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Devin Booker

Portland Trail Blazers

Suns Out, Buns Out! Phoenix beats Portland again

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

Maybe it’s been a long week for me, but it feels like the All-Star break was longer than the entire offseason. Am I off base here? Heard it was a nice day up in the PNW. You know what they say when the Sun is out?

Anyway —

The Blazers got outworked by the Suns and completely no-showed the fourth quarter until it was too late.

Portland once again falls to Phoenix, 127-121.

Let’s breakdown the action.

First Quarter Thoughts

Remember a couple weeks ago in Phoenix where the Suns just back-cut the Blazers to death? The Suns remembered what they did and Chris Paul is exploiting the hell out of the Portland defense along a fifteen-foot stretch of baseline. Once again the Blazers do not have an answer. You’d think that Stotts would review that tape and prepare for the Suns to do the same exact thing tonight. He did not and the Suns are scoring at will early.

But Damian Lillard was scoring just as easily.

Dame continued his hot shooting from the All-Star Game, hitting his first two threes of the game and then he started attacking the paint and the Suns were not ready for that. He’s been so good lately. Should have been the ASG MVP and should be the NBA MVP this year too. He’s not going to get the love though. It’ll go to LeBron or Embiid this year.

Enes Kanter is having himself a ball game tonight. He had seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter to go along with six points. Kanter is known for not being physical and yet he was keeping both DeAndre Ayton and Frank Kaminsky at bay. There is no excuse for either of those guys to get outworked by Kanter, but Kanter was doing Kanter things.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Anfernee Simons hits a nice floater to start the quarter. The first few months were not kind to Simons to start the season. It seems like he’s really coming into his own in the last couple of weeks. Him winning the dunk contest really picked up his confidence. He has a bit of a swag to his minutes to start off this game for him.

After he and Gary Trent Jr. hit back to back to back threes to give the Blazers a 47-37 lead forcing the Suns to call a timeout.

Simons might have either made himself extremely tradeable or untradeable. Not sure who can get for him at this point, but I could see it being a net negative in value.

The rest of the Blazers’ offense has been exceptionally solid this game. They have made 11 of 24 threes into the half. Derrick Jones Jr. and Robert Covington were both knocking down threes.

As I type this Kanter comes back in, is not getting rebounds, and the Suns are off and running off Blazer misses. Mikal Bridges especially was out running everyone. He got a couple of easy dunks on the run and then hit a three from the wing after a nice screen from Ayton freed him up on a curl.

Suns ended the half on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 60.

Halftime Thoughts

I honestly thought we’d get to see CJ McCollum tonight, but it looks like it’s going to be a few more games before he comes back. Before the break, he was looking great in practice. He did not have a limp, no hobble, looked smooth, and was allegedly playing in scrimmages with zero limitations.

I wonder how it will affect the minutes of Gary Trent Jr. Trent has not been shooting well as of late, but he continues to be one of the better defenders that Portland has and we know how well CJ plays defense.

I’ll need a bit more time and a bit more wine before I can come up with some cohesive thoughts. Got a nice 40-year reserve Tawny tonight that I’m excited to dive into this weekend. I should try CJ’s label, but I’m not a fan of Oregon Pinot. I should still try it though.

Third Quarter Thoughts

I really like how Dame is getting to the basket this game. Blazers are running that double high look where Dame finds some space and takes a three. Tonight as the defender fights over the screen and closeout, Dame is blowing right by everyone and getting easy layups. I’ve been waiting forever for the Blazers to start doing this. The lane is always going to be there for Dame because teams are so afraid of him shooting the three.

With him getting to the paint will get him easier baskets and probably get him to the line more. He goes to the line more and the refs will look to call more fouls for him. And then maybe, just maybe, he’ll start getting those calls on the three point shots.

Lillard has 22 points through two and a half quarters.

Gary Trent Jr. was 1-7 on threes for the night until Nassir Little made a nice drive and found GTJ on the wing. Trent really needed that shot.

