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Enes Kanter

Portland Trail Blazers

Cody Zeller signs with Blazers on minimum one year deal

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Blazers were not done in free agency yet, but they are getting really close to spending all that cash money that they have. It’s being reported that the Blazers have signed oft-injured big man, Cody Zeller to the veteran’s minimum. He might be injured a lot, but he plays more than Zach Collins and is coming in a hell of a lot cheaper.

Zeller has averaged about 9 points and six boards for his career. Is known for his hard, but not stellar play. Hopefully, this does not mean that Enes Kanter will not be returning. Kanter better be returning.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Heat burn Blazers in Portland, 107-98

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

Tyler Herro had 14 points off the bench while Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo combined for 42 in a solid defensive win for the Miami Heat in Portland.

Damian Lillard was held to 12 points on 3/10 shooting, burying the decent supporting cast of Norman Powell (17 points), CJ McCollum (17), and Enes Kanter (10 on 5/5 from the field).


Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Jusuf Nurkic made a return to the starting lineup for Portland after missing last night’s game with a minor knee injury, although he was restricted to 25 minutes. Enes Kanter has been putting up historic numbers in his place, and both would miss time in this game.

The Heat were without one of their newest players—Victor Oladipo—who was out with some type of knee problem.

The first quarter was a sloppy one, but the Blazers came out of it with a 31-25 advantage.

The second quarter was ruled by the Heat, though, who took an eight-point lead into halftime. Tyler Herro’s 10 points off the bench complemented Jimmy Butler’s 10 and Bam Adebayo’s 15 well.

Portland has struggled in third quarters this season, and that trend continued tonight. The Heat held a 89-71 lead by the start of the fourth.

A pair of CJ McCollum threes were Portland’s only points from the 6:48 to 2:44 marks in the third. Derrick Jones Jr’s third takeoff of the night was one of the bright spots, while Kanter getting hit in the face and leaving the game was not.

Meanwhile, Dame was struggling. He was only 3/7 by the end of the third, boding bad news for the Blazers. Sure enough, his first three attempts in the final period were all misses, and the Heat soon assumed a 20-point lead.

The bench was in the game with four and a half minutes to go, but they played well against the Heat starters. They were able to whittle the lead to single digits by the end of the game. Final score: 107-98.

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Portland Trail BlazersUncategorized

Kanter logs historic night as Blazers beat Pistons 118-103

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

Enes Kanter snagged a Trail Blazers franchise-record 30 rebounds—12 of them from the offensive glass—to go with 24 points as the Blazers cruised to a series sweep over the Detroit Pistons.

Damian Lillard reminded us all why he’s currently second in the NBA’s Kia MVP Ladder, splashing a pair of early threes. He would finish with 27 points and 10 assists.


Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Game Summary

Derrick Jones Jr. shook Detroit’s backboard with a vicious block at the end of the first quarter. Terry Stotts surprised some when he benched Jones—one of Portland’s best on-ball defenders—in favor of a shooting boost in Norman Powell.

Portland went on a 9-0 run to close the first quarter and led 33-23. Lillard and Saddiq Bey both had 12; but Enes Kanter’s seven points, 10 boards (five offensive, five defensive), two assists, a steal, and a block stole the show.

Kanter started in place of a resting Jusuf Nurkic, and this season’s usual starting center introduced himself early on with an aggressive slam.

Kanter would finish the first half with 11 and 16. By the end of the game he had notched a Blazers-record 30 rebounds alongside 24 points.

The Blazers ended the second quarter with a flurry as well, rebuilding what was once a 16-point lead into nine before the break. Portland’s surge was fueled by some missed calls against Kanter and Lillard, who turned their frustration into tough finishes at the rim.

That lead grew to 15 in the first few minutes of the third as CJ’s point total grew to 17. He would finish with 26. Portland would cruise in the fourth and earn a much-needed comfortable victory.

