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Bradley Beal

Portland Trail Blazers

Beal & Westbrook snap Portland’s hot streak, 118-111

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Portland Trail Blazers entered their Saturday night showdown with the Washington Wizards on a six-game win streak after wins over the Magic, 76ers, Cavs, Mavs, Thunder, and Pelicans.

Bradley Beal (37 points on 16/27 FG) and Russell Westbrook (27 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds) made sure that streak ended.

Game Recap

Washington’s talented backcourt duo of Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook were cutting through Portland’s defense early. The two combined for 38 points on 24 shots in the first half.

Beal kept up his scoring in the third quarter as he took advantage of some lazy transition defense from Portland.

Carmelo Anthony’s first shot of the night was a four-point play off a catch-and-shoot on the wing. He helped the Blazers to a huge 43-point first quarter, led by Enes Kanter’s 10.

Portland’s 12-point lead from the end of the first quarter was short-lived, as Washington blazed a 12-0 run early in the second and cut the lead to two. Anfernee Simons busted the run with a beautiful fading three, but the Wizards would take a 61-55 advantage into halftime.

Down five with five minutes to go, the struggling Blazers found some big plays from the Juniors: Gary Trent and Derrick Jones. The former hit a huge three and forced a turnover off of Westbrook’s foot, while the latter leapt for a monster block on Beal in the lane.

Unfortunately, Beal & Co. sparked a quick 7-0 run to take a nine-point lead with two minutes left.

A chaotic sequence ensued with under a minute remaining, including Dame getting a steal and running into Beal for a bizarre no-call.

MVP Watch

Lillard had an up-and-down night, emphasized by his tough offensive matchup against the 6’8” Rui Hachimura (when he wasn’t getting double-teamed).

After struggling to a 2/13 first-half start from the field, Damian Lillard made four of his first five shots to open up the second half.

La Heem went on to score 23 in the third quarter alone, capped off by a literal logo buzzer beater to end the period.

Dame Time may have come too early, though. His mere six points in the fourth came inside the last two minutes. He finished with 35 and 12 assists, but his performance was somewhat overshadowed by the frustrating physicality used against him and 20 missed shots.

Stats & Notes

Gary Trent Jr.’s third three of the night marked a milestone for the young guard. His 10 consecutive games with at least three made threes ties the Blazers’ franchise record.

With Jusuf Nurkic and Harry Giles inactive, Robert Covington and Melo were forced into minutes at center behind Kanter. RoCo made his presence felt on the defensive end with four blocks.

Davis Bertans entered Saturday’s game making 14 of his last 17 threes, but only managed 2/8 against the Blazers. Unfortunately, those two both came in crucial moments for the Wizards.

Next Up

The Blazers are back on the road for a big battle against the West’s fourth-place Phoenix Suns on Monday at 6pm.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Depleted Blazers outlast Wizards, 132-121

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

On the back-end of consecutive road games, the Blazers and Damian Lillard faced a familiar foe: Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards. Down five guys, the laborious Blazers fended off endless Wizards comebacks to claim a much-needed 132-121 win.

Lineups

Portland: Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., Rodney Hood, Robert Covington, Enes Kanter

Washington: Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal, Deni Avdija, Rui Hachimura, Robin Lopez


dameisyourfather.jpeg

Game Recap

First Quarter

The Blazers came out absolutely on fire from three, jumping out to a 26-7 lead in the first six minutes. Robert Covington hit his first three shots (all threes) from each wing and the right corner, while Gary had two triples of his own.

Rodney Hood also had seven points. The most surprising part? Damian Lillard had zero.

A 40-point quarter (and, more importantly, 17-point lead) was exactly what Portland needed to get out a slump after being demolished by the Bucks the night before.

Second Quarter

Westbrook took advantage of CJ Elleby the second he stepped in the game, scoring on two consecutive possessions before Stotts took CJ out. Gary Trent ended the 9-0 Wizards run with back-to-back triples, and the Blazers passed the 50-point mark with over nine minutes left in the quarter.

Beal checked back in and helped cut the lead as low as seven. Kanter continued his regular routine on the offensive end, though, grinding out 12 points and seven boards in the first half.

Kanter picked up his third personal foul with a very questionable call on a jump ball in the second, much to Terry Stotts’ chagrin. Still, Blazers were able to close out the half strong, owning a 75-63 lead at the break. Gary led the way with 17 while Melo had 14.

Third Quarter

Portland jumped out to a 16-point lead to start the second half, fueled by a pair of threes from Dame and another from Gary. Westbrook and Washington pushed back, though, cutting the lead back down to seven once again with yet another 9-0 run.

