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Cliff Notes: It’s Time to Blow Up the Blazers

by Cliff Gibson
written by Cliff Gibson

This post was initially published in The Cliff Notes by CSN contributor Cliff Gibson.

 

We’re 25 games into the 2021-22 NBA season, a pretty good measuring stick for what kind of team you have. Unfortunately, what the Portland Trail Blazers have is a carbon copy of the past few years – defensively inept, unable to stay healthy, and seriously lacking a coach who can make in-game adjustments on the fly.

At 11-14, the Blazers are (at best) an 8-seed getting swept out of the playoffs. Realistically … they’re closer to a lottery team. Which is why once the Blazers hire a GM to replace the recently-departed Neil Olshey (good riddance, you piece of garbage), he or she should strongly consider the best thing for this franchise is a total rebuild.

Of course, to that general manager, I offer a bit of advice:

Get rid of Chauncey Billups. He wasn’t the right hire to begin with and it’s clear he isn’t right for this team now. Buy him out and let him go at the end of the year. Surely a 30-win season will be enough to justify that. Besides, he’s an Olshey hire … and the more of those Portland can get rid of, the better.

Set Dame free. Let him know what the plan is and that he will forever be remembered as the greatest Blazer of all time. Let him go after the NBA title he deserves in a place that’s ready to win. Soften the blow with a rendering of what his statue outside the Moda Center will look like.

Trade CJ for picks. Whatever picks you can get. They’ll come in handy down the road and ease the pain some fans might feel about his departure. Remember, you’re building for the future, and a 30-year-old McCollum isn’t part of that plan.

Build around a core of … Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, and Greg Brown (and Nurk, if you can convince him to stay). Trade those who don’t want to be part of a rebuild (most of the rest) or play out the rest of their existing deals. Mold Ant, Nas and Greg into cornerstones and find talent that will maximize their strengths and help where they are weakest.

Hire Becky Hammon. She should’ve been the choice when Billups was hired but I would’ve been shocked if Olshey had hired a woman to that position. (Good riddance!!) Hammon was taught by the best coach in the history of the game (Gregg Popovich) and would be tough enough to handle the task of rebuilding. She’s perfect for Portland.

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Blazers dominate Denver to tie series at 2-2

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

After a frustrating Game 3 gave the visitors a 2-1 series lead in Portland, the Trail Blazers were back in action to try and even the tie on Saturday afternoon. 

They did so in impressive fashion. It was a team effort that paid massive dividends on both ends. Powell’s aggression, CJ’s shotmaking, and Nurk’s controlled chaos were the biggest differences from Game 3, but some timely shots from Melo and only 16 from Jokic certainly helped. 

Game Summary

Portland leapt out to a 23-13 lead in the first quarter behind 10 quick points from Norman Powell. Powell, who struggled in Game 3, had a pair of quick layups and canned two threes to give the Blazers an early edge. 

Jusuf Nurkic was also winning the early battle against his former teammate, Nikola Jokic. The likely MVP started 1-for-7 from the field, while Nurk began 4/4. Most importantly, the Bosnian Beast was able to match Jokic for minutes while committing only one foul in the first quarter. 

Denver’s second rotation cut Portland’s once-double-digit lead to two—led by five points in two possessions from JaMychal Green—but Portland’s starters would retake the advantage and lead 57-47 at the half. 

While Dame’s midrange game was not paying dividends, Portland’s defense was. Holding Jokic to 11 points on 12 shots was a huge advantage, especially given the 13 points from both Nurk and Norm. 

Powell would continue his impressive performance to start the third, and Portland’s lead swelled to 21 at the 9:05 mark. Jokic was still struggling as well, and although Dame’s shots weren’t falling, CJ picked up the slack offensively. 

In Game 3, Carmelo Anthony hit a clutch three to tie the game with about five minutes remaining. On Saturday, he swished his second triple to give Portland a 30-point advantage: 88-58 with 2:23 left in the third. CJ McCollum almost maintained the lead, but the buzzer beat his three at the end of the quarter. 

Nassir Little, Derrick Jones Jr., and CJ Elleby got their first Playoff minutes as they checked in with under five to go and an insurmountable lead. Keljin Blevins and TJ Leaf would follow soon after. 

Little’s rejection of JaVale McGee was the icing on the cake for a dominant Portland performance, a much-needed 30-point victory for a team that struggled in their last two performances. 

Game 5 on Tuesday will obviously be crucial, but this was a great way to tie the series at two games apiece. 

 

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Portland’s pathetic defense and coaching costs them Game 2 in Denver

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

On a night when the Portland Trail Blazers could have really put the Denver Nuggets in a deep hole in these playoffs their terrible defense and even worse coaching. The Blazers couldn’t use the record-breaking night from Damian Lillard to take a 2-0 series lead at Ball Arena in Denver.