Little has been a great spark plug off the bench lately. His minutes can’t take a hit. He needs to continue to play and develop. Not only his game, but he needs to get that confidence up too. Confidence is such a huge part of the game for a young player. Little has been playing solid ball since his break out in Milwaukee.

His dunk tonight was filthy.

I really love how Devin Booker works the mid-range. He is about the only guy who will work all three phases of the floor on offense. The percentages say dunk or three now, but with Booker playing the way he does it keeps defenders on their heels and makes him that much more dangerous. Really like to see Dame and CJ trade-off on this type of play.

Don’t let the defense get comfortable ever.

Blazers somehow won the third quarter by four points. Let’s hope they don’t screw up the fourth quarter. Really need this win with two games against the Timberwolves coming up this weekend. Would be great to have a seven-game winning streak heading into next week.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

The Blazers have started the fourth like they usually start the third. Phoenix takes a two-point lead by outscoring the Portland 9-3 in the first three minutes. Was having a lot of praise for Simons to start the game, but he’s had two horrible turnovers to start this period.

Simons got the quick hook in the fourth. Lillard was back on the court to start the after nine-minute timeout. Melo followed him to the bench shortly thereafter. Melo was getting mugged in the fourth and did not have much to show for it. He was frustrated (and for good reason) and it got him out of his game.

This is falling apart faster than a dude in the champagne room without cash or a credit card with the bill due.

The Blazers have not been able to get a call this quarter and the Suns have outscored the Blazers 24-10 with only five minutes left to go in the game.

There was a questionable call on Rodney Hood that was ruled an offensive charge and the play before Devin Booker two armed GTJ almost the entire length of the baseline before getting a pass and a layup.

The Suns use Booker in such fun ways. He’s all over the place from on the ball to off the ball, moving fast, posting up, running a high-low, and finding easy baskets for teammates. It’s hard to defend that.

Also, Ed Molloy is a terrible official.

And the Suns have made eight threes here in the fourth and continue to build the lead.

Would you bet your life on the Blazers getting a single stop against the other 29 teams in the league or any of the 300+ NCAA schools?

I don’t think I’d do it and I’m not risk-averse.

Box Score

Next Up

Blazers have two in Minnesota with the first happening on Saturday at 5 PM.

Check Out

Hoops Uber Alles. New episode happening this Saturday at 10 AM. It will be our third.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Suns melt the snowbird Blazers

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

February had been red hot for the Blazers, but then they forgot they have to play a full game and what defense in a loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday night. There was hope that the Blazers would rise to the competition as they took on the Phoenix Suns in a potential first-round playoff matchup.

After the butt-kicking they took tonight against the Suns tonight, they probably might want to drop down to the 8th and play the Jazz. It might be a much closer series.

Let’s get to the thoughts.

First Quarter Thoughts

Terry Stotts has decided to let Damian Lillard guard Devin Booker to start the game and Booker got a quick four points on three shots to start the game. Not sure of this defensive assignment to start the game. I’m not an NBA head coach, but what do I know. Gary Trent Jr. got a couple of cracks at Booker and caused him to miss two shots. In the next possession and Lillard is back on Booker and Booker gets scored on again.

The Suns aren’t forcing the Blazers to switch either. Lillard is picking up Booker at half-court. I am not really sure what you can do about the Blazers’ defensive issues, Dame and CJ are not great defenders and don’t appear that they’ll ever even be decent.

You can’t score 30 and give up 50. The math does not work that way.

We’ve seen Derrick Jones Jr. on Chris Paul to start the game. Paul is still an effective player, but your best and longest defender does not need to be on Chris Paul. Booker is the biggest threat that Phoenix has. Have Jones on Booker, Trent on Paul, and Lillard on Bridges. It does not seem like rocket science to me.