Just over a minute later, though, and the Blazers had reclaimed a 16-point lead. Covington hit a pair of threes while Gary added a third. Melo added a confident triple in Hachimura’s face to pass Dominique Wilkins for 13th on the all-time scoring list.

Dame scored 12 points in the third quarter alone, and Portland took a 16-point advantage into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

It was Rodney Hood’s turn to hit a pair of threes, but reading between the lines will tell you Blazers fans were far from safe with another 16-point lead, even with nine minutes left.

Rui Hachimura started heating up for the Wizards, and the rookie forward out of Gonzaga finished with 24 & 5 on the night.

Once again, the Wizards stormed back to cut the lead to seven. Washington scored on five straight possessions and whittled the lead down to four points with four minutes left before Stotts called time.

Gary’s career-high-tying-seventh three of the game (out of nine) was a huge help with three minutes to go, as was a fresh pair of Enes Kanter Offensive Rebounds™. Dame put it to good use—blowing by Westbrook along the baseline and throwing down a vicious dunk—before a solid team defensive stop on the other end.

Back up by double digits with just over a minute left, Dame checked his watch. (Hint: It was 10:30 Eastern, or bedtime for the Wizards.)

Final Thoughts

There were plenty of excuses for the Blazers to lose this game: it was the second night of a tough road back-to-back, missing five players out to injury (including an All-Star candidate and two more would-be starters), and facing the NBA’s leading scorer. Surrendering so many quick-response runs is still a concern, but Portland never stopped producing on offense for more than a few possessions at a time. As a team, the Blazers were 21/46 (45.5%) from three and made all 23 of their free throws.

Player(s) of the Game

Everyone?

The box score says Dame (32p/8a), but I think I’ll go with Carmelo. His 21 bench points were invaluable. RoCo (19p/9r), Gary (26p), Rodney (15p), and Enes (14p/10r) all deserve shouts too, though.

Next Up

The Blazers will continue their Eastern Conference road trip on Thursday in Philadelphia against the first-place 76ers at 5pm.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard returns to blow out Washington Wizards, 125-105

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda


Photo by Bruce Ely / Used with permission

Photo by Bruce Ely / Used with permission

The Portland Trail Blazers finally get Damian Lillard back in the lineup. Lillard had missed the last six games with a groin injury. I know Dame is a competitor, but it might have been best if they had let him sit out for the rest of the year. The playoffs are in sight, but they are way out on the horizon.

CJ McCollum did a good job running point in Dame’s absence, but he’s no Damian Lillard and I’m starting to think he’s probably best if he’s not on the team after this season. I think Gary Trent Jr. is the answer at the two-guard going forward. The scoring isn’t there (yet), but the defensive effort is.

The first quarter started off quickly. Carmelo Anthony had a quick 10 points and Trevor Ariza was aggressive getting seven points. The Blazers offense flows so much better with Damian Lillard out there.

The problem is that the Blazers are god awful on switches and closeouts on the three. Outside the injuries, this is the biggest reason that the Blazers are below .500 this season. They are one of the worst teams at guarding the three pointer in the league and there has been an effort from Terry Stotts to fix this. There have been multiple practices to adjust this. The Blazers play the type of offense that would allow for a lot of this to be practiced day in and day out.

And yet… they are god awful at this.

The offense has not been awful tonight. The Blazers put up 37 points in the first quarter and take a seven point lead into the second. This is the best I’ve seen Melo start a game since late November. McCollum also had a good quarter and Ariza filled up the passing lanes and had two steals while deflecting a couple other balls.

Hassan Whiteside also had three blocks.

The lead would have been much bigger if they defended the three at all or rebounded.

The Blazers bench and CJ start the second quarter and the lead begins to start shrinking. Caleb Swanigan did take a charge and Anfernee Simons did knock down a couple bigs shots, including a three, but the lack of quality depth for the Blazers has been such a huge letdown for the team.

Stotts calls in Lillard to try and get things on the right track again, but the Wizards get a three from Bradley Beal and Troy Brown to cut the Blazers lead down to four.

Beal has not had a guy on him all game. He’s going to have another 50 point game tonight. He can’t miss a shot so far tonight.

The Blazers put up 72 points in the first half and it was a quiet 72. I kept looking at the score and thought it was wrong the entire half. It felt like they were losing most of the half and I don’t know why. Four of the five starters have scored in double figures, Carmelo has 20 and looks like his 2008 version.

I had to step out for most of the third quarter as a rogue, dead black widow “attacked” my wife and that led to some broken light bulbs and a trip to the store. It looks like the Blazers played some defense or the Wizards couldn’t make a shot in the third quarter.