Terry Stotts made some decisions tonight that would have had rookie middle school coaches scratching their head.

First Quarter Thoughts

As expected the Nuggets started out red hot and lept out to a double-digit lead in the first four minutes of the game. The Nuggets were hitting all their threes and Nikola Jokic was doing his typical MVP-type things. The Blazers did not have the energy early on to keep up with the Nugget onslaught.

Nate Tibbets and Michael Porter Jr decided to get into it a bit after a timeout. It’s not often that you see an assistant coach get into it with an opposing player. Both individuals were assessed technical fouls and we are allowed to move on with our lives.

Nikola Jokic is ridiculous. There is a shot that he could go for somewhere around 700 points tonight. Not sure if defensive mastermind, Terry Stotts, has it in his constitution to put together a game plan that can stop Jokic.

Logo Lillard knocks down a three from well, the logo. Anfernee Simons follows up with a three of his own and the Blazers are only down six to end the quarter. All things considered, things could have gotten way out of hand. It might have been a success only being down by around 11.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Lillard goes to the bench and the Blazers begin to turn the ball over again. The Denver defense has been solid tonight, but some of these turnovers by Portland are definitely self-inflicted. They are going to need to start taking care of the ball to keep things close.

Denver took advantage of the turnovers to push the lead up to 16 points. Michael Porter Jr. is really becoming that second and third option that the Nuggets needed.

I also don’t like how this game is being called both ways. The officials are keeping their whistles in their pockets on some stuff that would have been a foul in a Knicks-Heat series back in the 90s. I like letting them play, but not when dudes are getting knocked out into the covid riddled fans of Denver.

Carmelo Anthony and CJ McCollum knock down a couple of baskets to give the Blazers some hope. Paul Milsap decided he didn’t like to give hope to anyone and had back-to-back three-point plays to push the Nuggets’ lead up to 18 points.

It might just be time to take a shower and head off to bed.

Damian Lillard was not ready for bed and he did not care that the bus was warming up. He hit three straight threes to cut the Nuggets lead down to 11, 57-46 with 4:45 left in the half. It seems like it’s been since February since we’ve seen this Damian Lillard. It looks like that hamstring might finally be healthy.

Oh hey, Derrick Jones Jr. finally was allowed to get into the game. They needed someone to slow MPJ down.

Lillard hits another three and goes to the line for two free throws. The Denver lead is down to only eight points, 61-53. The man is absolutely ridiculous right now. He has 29 points for the game and 19 in — he hit another three before I could finish typing out this sentence.

My god! I have a feeling I’m going to need a cigarette after this and I don’t even smoke.

Lillard single-handed led the Blazers back within four points. it doesn’t matter where he is shooting from they are all going down. There is no better step-back three in all of the league.

The Nuggets were forced to call a timeout and Mike Malone got Denver to pick up the defensive intensity. This led to some big plays by the Nuggets who finished the half on a 9-0 run to take a 73-61 lead into halftime.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Portland is focusing on getting CJ and Nurk going to start the third quarter here. I like the move to get their other two main scorers going, but Lillard had the hot hand — it’s a damned if you do and a damned if you don’t situation. I’d like to see Norman Powell get going as well.

It might also be because Aaron Gordon is now on Damian Lillard.

The Nuggets have only outscored the Blazers by three points (8-5) so far here in the third quarter, but it feels so much more than that. I’m having flashbacks to that 94 series of the Sonics and Nuggets with how loud the crowd is getting into this. If I were the Blazers I’d start using Norm as the point guard and play both Dame and CJ off the ball. Make their defenders work a bit more.

Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo have both been pretty annoying in various ways this game. I’d love Campazzo if here were a Blazer, but he’s not.

Looking at the box score and Robert Covington has not taken a single shot this game. He’s not done much else either. Enes Kanter with only two points and three boards in this game as well. Only seven points combined from the Blazer bench. Eesh, Carmelo Anthony and Simons really need to get going.

Greg Anthony with the Bobby Heenan “ham and egger” reference. Damn, I miss that dude. His work at Royal Rumble 92 is some of the best wrestling commentary work of all time.

Campazzo gets a flagrant on CJ by just running into CJ. That is one of the worst calls I’ve seen in a game of bad calls. This leads to a four-point play by the Nuggets and they are back up by 17 points. Yet again, this is another really bad Blazer third quarter.

Threes by both Dame and CJ to end the quarter cut the Nugget lead down to 14.

That was not pretty whatsoever. I can’t wait until Stotts is fired and third quarters might not be something to be scared of anymore.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

Portland had some nice defensive energy to start the fourth quarter. Nurkic with a big move to start the quarter, Powell attacking, and Nurkic fouls Milsap for no apparent reason… this was his fifth foul. About 15 seconds later he fouls out of the game.