Okay, it might not be anything that the Blazers can do against Booker tonight. He has 17 of the Suns first 24 points in the first quarter and five different Blazers have guarded him tonight and he’s has scored on all of them at this point. He’s not letting Portland set the defense on him. If he gets picked up high he dives to the basket and if they pick him up, he posts up quick and gets an easy basket.

This has honestly been a masterclass in how to work your superstar in a game. Seriously, just rewatch Booker on every possession in the first quarter and everything he did was just about right.

Portland was lucky to only be down six, 32-26, after the first quarter.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Rodney Hood started the second quarter with his own personal 7-0 run to put the Blazers up 33-32. The Suns were forced to call a timeout after Hood picked Chris Paul’s pocket and raced down the court for a nice two-hand dunk.

Hood has not played that great over the last week or so, so it’s really good to see him playing well to start his minutes tonight. Even if he caps out at these seven points and adds a few more rebounds then I’ll call this a win for him tonight. Have to start small and get the confidence going again.

We have to remember that he had a bad achilles tear and that he is not Kevin Durant.

The Suns are killing Portland in the paint. They have 26 points in the area that is differently colored from the rest of the floor at the half. Portland had 24. A huge chunk of those points came in four straight possessions where Lillard found Jones and Kanter doing wide-open back cuts on those plays.

Phoenix did not make any adjustments to stop those cuts either. The last few baskets came against a zone with Chris Paul playing in the center of the paint. Dame kept finding a cutting Derrick Jones Jr. for easy baskets.

Really don’t know what the hell Phoenix was trying to accomplish with that defensive set. The defense was something that Taylor and I would run, poorly, in 2k21 as were are getting our brains bashed in by the Timberwolves. Trying something different, you know? But to allow ten straight points on that set and not switch it up? That is some Stotts level coaching there.

The thing though is that Phoenix somehow extended their lead during all this. Booker with three-point plays or Dario Saric hitting corner threes.

Portland also outshot Phoenix by percentage, 56-47 in the first half, but took a 54-63 deficit into the half.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Phoenix picked Portland up in a full-court press to start the second half. The Blazers were really confused and had a really off first possession that led to no points. Devin Booker immediately capitalized on two straight possessions. Bridges scored on Dame the next trip down and I’m really starting to think that I could get some points on Dame right now. He gave up 90 to Bradley Beal the other night, I really think that my out-of-shape ass could at least get 10 in an NBA game against him and I only play three-point line to three-point line.

I’ve seen better defense of a drunk and elderly snowbird at the YMCA in Scottsdale. I’m not joking either. There was this 91-year-old dude that was locking down 18-year-olds without a problem. I got ask if I wanted to have a run, but I did not want that smoke.

There isn’t much at all to say about this third quarter. The Blazers played like they usually do coming out of halftime, flat, not focused, and with no urgency. They got outscored by 20, 37-17 in the quarter, and have a 29 point margin to make up in the fourth.

With the game against the Nuggets tomorrow night we’re going to probably see a lot of bench guys in the fourth.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

The Phoenix third unit is killing the Blazers second unit. Not much else to say about this game other than the Suns’ third-string outplayed the Blazer second string.

Next Up

Tomorrow night against the Denver Nuggets.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers outshine Suns at home, 121-105

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 (now 29-37, 9th in West) hosted the Phoenix Suns (26-39, 13th West) at the Moda Center in Portland Tuesday night.

The Trail Blazers came in cold, losing five out of their last seven games. This includes losses in winnable games against the Hawks, Suns, and Kings in an eight day span.

The Suns, while out of playoff contention, picked up a pair of big wins against the Blazers and Bucks prior to tonight’s game. They scored 127 and 140, respectively, in each of those games.

Starting Lineups

Portland, coached by Terry Stotts:

Phoenix, coached by Monty Williams:

Full Recap

First Quarter

The game started off with some crisp offensive play on both ends. Dario Saric was finding his rhythm, with 7 points in the first five and a half minutes.