The Wizards start off the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run and cut the Blazers lead down 104-93 with a touch over seven and a half minutes left to play. Isaac Bonga and Davis Bertans had a couple of big shots. The bench once again not being able to do anything to help the starters get some rest or put the game away.

The Blazers bench has 11 of the Blazers 108 points through 3.5 quarters. This is the third reason behind injuries and poor three point defense that the Blazers are below .500 this season.

Carmelo Anthony hit a three to push the lead back up to 19 points with four and a half left and that proved to be the dagger.

Carmelo had 25, Whiteside had 24 points, 16 boards, and 4 blocks, Dame and CJ each had 22, and Trevor Ariza had 15 points and three steals.

The Blazers head back on the road for a quick trip to Phoenix on Friday before they return home on Saturday.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Looking at the Blazers’ schedule

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
Damian-Lillard-scores-61-against-the-Warriors-scaled.jpeg

The All-Star break is almost at an end and the Blazers have 26 games left the rest of the way and some ground to make up to make the playoffs. Portland is 25-31 and five games back of the Memphis Grizzlies in the loss column and only a couple of games up on both the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans.

A quick couple of highlights:
Back-To-Backs: 3x
Home Games: 15x
Road Games: 11x
Home Games vs. .500+ teams: 8x
Home Games vs. sub .500 teams: 7x
Road Games vs. .500+ teams: 3x
Road Games vs. sub .500 teams: 8x

Portland will spend more time at home than they will on the road the rest of the way. This works out to their advantage obviously because jet lag sucks. They are used to it, but they do have a few tough road games against both Boston and Philadelphia on the horizon and the Pacers are a tough team as well.

Looking at the back-to-backs the Blazers managed to somehow draw the Sacramento Kings (at home), Detroit Pistons (road), and the Brooklyn Nets (road). The Kings have played the Blazers tough once this year, but they’re at the point of the season where they are about to quit and who knows what you are going to get with the Pistons or the Nets. There’s a good chance Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin don’t play in those games.

And speaking of playing, we don’t exactly don’t know when Damian Lillard is going to return. Terry Stotts is holding him out of practice on Wednesday. Will he play against the Pelicans on Friday night or is he going to miss a few games? Dame is tough and he knows what’s on the line. Sadly, we probably won’t know until a couple of hours before game time on Friday.

And will the Blazers get Jusuf Nurkic or Zach Collins back before the end of the year?

Let’s take a look at the schedule the rest of the way:

vs. Pelicans – 2/21

The Pelicans always play the Blazers tough, especially Jrue Holiday, and if there isn’t a Lillard to carry the scoring load then this game could get ugly again. There also isn’t anyone to stop Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram will be back.

Prediction: Blazers lose (25-32)

vs. Pistons – 2/23

The Pistons are a mess and even without Dame, this should be a win.

Prediction: Blazers win (26-32)

vs. Celtics – 2/25

Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown are going to hold no mercy.

Prediction: Blazers lose (26-33)

at Pacers – 2/27

The Pacers are well coached, Victor Oladipo is starting to get his legs back under him, and they are a tough team.

Prediction: Blazers lose (26-34)

at Hawks – 2/29

Thankfully this isn’t a back-to-back. Trae Young will score a lot of points and try to outshoot Dame, but the Hawks are terrible.

Prediction: Blazers win (27-34)

at Magic – 3/2

The Magic are trying, they aren’t very good and seem to be perennially stuck in this position. They have beaten a few good teams and they won’t be a pushover.

Prediction: Blazers win (28-34)

vs. Wizards -3/4

Bradley Beal is pissed off for a lot of reasons, but he’s not leaving Portland with a W.

Prediction: Blazers win (29-34)

at Suns – 3/6

The Blazers owe the Suns and Kelly Oubre a beating.

Prediction: Blazers win (30-34)

vs. Kings – 3/7

The first back-to-back, but it’s a Kings team that isn’t very good and they seem to be getting worse as the year is going along.

Prediction: Blazers win (31-34)

vs. Suns – 3/10

The Blazers get a few days off before they get another shot at the Suns. Devin Booker will have a good game, but not good enough.

Prediction: Blazers win (32-34)

vs. Grizzlies – 3/12

Ja Morant is a video game and he hasn’t hit his rookie wall yet. Does he now or is he a freak of nature? I think Blazers eek this one out.

Prediction: Blazers win (33-34)

vs. Rockets – 3/15

Russell Westbrook always tries to beat Damian Lillard on his own and this usually leads to his team going off the rails and losing. Blazers back to .500.