Next Up

Portland host a Victor Oladipo-less Miami tomorrow at 7pm on the second night of a back-to-back. The Blazers defeated the Heat 125-122 on March 25th as part of a four-game road winning streak.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Terry Stotts proves himself to be a defensive mastermind in Blazers win over the Pelicans, 101-93

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

Tuesday night was one of those games where you will always remember where you were when you watched the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard come back from 17 points in the final five minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans.

After the game Tuesday night this game could have gone in one of two ways; either a 140-119 butt-kicking or a defensive struggle throughout the night. In the modern NBA, the latter option seemed unlikely and that is what we ended up getting.

The Blazers led by Derrick Jones Jr. on the defensive end put the Pelicans away, 101-93, and swept the season series 3-0.

First Quarter Thoughts

The Pelicans are not messing around at all tonight. They are definitely the more active team to start. They have some great motion out top to free up Brandon Ingram for two open threes to start the game and giving NoLA a quick 8-2 lead. Lots of offensive rebounds, hands-on lots of loose balls. They were everywhere.

It had the feel that the Pels might just pull the rug out from under the Blazers and run away with this.

Damian Lillard had other ideas though.

Dame had 21 points on 7-8 shooting from the floor and 5-6 from three. He is still in that groove from Tuesday night. The Pelicans are laying off of him for some reason and then rushing at him off the switches. They even allowed Steven Adams to switch out on him a few times.

Lillard just hit a couple of threes over him like he wasn’t there.

Pretty sure the only thing Dame is seeing out there on the floor is the bottom of the basket.

The case for MVP is growing.

Second Quarter Thoughts

This is the second straight game that CJ McCollum comes out playing point guard to start the second quarter. This is so stupid on many different levels. The big one is that CJ has not had much game time and the Pelicans actually do a solid job of playing defense on point guards (not named Dame Lillard) physically without fouling. CJ is not ready for that.

The other point is that Anfernee Simons had been playing really well as of late. He had a ton of confidence coming out of the All-Star break. Simons didn’t see the court on Tuesday night and he should be seeing it tonight in some form.

You can’t let a young player down like that. There are other minutes that CJ can take, let’s not take the minutes away from Simons. He needs the time and the development still.

As I type this, 3J has shown back up and has led the Blazers to a 42-33 lead with a hair under nine minutes in the second quarter. McCollum had been 0-5 up until this point and his shots did not look close.

Enjoying the energy that we are seeing from Nassir Little tonight too. I love when he rebounds and runs. He has the skill to play point forward and does have an eye to be a playmaker, plus we all know that he might be the best finisher at the rim for the Blazers.

The Pelicans run some high hand-offs with Zion Williamson and the Blazers switch to a 2-3 zone off the hand-off. Zion Williamson scored 19 points on Tuesday night when the Blazers switched to a 2-3 — so why would defensive mastermind Terry Stotts do it again?

I’m not quite sure because I’m not defensive mastermind Terry Stotts.

🤷

Damian Lillard once again sits too long into the second quarter. When Damian Lillard is hot there is only one man who can slow him down and that is the defensive mastermind, Terry Stotts. There are a lot of coaches in the league that are terrible with their rotations, but if it wasn’t for guys like Luke Walton and Mike Budenholzer (plus a few others), Stotts would be right there.

Poor Derrick Jones Jr. got hit twice in the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Once got a flagrant foul called on Eric Bledsoe and the other was not called.

Lillard only had five points in the second quarter, but the Blazers took a 57-48 lead into the half.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Here come the Pelicans cutting into the Blazer lead to start the quarter. The typical start of the third quarter for the Blazers. They once again have come out like Stotts spent the half handing out Ambien, warm milk, and doing some ASMR therapy.

It might have happened to both teams as the Pelicans quickly leveled off after some really clutch defense from Derrick Jones Jr, Rodney Covington, and Gary Trent Jr. The momentum changed when DJJ blocked a dunk on the same possession by both Ingram and Williamson.

Jones has been really feeling his role with the Blazers lately. I thought it was a mistake early on in the season, but he’s been winning me over. Not sure if he holds the starting spot next year. That should be going to Little.