After the first timeout, Lillard really got the offense flowing for Portland. Melo, and Ariza were firing cleanly off of Dame’s dimes, and Monty Williams spared another timeout in little time.

Portland should have built a significant lead late in the first, but kept giving up basic mistakes. This included allowing an Aron Baynes tip-in off an inbound pass with 0.1 seconds on the shot clock.

Still, the Blazers took a 36-28 lead into the second quarter.

Second Quarter

The Blazers kept looking to pull away, but Rubio’s shooting kept the lead within single digits. Booker’s stepback and-one cut the lead to three before he went to the line again on the next possession. A few minutes later and he was giving Phoenix the lead on a free throw line-jumper.

Melo went scoreless in the second after scorching the nets for 12 points in the first. Ariza and CJ both had 11 at the half

A back-and-forth quarter ended with Portland in front by one, 54-53.

Third Quarter

The Suns started the second half with a quick flurry of scoring, but the Blazers bested them 71-66 with seven left in the third.

Hassan Whiteside received a technical foul for flexing after a tough putback. Meh.

The highlights of a classic win were in the making: Dame ended a Suns 7-0 run with a signature stepback three, Mario Hezonja hit an impressive falling three, and there was tough defense on display.

Portland also showed some exceptional (and encouraging) ball movement in the third, rewarding themselves with an 82-78 advantage. It was clear Phoenix wouldn’t go away quietly, though.

Fourth Quarter

Hezonja scored on Rubio in the Euro post to start the quarter for the Blazers, and Whiteside followed it up with a bizarre and-one attempt that ignited the home crowd.

My youth basketball coach would have applauded the AGGRESSIVE REBOUNDING on display in the fourth quarter. I think he would have likened my game to Mario Hezonja’s, too, especially with the banked three.

Logo Lillard re-emerged halfway through the final quarter, but Booker and the Suns pestered on. It took another Ariza corner three to boost Portland to a 106-94 lead with 5 minutes remaining.

Trevor Ariza really stepped up, too. His corner threes were invaluable to getting Dame space in the middle of the floor on offense.

With the Blazers up 15 and 2 minutes to go, Lillard ended the game in a way only he can.

If you have this one on your DVR, it’s worth a watch. The players were having fun in a mostly-competitive win.

Fun! Basketball! Yeah! 121-105 Portland!

Final Thoughts

First off, this looked like a wonderful game to attend. I heard tickets were cheap, too, so I would have been thrilled to adorn a seat in the 300s tonight.

Phoenix looks like a team that could make some noise in the West next season. They have almost all their key players returning and will hopefully get a full season of Deandre Ayton.

The Blazers got a boost from Orlando tonight, who defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in Tennessee by a score of 120-115.

Here’s a live look at the NBA standings:

Standings provided by

Sofascore LiveScore

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Blazers fans were uplifted recently by the announcement of regular starting center Jusuf Nurkic‘s return to action, which is slotted for Sunday, March 15th against the Rockets.

Clearly, though, there is much more work to be done if Portland want to make the playoffs.

Hot take of the night: there were long stretches of this game in which the Blazers looked like playoff contenders. If only stretches were complete games.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Aron Baynes and Phoenix Suns scorch Blazers, 127-117

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda


Photo by Bruce Ely / Used with permission

Photo by Bruce Ely / Used with permission

The Blazers are back on the road for the final 19 games of the season and tonight they got good news as Jusuf Nurkic will be returning to the lineup against the Rockets next weekend.

The Phoenix Suns have been a bit of a thorn in the Blazers’ side this year. The coward, Kelly Oubre Jr., will not be in the lineup tonight to get his comeuppance for the trash that he pulled in Portland a couple months ago.

The Suns got off to a hot start with Aron Baynes and Devin Booker hit threes to open the game and the Blazers are not even attempting to guard the three point line to start this game. This all the while the Blazers made only a couple more shots than Baynes made threes in the first.