No idea why Stotts didn’t pull Nurk out with so much time left and Jokic not on the court. Stotts makes some of the dumbest coaching mistakes I’ve ever seen in games. Nurk was playing well to start the fourth, but not to the point of leading the Blazers back on his own. He’s best served using that last foul on Jokic at some point in the final six minutes of the game after Kanter gets a rest.

Stotts then challenged the foul and it was unsuccessful. It was an obvious foul so the challenge was just a waste of the challenge and a timeout. The Nuggets of course go on a 9-0 to get the lead back up to 20 and ice the game.

Monte Morris, Shaquille Harrison, and Jokic finished off the game as the Blazers brought in the back end of the bench. At least Harry Giles, Nassir Little, and CJ Elleby got some playoff minutes. That’s about the only positive for the night.

Not a good look at all tonight.

Up Next

Game 3 is on Thursday at 7:30 PM — the series switches to Portland.

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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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Bucks run over Blazers — Blazer bench lost in wine country

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

Welcome back to the best Blazer recap that is heavily influenced by the Wine of the Night. Do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle if you’re into Ports.

Tonight, the Blazers took on the Milwaukee Bucks who thoroughly beat the Blazers’ brains in earlier in the season. The Blazers were banged up in that one and right now they are the healthiest and it did not matter because the Blazer bench decided to take the night off. Actually, they did not do much better tonight than they did the last time the two teams met.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 47 points and made it his personal mission to stop every momentum-building moment by the Blazers.

First Quarter Thoughts

Bobby Covington has really been shooting the three well this year. He started off slow but has been on fire lately, shooting almost 60% from three post All-Star Break. I really thought bringing him in was a mistake, especially at his age. His defense didn’t bring the price tag justification either.

Hey, I’ll admit when I’m wrong though.

He is going to have his handful with Giannis tonight. He’s attacking the paint like always and he’s getting Jusuf Nurkic switched out on to him on defense the last few possessions and is just abusing him. Giannis was pulled from pregame warm-ups due to some sort of leg injury.

Can’t tell he’s having any discomfort so far in this game. Giannis is looking like an MVP to start the game. Damian Lillard only has one point and no shots, CJ and Powell only have one shot between them in the first five and a half minutes to start the game.

Not sure I’d be running the offense through a hot RoCo, but hey what do I know?

For three straight possessions, Terry Stotts had Nurkic guarding Giannis almost 30 feet from the hoop. I’m not a defensive mastermind like Stotts so I’m not sure I’d go that route, but hey what do I know, Giannis has literally scored all five times Nurk has guarded him so far in this game.

The Bucks hit eight straight shots until Pat Connaughton missed a long three. I miss that dude. He was such a good fit for this Blazer squad. I also miss that heartthrob Jake Layman. That’s definitely my Terps bias showing through.

Damian Lillard starting to come alive! The man deserves the MVP award. Portland would have ten wins at most right now without him. The Blazers were only 5-23 from the field in the first quarter. Lillard had two of those makes.

Blazers gave up a wide-open three to Jrue Holiday to end the quarter. Not sure how the defense is always an issue with this squad. It’s been pretty terrible the last five years and it only seems to get worse.

Might also be the fact the NBA doesn’t really allow defense to be played anymore.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Bucks run an inside post with Giannis and Connaughton. RoCo is forced to foul to stop the easy reverse dunk. He’s got 14 points early. There is zero answers for him at this point. It’s not like the defensive mastermind, Terry Stotts, is looking for one either.

Word is that he found a penny before the game though. Wasn’t heads up, he kept it anyway.

Norman Powell knocks down two threes on back-to-back possessions to get his first points in the Moda Center. It forces the Bucks to call a timeout. Blazers have cut the lead down to seven points.

During the timeout, there were some highlights of Clyde Drexler’s triple-double against the Bucks back in the ’80s. A great game by Clyde, but the game took place in The Mecca. I really miss when stadiums and arenas didn’t have a corporate name. The Mecca is a great name for an arena, so was Seattle Center Colleseum, and a few other places. Baseketball called it back in the late ’90s during the scene where literally everything had a corporate sponsorship.

Anyway, out of the timeout, Giannis gets two quick dunks and the Bucks are back up 11. One of them after Nurk picked him up 30 feet from the basket again. Not sure what the f*** is happening there. They having Covington covering Khris Middleton and Derrick Jones Jr. is covering the point guard on most possessions.

This is not how I’d be running things on the defensive side, but then again, I’m not a defensive mastermind like Terry Stotts. It would have been nice if the Blazers picked up an athletic big man during the deadline or off the waiver wire.

Middleton-Dame-and Forbes trade three-pointers. Middleton and Forbes hit their threes from the same corner and were wide open.

Man, Nurkic looks like crap out there tonight. He’s spending too much energy in bad matchups on the defensive side and has nothing to give the Blazers on the offensive end. He looks slow and has zero confidence. I don’t blame him, Stotts hasn’t put him in a situation in which he has a chance to succeed tonight.