And Zion Williamson has decided to take over the game in the third. He began to attack the rim and get to the line. The Blazers did not have an answer for him. At the end of the quarter, Zion Williamson had one of the top five all-time explosive first steps I have ever seen. He was four feet past Covington before RoCo even reacted. If the Blazers were not collapsing the paint that would have been a highlight dunk for Williamson.

The Pelicans somehow turned that possession into a turnover. Speaking of which, the Blazers end the quarter with a 1:2 assist to turnover ratio. That does not bode well for how the game usually ends.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

Zion Williamson is continuing his strong attacking play to start the fourth. He seems to be the only Pelican player trying at the moment. CJ McCollum took a charge from Zion and he follows that up with a three and then Carmelo Anthony knocks down a three and Portland is off on a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter here.

Blazers are up by 14 and the Pelicans look all out of sorts at the moment. The Blazers defense is looking really strong against a bunch of guys waiting for a bunch of other guys to shoot the ball. Brandon Ingram has really disappeared in this second half.

The Pels are taking up a lot of clock to get a miss and the Blazers are taking up a lot of clock to get a make. That’s some smart play by the Blazers in the fourth quarter. We often don’t get to type those words about the Blazers in the second half of most games.

Gary Trent Jr. is in his own head right now. He reminds me of Arnold in that really crappy Batman movie. He’s ice cold and not very good. I’m a big fan of Trent Jr., but his play lately is going to make that contract extension a lot more palatable for the Blazers this summer.

And I might want to delete the above, Blazers have gone ice cold and have cut the Portland lead down to five. A combo of Lonzo Ball and Zion chipping away at that lead. This forces the Blazers into a timeout.

Out of the break the Blazers get back to back threes by Covington and Jones. Pushing the Blazer lead back up to nine points with just under two minutes to go.

Damian Lillard knocked down two free throws to seal the game up.

BOX SCORE

Next Up

Quick turn around with the Blazers taking on the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow night at 7:00 PM.

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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

Lillard and Trent can’t outscore the Lakers by themselves

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

On Friday night the struggling Blazers came into the cold and blustery Los Angeles area to take on the equally cold Lakers. Both teams are feeling the results of the injury bug (because the season was rushed to start) and both are looking a little heavy in the legs. The Lakers were losers of four in a row, while Portland had lost their last three after winning six straight.

The Blazers came out flat in the third quarter and could never inflate.

Portland falls 102-93 tonight.

First Quarter Thoughts

I’m shocked that they called a travel on LeBron James to start the game. He always gets away with steps and it was called after Derrick Jones Jr. slapped him on the side of the head on a shot attempt too.

The Blazers quickly jump out in front 7-2 on a three by Gary Trent Jr. and a dunk by Derrick Jones Jr. LeBron on the other end once again tries to bully his way into the paint on DJJ, gets their pretending he’s Shaq in 2001, but he did a no-no in bringing the ball down and DJJ’s quick hands slap the ball away. While LeBron is complaining he didn’t get a foul, the Blazers miss a shot in the paint, but Jones snags the ball, kicks it out to Damian Lillard who hits a three.

Blazers are up 10-2 and it forces the Lakers to call a timeout.

Really hoping Dame has a strong start to the game tonight. He’s been off to slow starts in the last couple of weeks. Tonight while driving to get dinner outside of LA I saw a car that had an “I heart Dame” license plate in front of me. Then I looked up and saw Lillard decked out in Lakers’ gold.

Damn near a road rage incident on T.O. Boulevard. Good thing my wife and dogs were with me.

This game has such a weird feel to it. I think there would have been a lot more running by both teams to start the game looking to get a knockout blow to start the game. Instead, both teams have pushed the momentum and have tripped themselves up early. With a touch over three minutes left in the quarter, the Lakers have four turnovers and the Blazers have three. It really feels like both teams are already approaching double digits in that category.

Then again, but I don’t know about the rest of you, but this has just been a weird week.