Hell, the Blazers scored three less points than Baynes did in the whole quarter. Carmelo Anthony was ice cold, Damian Lillard had some really bad misses. The only real source of light in the quarter came from CJ McCollum and Hassan Whiteside.

As we enter the 2nd period the Suns are knocking down more threes, the Blazers are missing layups, and the Suns are quickly up to a 23 point lead in the quarter. The Blazers look flat. There are no defensive rotations, no movement on the offensive end and looking like they were thinking about the Sacramento Kings tomorrow night for some reason.

I mean, who thinks about the Sacramento Kings?

Whiteside then blocked three shots, Phoenix went cold, Melo knocked down a three and two mid-range jumps, CJ hits a three, Suns continue to struggle and Blazers knock down more shots and soon it’s a 20-0! The Blazers have cut the lead down to three and a big portion of that was Whiteside commanding the paint. He had four blocks in the quarter, got some big rebounds, and led the Blazers to some nice outlets.

The Suns recovered and closed the quarter on a 9-4 run to take an eight point lead going into halftime.

A much better quarter from the Blazers. They didn’t close strong, but they at least made this a manageable game heading into the second half.

The Suns then open the third on a 23-8 run and open the lead back to 25 points. Anything the Blazers learned in the second quarter went away at halftime. They came back out flat, let the Suns shoot wide open threes, get rebounds, and basically do anything they want.

Gary Trent Jr. brought some life into the Blazers after Carmelo Anthony hurt his hand in the middle of the quarter. He forced two jump balls and had two big steals that led to some big baskets. The Blazers ended the third on a 17-5 run all thanks to Trent. The Blazers only trailed by 13 at the end of the third. It could have been less if they didn’t let Ricky Rubio have a wide open shot at the end of the fourth.

Baynes hits a three to open the fourth and Jevon Carter hits another to push the lead back to 19. Blazers have been sloppy to start the fourth. They had a great chance to make a big run and cut the lead further, but have fallen right off the map again. They just can’t keep any momentum going more than a few minutes at a time.

Damian Lillard then led the Blazers on an 18-5 run to cut the Suns lead down to 10, but more threes by Aron Baynes led to the Suns icing this game down the stretch.

CJ had 25 points and some piss poor defense, Lillard had 24, and Whiteside had 23 points, 20 rebounds, and five blocks.

The Blazers hop on a flight to take on the Sacramento Kings tomorrow night in Portland.

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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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Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers blow game to Phoenix Suns, 122-116

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
Carmelo-Anthony-posting-up-against-the-Phoenix-Suns.jpeg

It’s been a little while since I’ve had a chance to write about the Blazers. A lot of time traveling about for the holidays and living in SoCal it’s hard to cover the games against the Lakers when the games are blacked out on League Pass and I don’t get the channel the Lakers are on.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and hope you all have a great New Year as well.

So here we are tonight against the Phoenix Suns.

The Blazers are not messing around tonight. CJ McCollum and Kent Bazemore get the Blazers off to a hot start, racking up a quick seven points for the Blazers and then Damian Lillard carried the team the rest of the way in the first quarter going 5-6 from three.

Gary Trent Jr. had eight points off the bench for the Blazers in the quarter too. Oh, and hey, Hassan Whiteside had 10 rebounds in the quarter too. Great defense on Devin Booker as well. This is the best I’ve seen the Blazers look in a first-quarter all year. They definitely earned that 19 point lead to end the quarter.

Blazers are very active in the passing lanes tonight. They have three steals in the first 15 minutes and have forced four turnovers. This is something the Blazers have been missing all season. They have been playing on their heels and letting Whiteside deal with everything on the back end. Whiteside is going to block a lot of shots, but he’s not going to block every shot. He’s going to force cutters to bail and kick the ball out, the Blazers have been shadowing the cutters well tonight and have been there to catch the outbound passes.