Prediction: Blazers win (34-34)

I have the Blazers going on an eight-game win streak to get back to an even record. This will have them right on the verge of a playoff spot. Things, however, are about to get a little bit tougher after the next game.

vs. Timberwolves – 3/17

The Blazers are one of the few wins the Wolves have this year. I don’t think Karl-Anthony Towns gets another.

Prediction: Blazers win (35-34)

vs. Mavericks – 3/19

Luka Doncic has been a bit snakebit this year and he tends to miss stretches of games. I think he’s back and he hurts Portland. Can’t keep winning forever.

Prediction: Blazers lose (35-35)

at Timberwolves – 3/22

This will be a good night.

Prediction: Blazers win (36-35)

at Hornets – 3/24

The Hornets are not a good basketball team and they have very few good players.

Prediction: Blazers win (37-35)

at Pistons – 3/25

I think the Pistons will be in full tank mode and not even Derrick Rose can save them even as the Blazers flew a quarter way across the country the morning of.

Prediction: Blazers win (38-35)

at Celtics – 3/27

I don’t think the Blazers get this one either.

Prediction: Blazers lose (39-36)

at 76ers – 3/29

The Blazers and Sixers played a classic early in the season, but the Sixers are terrible on the road and almost unbeatable at home. Joel Embiid will be a beast.

Prediction: Blazers lose (38-37)

at Nets – 3/30

I think the Nets are going to put Kyrie on the shelf with some sort of injury to prep for Kevin Durant‘s return the next season and work on getting a higher pick.

Prediction: Blazers win (39-36)

vs. Jazz – 4/2

We enter the final month of the season against Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. This is going to feel like a playoff game, one that Portland is not ready for.

Prediction: Blazers lose (39-38)

vs. Grizzlies – 4/5

Morant and company are back and this time the teams are going to be within a game or two of one another. I think once again Portland pulls it out.

Prediction: Blazers win (40-38)

vs. Cavaliers – 4/7

The Cavs are a mess and will be in full tank mode and will help the Blazers clinch another winning season.

Prediction: Blazers win (41-38)

vs Nuggets – 4/9

Another tough playoff-type game for the Blazers and this is turning into a great rivalry. Sadly…

Prediction: Blazers lose (41-39)

at Warriors – 4/13

There is a chance that Stephen Curry is back for this game, but I don’t think he’ll log many minutes and the Warriors really want that first overall pick.

Prediction: Blazers win (42-39)

vs. Clippers – 4/15

My guess is the Clippers have secured their seed in the playoffs and we’ll see more Reggie Jackson over Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Prediction: Blazers win (43-39)

Looking at other schedules. I think 43-45 wins are going to be what is needed to get into the playoffs. The Blazers are obviously on the low end of this, the Pelicans I have going to 45 wins and Memphis being right around there. I think the Blazers are on the outside looking in this year.

Though do not count this team out and if you feel like trying to make a lot of money in a hurry, in some outlets, Portland is at +21000 to win the Championship. We’ve seen the Blazers overcome bigger odds and getting a little healthier toward the end of the year could be big. The Blazers have zero reliable depth, yes, Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr. are stepping up, but it won’t be enough.

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Uncategorized

Ranking the 2019-20 NBA Shooting Guards

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
James_Harden.jpg

The shooting guard spot is slowly merging into the small forward spot, well this is positionless basketball coming into fruition. There are a lot of great players at this position and there are quite a few bad ones. There is also a lot of potential for some really good players that I have ranked pretty low. Guys like Garland and Barrett. They had some decent showings in the preseason, but can they do it over 70+ games (hopefully 82) over the course of the year?

30. Dillon Brooks

I really like Brooks, I think he’d make a great bench role player somewhere. He’s not an everyday starter in the league for a fringe playoff team, but for a team that might win 35 games, he’ll do.

29. Bryn Forbes

Forbes is such a Gregg Popovich player. He’s not going to do anything spectacular, but he’s going to play hard.

28. Darius Garland

I hate judging rookies. Especially rookies that barely played their last year in college. Garland seems healthy and torched some nets in the preseason. Let’s see how he does every night.

27. Josh Okogie

He won’t score a lot and he’ll try on defense. He tries… he tries.

26. RJ Barrett

Barrett has a lot of good qualities, he can score, the potential to be a plus defender, but he seems to disappear in games. I said the same thing about James Harden early in his career too.

25. Bruce Brown Jr.

If you play in Detroit does anyone really see you play? Brown is a nice player, he has some low projections this year and they are warranted. I think he can play a little bit above himself and deliver a quality year for the Pistons.

24. Tyler Herro

He won the job over Dion Waiters, but that’s not saying much. Herro might have the smoothest shot out of all the rookies.