Maybe it’s time to give David Vanterpool a call, see if he’d like, I don’t know be a head coach.

Blazers get hot and cut the lead down to eight points, behind Dame and RoCo knocking down a couple of big threes. Giannis comes in off the bench and the lead gets right up to 13 again. There is absolutely nothing the Blazers can do against him. Granted, most teams can’t do anything with him, but this is the easiest I’ve seen him score since the last time he played against the Blazers.

Dame ends the quarter by blowing by Giannis and finding CJ on the wing for a three.

Portland is only down by seven, 60-53 to end the half. This really could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Halftime Thoughts

The Blazers have apparently signed Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for the rest of the season. I really do not know about this move at all. He’s not great defensively and has never had a season where he shot above 50% from the field or above 29% from three. How does he fit in? And why now? The Blazers needed a body for two and a half months and they didn’t sign him then. The dude could not even make the Timberwolves this season.

Tyson Chandler was a move that made more sense, maybe even kick the tires on Jamal Crawford or IT if they weren’t happy with Simons or Trent. Otto Porter Jr. is going to be bought out by the Magic soon. He’s a much better fit over RHJ.

I really don’t understand this front office some (most) of the time really.

Really happy the Port I’m drinking has a higher ABV than RHJ’’s true shooting percentage.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Blazers immediately cut the lead down to two points after two nice plays by Damian Lillard. Blazers are looking… oh nevermind, Giannis gets back to back three-point plays. Giannis is getting within three feet of the basket at wil
l. The Blazers are refusing to double him, but with the four guys around Giannis who shoot damn near 40% or better from three, it’s best to give up the two by Giannis and hope he misses the free throws?

Giannis has ten points in two and a half minutes to start the third. He has 34 for the game. He really has a chance to get 55+ tonight. He can not be stopped. He is getting some latitude on calls where he should have been whistled for a travel. His pivot foot is very loosely planted.

Dame and Giannis have now decided to guard each other. Dame knocks down a nice step back on Giannis and Giannis gets a dunk.

Checking out the box score and the Blazer bench is currently 0-13 from the floor and only has two points on two free throws from Derrick Jones Jr. Again, why go out and pick up a cold RJH when Otto Porter Jr. would be a decent spark off the bench.

Carmelo Anthony has not been remotely close to making a basket tonight. His last three shots have been a quarter-inch away from being airballs.

Bucks outscore the Blazers 37-20 and have a 97-73 lead heading into the fourth quarter. If this continues we might get drunk storytime with Uncle Kev.

Yeah, no one probably wants that.

Oh, got word that the Blazer bench is stuck in Wine Country. Here’s a live look at them trying to get back to the game.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

Anfernee Simons hits a three to start the quarter and then CJ hits another to get the Blazers off to a great start here in the fourth quarter. Melo knocks down a three of his own and the Bucks’ lead is cut down to 17. Not a bad start here in the fourth for the Blazers. Their bench scoring is up 600% here in the fourth.

Giannis makes another basket in the paint. Every time the Blazers make some sort of mini-run Giannis quickly comes into the game and immediately ends it. Again, Stotts had Nurk out on him and he just is not fast enough to stay in front of him. With Nurk getting blown by at the top of the arc there is no rim protection behind him. This has been one of the dumbest defensive decisions I’ve ever seen in the 32 years I’ve been watching sports.

The Blazers pick up the pace and get the lead cut down to 12 points. If they had only played a decent, not even a good third quarter and this game is probably around five points or maybe the Blazers have a lead.

Guess what happens? Middleton gets two free throws to push the lead back to 14 and Giannis gets another and-1. He has 47 points with almost four minutes left in the game. He is such a killer.

Blazers wave the white flag and this one is over.

Box Score

Next Up

Back at it tomorrow night at 7:00 PM against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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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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Blazers demolish KAT-less Wolves, 135-117

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Portland Trail Blazers had an auspicious bounce-back game against the Minnesota Timberwolves after dropping a disappointing home loss to the Chicago Bulls two nights prior.

Damian Lillard led the way for the Blazers, scoring 39 points on 13/21 from the field. CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic added 20 and 17, respectively, while the Blazers churned out their best offensive night of the year thus far.


Photo by Bruce Ely via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Photo by Bruce Ely via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Lineups

Minnesota: Ricky Rubio, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarrett Culver, Juancho Hernangomez, Ed Davis

Portland: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Robert Covington, Derrick Jones Jr., Jusuf Nurkic

Game Recap

First Quarter

Damian Lillard’s six points and Robert Covington’s well-sold charge highlighted the first half of the first quarter for the Blazers, while Ed Davis’ Timberwolves started 4/8 from the field.

A Dame breakaway invited a tough finish, but Malik Beasley hit back-to-back threes before Lillard answered with one of his own.

