistically?

• The Blazers made 31-of-70 shots compared to 31-of-71 for the Wolves.
• Portland had 36 rebounds ... Minnesota, 34.
• The Blazers sank 18-of-23 free throws ... the Timberwolves 18-of-22.
• Portland scored 21 points off 16 turnovers ... Minnesota garnered 15 turnovers and turned them into 20 points.

Still, the Blazers gained control of the game late in the third quarter and never gave it up. There was a 12-minute span in which the Timberwolves had seven turnovers and just five field goals.

Pippen, who led the Blazers with 21 points, hit a 3-pointer, then took a charge and set up Damon Stoudamire for a 3-pointer in the final minute, raising the lead to 67-58 while Saunders rested stars Kevin Garnett and Terrell Brandon.

Garnett, with 23 points, and Brandon, adding 20, returned to pull the Wolves within two late in the fourth period. Neither shot a free throw in Game 1, when the Blazers hung on for an 88-85 win. This time around, Garnett was more aggressive going to the basket and getting them back in the game, making 7-of-10 free throws while Brandon was 3-for-4.

Damon Stoudamire drives past Terrell Brandon on his way to the hoop.(AP)

It still wasn't enough. Not with Sabonis scoring 19 points and posing his huge shadow in the way of everything the Timberwolves attempted.

"He's so big and can score from the outside or inside, so they have to double-team him," said Smith who had 12 points and three assists. "And he passes so well, it opens things up for the rest of us."

And yet, they still couldn't put Minnesota away. Despite the horrible third quarter, and the clutch plays by the veterans, the Wolves were within two following a pair of Brandon free throws with 1:59 left.

But Sabonis answered with a 20-footer, and Pippen and Stoudamire proceeded to make 5-of-6 free throws in the final 72 seconds that amplified how for the second consecutive game, they executed down the stretch when Minnesota could not.

"Our whole team is disappointed," Garnett said. "Every time we battled back, something would happen."

It's called experience ... and the ability to know when and how to do the right thing. It will come in time for the Timberwolves; but will it come in time to change the flow of this series?

"We are going to play hard every night," Brandon said. "I really feel we have respect from the Blazers. If we were soft, then they would have just run us off the court. But they haven't done that. It takes a lot to rile this club. We'll come out and go after them."

Come Sunday, we'll find out if that is enough.