Dennis Schroder annoys the crap out of me. I will give him credit for his ability to really work the pick and roll and the way he attacks Enes Kanter after the pick. He gets right into the lane and has really good control over his awkward floater. That shot has no business going in, but it usually does. A minute later he knocks down a three.

Let’s talk about Terry Stotts defensive decisions. To close the quarter Carmelo Anthony got the defensive assignment on the hot Schroder. A weird decision since the Lakers were running the pick and roll and getting Kanter to switch off on to Schroder in the first place. Now Melo is playing off Schroder and waiting for the pick to come and on this play, it’s not coming. Schroder pulls up for three and knocks it down. The ball was almost to the hoop before Melo reacted.

It was a weird choice. I would have gone with Rodney Hood or Nassir Little on the assignment.

Whatever, Terry Stotts is a defensive mastermind and an NBA coach while I’m a basketball blogger.

Blazers up 29-24 after one.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Rodney Hood knocks down a three to start the second quarter. Really need to get a good game out of Hood tonight. Well, need to get a good game out of the depleted Blazers bench tonight. Anfernee Simons calls glass on a prayer three over Montrezl Harrell and the ultra annoying Alex Caruso.

Derrick Jones Jr. is full of hustle tonight. I swear he already has 87 offensive rebounds five minutes into the second. He’s gotten a few defensive rebounds as well and tipped a few to teammates. This is what I’ve been waiting for from Jones for the entire year. He was supposed to come in and be a disruptor. I think it took a bit longer for him to gel and find his role within the team.

Hopefully, CJ McCollum has learned how to play defense while his foot heals.

LeBron James doing some LeBron James things and gets the Lakers within a point, this causes Stotts to bring Lillard in a bit earlier than he likes. Harrell finishes an and-1 to give the Lakers a two-point lead as they go on an 11-0.

During this stretch, the Lakers were playing a lot more physically and I think there were some fouls that should have been called. Lillard is the only superstar in the league to get hammered on a consistent basis and not get calls. It really has to be frustrating for him to get leveled on one end and then pick up a touch foul on the other end.

He’s got 20 points so far in the half. His defense is just outscore his man by forty. It works for him. I’d say that I love for him to pick up the defensive tenacity like another Oakland native, Gary Payton, but that type of defense (or any kind of defense) is no longer allowed in the NBA.

Along the lines of defense, Robert Covington has been a pretty big disappointment so far for the Blazers. His defense hasn’t been anywhere near where it has been for him in previous years, his shot is off, and he’s not really rebounding. There are periods of time that I have no idea if he’s on the court or not. I’d say the Blazers should buy him out, but we all know they wouldn’t sign anyone to replace him and let Melo play 35+ minutes a night.

Lillard finally gets a call while being fouled on a three. It’s because Horton-Tucker slid under Dame on his way down, and Lillard landed on his foot, twisting his ankle a bit. The way he landed I thought he might have torn his Achilles.

Damn near gave me a heart attack.

Before the last-second tip in to end the second half, Enes Kanter had been 1-6 in the paint tonight. Every single one of his shots has been hard off the front rim. It’s not like the Lakers are shoving him hard out of the paint on his shots either. He’s been pretty open, just bricking each and every shot.

Speaking of bricking everything.

The Blazers’ bench has been more trash than Kyle Kuzma tonight. Lillard has outscored the bench 24-8 in the half. Gary Trent Jr. was the only other Blazer player to score in double figures with 10 points.

Halftime Thoughts

I’m thankful I didn’t have to see Caruso or Schroder over halftime.

Also, this halftime seemed pretty short.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Terry Stotts once again gave the team Ambien over half and instead of breaking down defensive breakdowns, he told them a story about a floofy rabbit, and they all had six minutes in a REM cycle before they were rushed out to start the third quarter.

Blazers have three turnovers and have given up seven points in the first two and a half minutes of the third quarter.

This Ambien and storytime theory is the best one I have as to why Portland is so bad time after time in the third quarter. There is no real reason for this. It really can’t be that the other team makes proper adjustments and Stotts doesn’t at the half, can it?