Rodney Hood made his return towards the end of the first, as did former Blazer Jake Layman.

Second Quarter

With the second rotation getting stops and crafting a 10-point Blazers lead, Enes Kanter season was in full swing in the paint. The Turkish big-man scored three straight baskets before being replaced by Nurk halfway through the quarter. The Bosnian Beast still scored three possessions himself

Portland hit their stride from behind the arc after RoCo and Derrick Jones Jr. replaced Hood and Anthony—the Blazers hit seven straight threes after starting 1/9.

Damian Lillard started to steal the show toward the end of the half, though, totaling 26 points, 5 assists, and 4 boards.

In all, the Blazers racked up 47 points in the second quarter alone, setting a team season-high 75 points by halftime.

Third Quarter

Nurkic picked up three quick fouls to start the second half, but it was a blemish on an otherwise-fantastic performance, including 15 points on 7/7 FG to start the game.

Portland looked invincible in the third (for once), growing the lead to 30 points midway through. They totaled 36 points in one period for the second time in as many games.

D-Lo was having a solid night—26 points on 9/16 FG—and #1 pick Anthony Edwards added a career high 26 of his own, but the Wolves were no match for the Blazers without their first option Towns.

Nassir Little made his return to the floor after recovering from COVID-19, a welcome sight for Blazers fans.

The starters were benched halfway through the fourth, and Portland went on cruise control for the rest of the night.

Final Thoughts

This was a complete offensive performance from the Blazers, who took full advantage of a Timberwolves team that did not have their best player. Shooting 54.4% is rarely a bad night, especially when you have Dame.

Player(s) of the Game

Who else? It has to be Damian Lillard, who was back to his familiar ways with 39 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds.

Next Up

The Blazers will visit the 7th-place Kings Saturday night at 7pm.

Don’t look now, but this could be the start of a great run for the Blazers. Their future schedule includes only three games against playoff teams in their next 12 (including the Kings twice). *knocks on wood*

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Blazers annihilated by the Clippers, 128-105

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

After a big win against the Lakers on Monday night, the Blazers stayed in rainy and stormy Los Angeles waiting to take on the Clippers. Last year the Blazers had a big win against the Clippers on the way to their playoff run in the bubble.

Tonight was not a good night for the Blazers. They gave up a ton of threes, could never get a cohesive effort on defense and Damian Lillard didn’t make a single three.

First Quarter

CJ McCollum is starting off hot again in another game. There is more aggressiveness and confidence in CJ’s game this season. Not sure what he could have worked on in the eight days of the offseason this year, but whatever it was it’s working.

In the past, CJ was a slow starter and did most of his damage when Lillard was on the bench. With CJ being a scoring threat early it opens up Lillard to do more Lillard things and takes the pressure off both Derrick Jones and Robert Covington to step up their scoring games.

CJ with two big threes to start the game. Derrick Jones Jr. hit a catch and shoot three of his own. His three-point shot has not been there early this year, but he’s shooting with confidence. Those shots are going to be there for him all year.

Once again the Blazers are not taking care of the three-point line. I’m not sure how this always happens. They added two defenders who replaced the guys who made all those errors last year and the same thing happens. This has to be some sort of scheme issue that does not come through. Both Serge Ibaka and Nic Batum each have two three-pointers six minutes into the game.

Paul George follows up by knocking down two of his own, Kawhi Leonard hit one and pushed the Clipper lead up to twelve at 28-16.

The Clippers are 7-8 early in the quarter on three-point shooting.

Damian Lillard was 0-6 from the field and had three free throws in the quarter. The Blazers were a bit lost on offense when CJ went to the bench. Not normally what you see from Lillard, but h’’s been off to a slow start so far this year.

Yes, there is a focus to get others involved and Dame can get his points late when it matters, but sometimes he needs to be the one to get going early and the others can score when he’s on the bench. Tonight is one of those nights where Dame is going to have to put in 40+.

It may not matter though, the Blazers are on pace to give up 32 three-pointers.

Second Quarter

In the preseason I thought Enes Kanter’s effort was subpar and that he was going to get minutes taken from Giles who was legit looking like a sixth man of the year in four preseason games. Kanter’s offensive rebounding has been so good to start the season. He got the Blazers at least 15-second chance points because of his rebounding against the Lakers on Monday. He’s already gotten two in two minutes tonight.

Rotations are so sloppy as the Clippers move the ball around tonight. Portland is being too aggressive in their closeouts, blowing by shooters, and allowing wide-open threes. For some reason the Blazers are putting five guys near the paint any time the Clippers go down to the post, so they have to rush the three-point line. This scheme needs to change. There doesn’t need to be five guys around Serge Ibaka in the post. Ibaka is not an elite post player, but the Clippers are an elite three-point shooting team.

