Portland is a cellar dweller in the Western Conference on any night of the season. But on Monday in Minneapolis, the Blazers were down eight of their top 10 players on their roster.

Which left the Blazers’ roster somewhere in between the levels of an NBA team and a G-League squad.

So, even on the second night of a back to back, Minnesota was a heavy, heavy favorite. It’s one of those games where you wonder if there’s a way for the Wolves to possibly lose.

And then you see Karl-Anthony Towns simply live in foul trouble for much of the night and Anthony Edwards deliver maybe his most lifeless performance since his rookie season. If those two were representative of the entire team’s performance, Minnesota indeed would have lost.

But, fortunately for Minnesota, it has Rudy Gobert.

The big man does what he always does, controlling the paint on both ends and dominating the glass. His contributions are not dependent on getting the ball or knocking down shots.

His size and physicality all-but guarantees production. Gobert produced in a big way Monday. The center tallied 25 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots to carry Minnesota to a 119-114 victory over the Blazers.

It was all needed on a night where Towns played just six first-half minutes while picking up three fouls, and Edwards didn’t start because he wasn’t on the court in time for tip-off. Frankly, he essentially took the first three quarters off before showing slight proof of life in the fourth.

Without anything from its two stars, Minnesota flexed its depth. Mike Conley finished with 19 points and seven dimes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 13 points and Naz Reid went 4 for 4 from deep.

Anfernee Simons — the one relatively high-end player for Portland who was active — finished with 34 points and 14 assists to guide Portland’s offense, which was hyper-effective against Minnesota’s generally suffocating defense.

Portland (17-43) hung around for much of the night before Minnesota (43-19) finally hit a couple shots late to create enough separation to feel comfortable in the closing minutes.

The contest was the final game of Minnesota’s seven-game homestand, in which the Wolves went 4-3. They now embark on a six-game road trip, which opens Thursday in Indiana.