The Lakers also have Schroder and Caruso out together to start the third quarter. There are many reasons that I think Frank Vogel is a bad coach and this is one of them.

After Covid wraps up and things can get back to normal, if I saw Alex Caruso out on the street I may bump into him just to see if he falls down and tries to get a foul called on me.

We’re about eight minutes through the third quarter and the Blazers now have six turnovers and hey look at that. That three-point lead at the half has turned into a six-point deficit.

The Lakers are out hustling the Blazers on both ends of the floor, knocking down threes, getting steals, Alex Caruso dunking and screaming on fools. This is not what you are supposed to do in a third quarter. All one of you youth coaches out there who reads this, record the Blazer third quarters, and show this to your eight-year-old second grade team. Let’s start to get to them at a young age and teach them to not ever suck in the third quarter.

This shot chart is a lot more kind than it actually appeared for the Blazers in the third.


Portland 3rd quarter shot chart against the Lakers.

Portland 3rd quarter shot chart against the Lakers.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

After three minutes into the fourth, the Blazers have not picked things up at all from their terrible third quarter performance. The Lakers pushed their lead out to 15 points with LeBron James on the bench. With seven minutes left in the game, the Blazers had more turnovers (15) than bench points (13).

The Blazers are a step slow.

Example: The Blazers ran a high double pick and roll with Lillard, Kanter, and Covington. Lillard had both Caruso and Morris follow him as he dove to the sideline. He stopped and passed to Covington at the top of the three-point line. LeBron dove out at Covington who held the ball instead of passing to a wide-open Gary Trent Jr on the wing. Morris was still on Dame when LeBron came out and crowded Covington’s right side. Trent was on his left. By the time Covington looked to pass, Morris was back on Trent, and Portland ended up turning the ball over.

A possession later Covington took a three from almost forty feet while double-teamed with over six seconds on the shot clock. This was the point in the game where it was pretty much over. The body language of the Blazers changed.

And that was the game.

BOX SCORE

Next Up

The Blazers get the weekend off before taking on the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at 7:00 PM.

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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 demolish Cavs to cap undefeated home stand, 129-110

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

After a thrilling victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last night, the Portland Trail Blazers hosted another Eastern Conference team, albeit near the other end of the standings: the 10-16 Cleveland Cavaliers, who are on a five-game losing skid.

Lineups

Portland: Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., Robert Covington, Jusuf Nurkic

Cleveland: Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro, Taurean Prince, Andre Drummond


Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Game Recap

First Quarter

The quickness of Dame, Gary, and Enes notched a 22-4 lead early on, getting to the rim either around or behind slower Cleveland defenders. The Cavs committed four fouls in the first three and a half minutes.

Just a few minutes in, it was clear the Blazers were the better all-around team in this game. Prince’s hack of Kanter gave the Blazers their 11th and 12th free throws of the night, just before former Oregon Duck Damyean Dotson came off the bench and stopped the bleeding with a fadeaway jumper.

In true Blazers fashion, the lead shrunk to 11 with two minutes left in the first. Some (unnecessarily) rushed offensive possessions and Dotson’s energy cut the lead below 10 before Carmelo Anthony splashed a corner three.

Second Quarter

The Cavs switched into a surprisingly-effective zone defense, but Melo was able to get on an island and score three straight jumpers.

Garland hit the Cavs’ first three midway through the second, but Drummond quickly notched his third foul on the other end. He stayed in the game and avoided conceding another before the half.

Anfernee Simons’ second three put the Blazers up 20 with an 8-0 run. Things were still looking rosy in a snow-filled Rose City.

The Blazers reached 70 with just over a minute left in the half off a Gary Trent triple. They surpassed it with Melo’s buzzer-beating triple, leading by 21 at the half.

Third Quarter

Dame and Gary fired off to start the second half, boosting the Blazers’ lead to 24 halfway through the quarter.

Portland passed the 100-point mark when Kanter grabbed his second consecutive putback from a terrible three-point attempt.