Robert Covington is earning his money in the young season. Tonight he’s hitting his three and starting to get things flowing on defense. He’s been a big reason why the Blazers have cut the Clippers’ lead from 17 to 10 over the last two and a half minutes of the quarter.

Blazers cut the lead down further to seven points with under six minutes to play in the half. The Clippers responded with threes from both Reggie Jackson and Leonard.

This collapse to the paint nonsense needs to stop. Shaq is not playing in the league anymore. There is zero reason to crowd the paint against the Clippers.

Los Angeles took advantage of this and started to run the Blazers off the floor running their lead up to 21 points. Portland is so out of it on the defensive end tonight. They are flat-footed and then rushing to cover switches. This is such an ugly performance from the Blazers. They are trying to go blow for blow with the Clippers and can’t do it.

Third Quarter

Oh boy, this quarter did not start off well for the Blazers. They had one shot and three turnovers in their first four possessions as the Clippers pushed their lead up to 31 points.

Lillard usually makes good decisions on passes, but he had back to back possessions where he jumped in the air, thought he was fouled, and then made a bad pass. He may or may not have been fouled on those passes, but it’s hard to make a good pass in that position.

On the plus side, CJ McCollum continued his hot shooting. He’s been the biggest positive for Portland tonight. Lillard has shown some fight, but there has not been a whole lot in the way of production. No threes made and more turnovers than usual. It’s not been a good night from Dame at all.

The Blazers on a few different trips down the floor cut the Clipper lead to under 20 points and then it’d balloon back up to 25 points.

Fourth Quarter

Both teams have gone to the benches to start the fourth quarter. Well, Paul George is still out there. He must be the dude that the Clippers are going to rely on to slam the door on the Blazers tonight.

Harry Giles got into the game and immediately showed off that same energy he did in the preseason. He got a quick four points. What is depressing about his spot in the rotation is that he came into the game at the same time as CJ Eleby and Keljin Blevins. I definitely thought he earned more playing time than that. He’s not a bottom rotation guy, but he could be a middle rotation guy. With Zach Collins out for maybe the rest of the season, he might get a few minutes.

Next Up

Blazers are sticking around California for a few more days, as they head up to The Bay to take on the Warriors on Friday at 7:00 PM.

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Blazers defense beats the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-107

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

On Saturday the Blazers needed a big second half to beat the undermanned Houston Rockets in overtime. Tonight they came into Los Angeles to take on the Lakers team that beat them in the first round of the playoffs about 75 days ago.

As you recall the Blazers won the first game of the series and the Lakers took care of business the next four. Both teams made some supporting cast adjustments in the week and a half offseason.

The Blazers focused on adding to their defense and it paid off with a big win against the defending champion, Los Angeles Lakers, 115-107.

First Quarter

The Blazers started off really slow. Derrick Jones Jr. missed two wide-open three-pointers and a reverse layup. The Lakers allowed Jones to be open by using three guys to pick up Damian Lillard as soon as he crossed half court. This has been the playbook for every team so far this year against the Blazers. Throw as many men at Dame as you possibly can as soon as he crosses half court.

He had one decent look early in the first.

This has worked and wide open Blazer players have not been able to take advantage of being wide open. There is too much indecision by everyone else not named Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum.

Without Carmelo Anthony tonight, Rodney Hood was the first person off the bench and he found Gary Trent Jr. in the corner for a three. A few seconds later Trent hit another three and cut the Lakers lead down to two, 20-18.

Portland was on the verge of getting blown out early. They could not stop LeBron James and they forgot to guard Kentavious Caldwell Pope along the three-point line. It looked like the Blazers were to get blown out early because of mistakes on the defensive end. These were the same mistakes that they made all of last season too. Not enough rotation and leaving people open on the wings and corners.

The Lakers finished the quarter on a 10-2 run.

Second Quarter

The start of the second quarter has long been an issue for the Blazers (same with the third), but tonight led by Anfernee Simons and Trent the Blazers started the quarter off on a 9-0 run to take a 31-30 with just over nine minutes left in the quarter.

Trent and Jones forced three turnovers by the Lakers to start the quarter and Jones played some really solid defense on LeBron James, forcing him to miss his first two shots of the quarter. McCollum hit a three right out of the Lakers timeout to push the lead up to four points.

The Blazers’ energy was a lot more than the Lakers could produce in the first six minutes of the quarter. The cuts on offense were crisp and the defense was able to stay home on the three-point line. This is the type of defensive effort we thought we’d get from minute one with the Blazers this season.

And it was mostly the bench unit that was doing all of this work for the Blazers. The bench was the weak spot for the Blazers the last two years and has been in two early games this year. Tonight though, the bench is playing with heart and energy. This type of scoring is not going to happen every night from the bench, but if Portland can give out this energy from the bench each game then we are looking at a team that is going to potentially go deep in the playoffs.