23. Dwayne Bacon

I’m shocked he’s in his third year already. He’s improved year after year and I’m not sure he’s going to be a little bit better than last year.

22. Wesley Matthews

He was once one of the best lockdown defenders on the perimeter but after the knee issues this is no longer the case. He’s a decent rotational body and he can hide out in Milwaukee and be protected on both ends of the court.

21. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

This is not his normal position (obviously) and after the Thunder move Chris Paul he’ll get moved over the PG list. The problem is we don’t know who can take on that massive Paul contract.

20. Tim Hardaway Jr.

He’s a solid third option for the Mavericks. He can score a lot of points in a hurry (like dad) and he can give up just as many on the defensive end. That might be Dallas’ plan though, score as many points as possible and hope to god the other team doesn’t score more.

19. Kevin Huerter

I think we’re going to see a big year from the former Terp. His jump really needs to come on defense. He’s got all the tools in his offensive repertoire to be a 17-20 point scorer this year.

18. Evan Fournier

He’s a solid complementary player. He doesn’t need to be the focal point of the offense and plays decent defense.

17. Gary Harris

The oft-injured guard is great when healthy. He was once relied upon for points, but with the emergence of basically every other starter, he’s now the fourth or even fifth option on the floor when starting.

16. Danny Green

He’s going to be the Lakers’ third scorer and that’s an issue. With how hot and cold Green is — yeah, don’t rely on Green to be an every night 25 point scorer.

15. Landry Shamet

With Paul George out he’s a solid third or fourth option for the Clippers. I would love to see him work with Bev and improve himself on the defensive end of the floor.

14. Buddy Hield

There is talk that this could be an All-Star year for Hield. The dude will be the primary threat for the Kings outside and has the potential to lead the team in scoring. I think we could get a 50 point game out of him this coming year.

13. Josh Richardson

He’s going to be a piece of that defensive wall in Philly. Any time that he scores north of 15 points on top of playing good defense is great for Brett Brown and company.

12. Jaylen Brown

Brown will average close to 20 points a game this year and play some solid lockdown defense. Mix in some poster dunks and playing too fast and we have Jaylen Brown.

11. Caris LeVert

Without Kevin Durant, LeVert is going to be the second option next to Kyrie Irving. He’s not a bad defender, but he can improve.

10. Fred VanVleet

Freddy is going to have a bit of a dual role this year. He’s going to start at the two and then transition to the one when Lowry heads to the bench. He’s got a great chance to average career highs in most stats.

9. D’Angelo Russell

This might be Russell’s most natural position. The dude has never met a shot he doesn’t like. His defensive numbers have improved year after year. Steve Kerr is going to make sure they improve even more.

8. Zach LaVine

There is an opening for an All-Star guard in the East this season. He has all the talent in the world to lock that down for the next few years. He has to stay healthy and has to stop making those dumb mistakes throughout the game.

7. Jrue Holiday

Holiday is one of the best guys in the league, not necessarily player, but just a solid dude. There is a lot of young talent around him in New Orleans, it’ll be interesting to see how he fits in with those guys. he should be the Pels leading scorer this season.

6. Devin Booker

Booker is going to score a ton of points this year. He’s on my list to be one of the three leading scorers in the league this season. On defense, he’s not great. Is is so much fun to watch offensively though.

5. Victor Oladipo

He’s one of the better all-around players at the position. He’s good offensively and good defensively. Hopefully he can come back as close to normal as possible. He’s looked good in some of the practices I’ve gotten to see him.

4. CJ McCollum

CJ is going to push for an All-Star push this year and I think he gets it. The marketing going for him is too strong right now. Sadly, as his points have gone up his defensive efficiency has gone down. Portland needs a lockdown perimeter defender and he’s their best bet.

3. Donovan Mitchell

I look forward to Donovan not needing to shoulder the whole load for the Jazz this year. That will relax him and he’ll be much more efficient because of it. I think he’ll be a 25 point guy this year and play some good defense.

2. Bradley Beal

For the Wizards to be remotely competitive he’s going to have to score almost sixty points a night. He won’t score that much, but he’s going to need to. He’s a leader, he is seemingly a good dude. Wish he was in a better spot.

1. James Harden

With Russell Westbrook in town, he’s not going to need to score so much this year and maybe we’ll see a little less ISO offense. I doubt it, but the dude is going to put up a lot of points, get a lot of assists, and spend more time at the free-throw line than his house.

Other posts in this series:

Ranking the 2019-20 coaches
Ranking the starting centers
Ranking the starting power forwards
Ranking the starting small forwards
Ranking the starting point guards

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