Fourth Quarter

With the game in hand and the bench getting minutes, the Blazers kept their heads and their lead. Portland hampered Jarrett Allen’s shooting percentage, which was tops in the league—67%—coming in. He finished 7/13 with __.

Nassir Little was back in action after missing a few games with a knee injury.

Even CJ Elleby was getting in on the act, getting eight minutes of time and hitting a three.

Final Thoughts

Another solid win and a balanced attack, this time against an inferior opponent. It’s been a great three-game home stand for the Blazers, who now find themselves firmly in a playoff position in the West. If they can get four out of these next seven road games, they’re in really good shape for the return of (all-star caliber) CJ McCollum to the fold.

Player(s) of the Game

Gary Trent Jr. was the team’s leading scorer tonight with 26 on 8/12 shooting, including 4/6 from behind the arc. He was part of a balanced Blazers attack, and he’s playing himself into a big contract this offseason while replacing CJ.

Next Up

The Blazers begin a seven-game road stretch over the next two weeks against the red-hot Mavericks on Sunday at 4:30pm.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Melo boosts the Blazers past Philly, 118-114

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Blazers got a game in the national spotlight tonight as they took on the Philadelphia 76ers on TNT, and what a wild one it was. Tonight marked the debut of Portland’s brown “Spirit of Oregon” city edition jerseys.

Lineups

Portland: Damian Lillard, gary Trent Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., Robert Covington, Enes Kanter

Philadelphia: Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid


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Game Recap

First Quarter

The Blazers started hot from behind the arc, with Gary (3/3), Dame (3/4), and even DJJ (1/1) getting in on the action halfway through the first quarter.

RoCo was struck in the face yet again, this time by Ben Simmons. After sitting out with a concussion for a pair of games and returning with a mask, RoCo was hit in the face last game inadvertently. He stayed in the game tonight after a short breather.

Kanter’s aggressive offensive rebounding was noted abundantly by Brian Andersen and Reggie Miller. He finished with four in the first period alone.

Simmons was balling out, and his chase-down block on a Simons alley-oop turned to a two-hop assist to Matisse Thybulle.

Dame made up for the five-point swing by getting fouled on a three (making all the free throws) and hitting his fourth one on his next possession. He finished the quarter with 19 of Portland’s 37 points.

Second Quarter

Furkan Korkmaz’s and-one put the Sixers ahead, and although Carmelo Anthony answered with a three, Portland’s offense struggled with Dame resting.

Embiid’s midrange jumper put the Sixers within six, and Terry Stotts picked up a tech for voicing his opinion a little too loudly to the officials.

Kanter bled profusely from his left eye after getting hit by RoCo (how ironic) on a rebound attempt, allowing Embiid to dominate the paint for the final minute-plus of the quarter as the Blazers went ultra-small.

Embiid banked in a fadeaway at the buzzer to finish with 23 first-half points, including 15 in the second quarter alone.

Third Quarter

The two teams battled back and forth in the third, with Seth Curry and Embiid making strides on offense. Portland simply didn’t have the big bodies to compete with Embiid and Howard.

Neither team could take a commanding lead into the final quarter, though. Any time the Sixers threatened to make a run, the Blazers bit back.

Fourth Quarter

Melo smacked some sense into the team with three straight bombs from deep, inciting a 12-4 Blazers run to start the quarter all on his own.

He continued his crazy shooting stretch with a lean-in bank-shot at the buzzer, though he couldn’t manage it on the next possession from three.

Portland’s offensive rebounding was keeping them in the game, but it was the Sixers who came up with a pair of them before drawing a foul and tying the game at the 2:41 mark.

Gary Trent hit his fifth three of the night while Embiid gave Kanter an elbow to the dome on the other end for an offensive foul.

Dame was still struggling to heat up. His first points of the fourth came against Harris in the lane with 1:15 left.

Embiid hit a way-too-easy midrange and Seth Curry tied the game on a transition trey. With the score tied at 114, only 22.1 seconds remained.

Simmons fouled Dame with five left on an iso and Melo used the last timeout when he couldn’t inbound the ball.