Monty Williams had the Suns switch to a zone defense to start the second quarter and the Blazers are not getting the looks they were in the first quarter. They also do not have Dame out there on the court either. There is a lot of one-on-one offense going on to start the quarter.

Then Anfernee Simons knocks down a couple of threes, but the Suns are attacking the paint and have gotten a couple of threes from Cameron Johnson and Kelly Oubre, cutting the Blazers lead down to 11 halfway through the second quarter.

Lillard checks back into the game and the lead goes from nine to 17 in a blink of the of an eye. Oubre then shoves Lillard in the back right into the elbow of Aron Baynes. Dame picks up a T and from there makes the Suns pay.

The Suns should know better than to make Lillard bleed his own blood.

Dame had been very business-like up until that point and then he got mad.

The rest of the Blazers got sloppy. The Suns knocked down three threes in the final 24 seconds to cut the lead back down to nine, 64-55 at the half. Kelly Oubre has really found himself in Phoenix. He looked like another bust coming out of Kansas, but he definitely has a fit in Phoenix.

Oubre starts out the third quarter by knocking down a few more jumpers and cut the Blazer lead down to 71-66. He’s 5-7 from three tonight.

Have to say that Dario Saric is playing really great defense against Carmelo Anthony tonight. He’s held Melo to 1-10 shooting so far tonight. He’s giving him no room to breathe and cutting off all driving lanes. You can see Melo is frustrated and starting to force the issue.

Baynes and Oubre carrying the Suns through the third quarter and the Suns are now only down by four points. The Blazers offense is flat. The Suns’ defense is shading both Dame and CJ, while their man is playing them tightly. It isn’t giving the guys any sort of opening to rise up or drive. Then they are playing hard man when the ball goes to Melo, Whiteside, or Bazemore.

I’ve counted at least 97 times the Blazers have had a pass deflected in the first eight minutes of the third quarter. Suns are just active everywhere on the defensive end at the moment.

And speaking of defense Hassan Whiteside has decided he’s going to attempt to block every shot the Suns take here for the rest of the quarter. This man should be playing 30 plus minutes a night. The Blazers are a different defensive team with him on the floor.

You have to wonder what happens when Jusef Nurkic is ready to return. Both of those guys are going to need minutes and I’d love to see Nurk start at the four and have Melo come off the bench maybe. I don’t think the Blazers are going to do any major trades to shore up the bench. And they shouldn’t. This is going to be an LA vs. Milwaukee June.

I mean unless the Bucks want to do a Melo and Toliver trade for Giannis for some dumb reason.

Phoenix starts the fourth quarter fast. They are really pushing to get shots before the Blazers defense can get set. They are taking shots within seven or eight seconds into the shot clock. The Blazers have been a pain when allowed to set tonight and Williams has the Suns rightfully pushing the tempo. Even in sets, everyone is moving and it’s allowed for some wide-open back cuts for open baskets.

Boy, this fourth quarter has turned into an old ABA game. Threes, alley-oops, and lots of running.

Kelly Oubre looks like a freaking All-Star out there tonight. He hits his sixth three tonight and the Suns are down one point with just a skosh over three minutes left in the game. The Suns have outscored the Blazers 30-21 so far in the fourth quarter.

Oubre hits his seventh three tonight and then blows kisses to the crowd. The Blazers could not get a stop when it mattered the most. Phoenix scored in some form in their last nine possessions.

The Blazers had a 19 point lead at the end of the first, had it around 17 with about three minutes to go in the first half and Phoenix kept chipping away. They kept the Blazers on their heels for most of the second half. Terry Stotts did not have Hassan Whiteside on the floor during crucial moments when Phoenix was getting to the rim and crucial rebounds late. Whiteside was on the bench.

Blazers lose a heartbreaker by six.

Lillard had 33, CJ had 25, Whiteside with 16 and 22, Trent and Simons had 11 and 12 off the bench respectively.

The Blazers head to the Garden to take on the Knicks on Wednesday. The tip is at 4:30.

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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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