Have to believe if Charles Barkley put $100,000 on them to win the West.

CJ McCollum attacking the mid-range game hard tonight. The Lakers are focusing too much on Gary Trent Jr. from deep and that allowed CJ to work the middle of the defense and get two easy jumpers from the circle.

The Blazers continued to attack the middle of the Lakers defense allowing Jones Jr. and Robert Covington to get easy backdoor baskets.

This might have been the Blazers’ best quarter early this season. Their offense was efficient and their defense allowed them to keep the lead. The way the game started I really thought it’d be the Lakers up by about thirty at the half.

Third Quarter

It shocks me a bit that I have not been able to mention Anthony Davis yet. He’s 1-5 from the field so far in the game. Robert Covington has done a solid job of covering Davis so far in the game. A minute later Lillard hits a three right in the face of Dennis Schroder.

I have a feeling that Dame really likes scoring lots of points on Dennis.

Here is where the Blazers and their infamous third-quarter struggles show back up. After Lillard hit that first shot of the quarter to give Portland a 61-54 lead, the Lakers scored the next 15 points. Too much isolation from the Blazers, spending way too much time out high above the arc, and not running enough motion, and too much congestion up top. The Lakers used this lack of space to force the turnovers and that led to easy baskets.

Schroder was especially problematic for the Blazers. He knocked down two threes and had some free throws. He was the catalyst for the big run by the Lakers.

Back the other way, Robert Covington continues his awesome defensive play. A block led to an easy runout for the Blazers, a CJ three-pointer and Portland is feeling it. The next possession down for the Blazers, the Lakers forgot to pick up Dame, who casually strolled into a 30 footer to cut the Laker lead down to 73-71 with about four and a half minutes to play in the third.

Rodney Hood had a nice series of basketball where he hit a nice caddy corner three and then on defense had a gorgeous strip block of Anthony Davis that led to more Blazer points. A few minutes later he had an amazing spin move dish to Enes Kanter for an easy two and then Lillard hit a three to cut the Laker lead to one.

Derrick Jones Jr. is a freak of nature.

Fourth Quarter

Coming into the quarter I’ve been impressed with the play by Enes Kanter tonight on both ends of the floor. He hasn’t been a total defensive liability so far in this game and has been in a good position on the offensive end. I thought he had been thoroughly outplayed in the preseason by Harry Giles and thought we’d see Giles getting a handful of minutes at the 4-5 rotation.

A man who could probably get more minutes is Gary Trent Jr. He only has three three-pointers in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. He’s is feeling it to start the quarter. His shot is so pure in the quarter it is barely hitting the net. He’s given the Blazers a 96-91 point early in the fourth.

Get this man a contract extension.

The Lakers brought back Dennis Schroder at this point to shadow Trent — it was more than a shadow, he played Trent so close they were sharing the nucleus of atoms. It looks like Trent got a little banged up before the Lakers called the timeout and afterward we didn’t see a whole lot of movement on the offensive end from him over the next minute. Terry Stotts brought back in Dame.

LeBron James went on a personal 5-0 run and Harrell got into the action by hitting a shot over Kanter to tie the game. Harrell hits the free throw to give the Lakers a 99-98 lead.

Jusuf Nurkic hit a runner over LeBron, followed up by threes by Dame and CJ put the Blazers 106-101 with a skosh over three minutes left.

The Blazers were a little lost on offense when Trent first left the game and it quickly got everyone involved in some form.

That was until Damian Lillard looked at his watch and decided it was Dame Time. Another three and then an And-1 one.

He iced the game.

Close Out

This was the best I’ve seen the Blazers play in their first three games. Gary Trent Jr. was huge with 28 points off the bench, the Blazers as a team had 45 points off the bench. Derrick Jones Jr. was a thorn in LeBron’s side all night, especially in the second half, and Robert Covington made life a living hell for Anthony Davis all night.

That is one of the better full team efforts for the Blazers over the last couple of seasons. Their defense showed up in huge times of need time and time again tonight. There were points where the Lakers were on the verge of blowing them out, but the defense stepped up and got multiple stops in a row on at least eight different occasions tonight.

That is huge for this team.

Next Up

The Blazers are sticking around DTLA for a couple more days as they take on the Clippers on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.

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Sacramento Kings blowout Blazers in final home preseason game, 121-106

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

There is nothing quite like preseason NBA basketball. Especially in a pandemic. There have now been two games back in Moda for the first time since March and it’s eerie without anyone in there.

This is the second time the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings have gotten together this weekend. The Blazers put a beat down on the Kings on Friday night.

The Blazers decided to keep their starters on the bench for the second half as the Kings blew out the Blazers, 121-106.

Let’s get into some thoughts on the game.

First Quarter Thoughts

The Blazers definitely were not as hot to start this game as they were in the first game. Blazers missing a few open shots to start the game.