Melo used a give-and-go with Covington to draw a blocking foul on Harris with three seconds left. With the Blazers in the bonus, Melo nailed both free throws to give the Blazers a two-point lead.

Former 76er Robert Covington came up with the biggest steal of the night when Ben Simmons basically threw it right to him. Dame hit two free throws to secure the four-point win.

Final Thoughts

What a game. With no margin for error, Carmelo Anthony came up with his best performance of the season. The Blazers closed the game unconvincingly with the shot clock off, but it was smart plays that made things happen: Melo’s give-and-go orchestration and Robert Covington’s interception were the specific plays that won the game.

Player(s) of the Game

Dame scored more and Gary was fantastic, but it has to be Melo. He came up huge when the Blazers needed it most, scoring 17 points in the fourth.

Next Up

The Blazers will host another Eastern Conference foe, the Cleveland Cavaliers, tomorrow night at 7pm.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers beat Magic in home return, 106-97

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Portland Trail Blazers are back for a three-game, four-night home stand after splitting their six-game road trip over the last couple weeks.

Lineups

Portland: Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., Robert Covington, Enes Kanter

Orlando: Cole Anthony, Dwayne Bacon, James Ennis III, Gary Clark, Nikola Vucevic


Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Photo via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Game Recap

First Quarter

Gary Trent opened things up for the Blazers with eight first quarter points, including 2/2 threes, but it was Portland’s defense that shined early on.

Al-Farouq Aminu made his return to NBA basketball after missing over a year due to injuries. It was fitting that his first action since November of 2019 was in Portland, where he spent four years of his career. That is, until he had to leave the game.

Carmelo Anthony heated up in the end of the first quarter and made a pair of threes, helping the Blazers to a 31-19 advantage after having one as big as 16.

Second Quarter

Melo and Gary kept scoring, though Dwayne Bacon hit Orlando’s first three midway through the second quarter on their ninth attempt.

CJ Elleby saw some second-quarter action, making one shot in eight minutes of playing time, while Rodney Hood lost his shoe at one point.

The Magic chipped away at the lead as Portland’s offense stalled, but the Blazers still held a 50-43 advantage by halftime. Gary Trent led all scorers with 15, while Portland’s own Terrence Ross (from Jefferson High School) shot 5/8 for 13 points off the bench.

Third Quarter

RoCo was hit in the face, went to the ground for a while, and ripped his mask off in frustration (his actual plastic mask, not a COVID-preventative one).

Dame hit two huge threes as Dwayne Bacon failed to complete a four-point play. The Blazers found a spark on the defensive end and put a quick 7-0 run together, forcing a timeout from Steve Clifford. RoCo got the block before hitting a three in transition.

Orlando was still commanding Portland’s attention, though, and Vucevic’s second three of the night cut the lead back down into single digits.

The Blazers responded with fluid ball movement and a signature 18-point quarter from Dame, as well as a trio of Anfernee Simons triples.

Fourth Quarter

Melo drew a couple shooting fouls on Chuma Okeke and another on Ennis, completing one three-point play the old-fashioned way and another the “new” way. He finished with 23 points—a season-high—and moved up to 12th on the NBA all-time scoring list.

Up 13 with Dame at the line and five minutes to go, Nikola Vucevic was slow getting up for the Magic on the other end.

He stayed in the game, playing the entire second half.

The Blazers held their lead and with a comfortable 14-point advantage in the final minute, the starters got a rest.

Final Thoughts

This was a game that should have always been a check-mark. Orlando are missing a whole load of players, but the Blazers are too. With its badly-injured-but-not-as-bad-as-it-has-been-recently squad, Portland got their stuff together for a nice win. Most importantly, the Magic never really got within fighting distance.

Player(s) of the Game

Carmelo Anthony, and not just because he beat out Oscar Robertson on the scoring list. His season-high performance was a huge bench boost to Dame’s easy 36. A good all-around win.

Next Up

The Blazers will host the 76ers, who will be looking for revenge after a depleted Blazers squad beat them in Philly last week.

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