Jusuf Nurkic got his first start of the year after he had returned from his home in Bosnia and had to be part of the NBA Covid-19 protocol. It’s good to see him out there with both Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. Their combined physicality and defensive prowess are going to be interesting to witness this year.

The Blazers had none of that last year.

CJ McCollum was the only Blazer that seemed aggressive to start the game. He knocked down two early threes and had a nice mid range jumper. Damian Lillard is taking more of an facilitator role tonight.

The Kings are a lot sharper tonight. De’Aaron Fox is running without abandon and creating all sorts of chances for his guys. He’s showing a lot better form on his three point shot this year. If he starts to hit that consistently he will jump up quickly into the conversation for Top 10 point guards in the league.

Well, his pick and roll reads could use some work too.

Rodney Hood takes the court for the first time in a year. He’s going to be a huge piece of the bench this year for the Blazers. Gary Trent, Carmelo Anthony, Rodney Hood, and Enes Kanter are going to be be huge for Portland this year.

The Kings attacked Kanter as soon as he enter the game, Frank Kaminsky even looked like a legit NBA player attacking Kanter.

Second Quarter Thoughts

Way, way, way, way, way too many open threes for the Kings to start the quarter. Having flashbacks to how the Blazers defended the three last year. Kings are also jacking them up in tight quarters. Luke Walton did say he wanted to shoot at least 35 threes tonight. The Kings are well ahead of that pace with nine minutes left in the 2nd quarter.

Rodney Hood makes his first basket of the year! He converted with a nice post up move on Buddy Hield.

A quick reminder that Hood was shooting 49% on threes before his achilles injury last December. It’s really good to see him out there tonight. He’s going to be so important for the Blazers this year.

CJ Elleby is not ready for the NBA yet. I haven’t seen any updates on Nassir LIttle, he has to still be suffering from injury. I thought we’d see Little a lot more at three tonight, could even be used at the two in defensive lineups with Trent at point guard.

Terry Stotts gave Damian Lillard a near thirteen minutes of rest tonight on the bench. I was starting to think that Lillard was done for the night and he came right in. Stotts is throwing out some interesting lineups tonight. We’ve had some all offense, mostly defense with CJ, and then some head scratchers.

Noticing that Damian Lillard is using the Euro Step this year. It was not a big part of his game at all. Did not see it a whole lot in the first game on Friday night and he’s busted it out at least twice tonight. It’s big for Lillard to continue to add to his game. He’s already the best point guard in the NBA, he can be a top five overall player if he continues to expand all his tools.

I was looking forward to an extended run of Trent-Hood-Anthony all playing next to each other. There was enough defense out there, but the ball movement was shocking. There was some chemistry between Carmelo and Hood. They found each other on a couple of cuts for easy buckets. It’s probably because Hield was shading toward both Trent and Lillard at the three point line, but it allowed Hood and Melo to operate in the paint and in the mid-range. Got them a combined six points.

The Blazers cut the lead down to seven, after they were down 17 halfway through the second.

Halftime Thoughts

I am liking what I am seeing from CJ McCollum these first two games in the preseason. He’s a lot more aggressive on the offensive end and it looks like he finally gives a damn on the defensive end. Been waiting years for CJ to play some sort of defense. Tonight he’s been pretty active on both ends of the floor.

Harry Giles is looking like he’s going to get the minutes at center behind Jusuf Nurkic. Ene Kanter has not looked good in either preseason games so far this year. Kanter had a deep playoff run with the Celtics last year, but has only had two practices with the Blazers this year. He should pick it up, but Giles right now is so much better.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Covington is the only starter to start on the floor for the Blazers to start the second half. He’s joined by Trent, Keljin Blevins, Giles, and Elleby.

It is going to be tough to keep Harry Giles off the floor this season. He’s earning some major minutes off the bench this year. His energy is contagious, his vision is great for a guy his size, and his passing backs it up.

To illustrate this, there was a play on defense with about 7:45 left in the quarter, he closed on a Hield corner three from about 20 feet away in two steps and almost blocked the shot in the time it took Hield to gather the ball and shoot. That’s less than a second and a half.

Get off the couch and see how fast you can cover 20+ feet and in how many steps.

Also, that blind pocket pass he got to CJ Elleby for a layup was an impressive pass. Just a wow pass.

Picking up where he left off from the bubble, Trent is looking strong. He’s got the three point shot working, he’s showing off some mid range shots, plus that defense is already back where it needs to be. Stotts also had him running point. I’m thinking there are going to be defensive lineups where Trent is running the point with Hood, Jones, RoCo, and Giles. I don’t think we’re going to see many minutes with that lineup, but I bet it’ll be used to spark some turnovers and to get the Blazers running.

Case in point, the Blazers bench unit is out scoring the Kings starters 31-18 through the first 11 minutes of the third quarter.

Sloppy play at the end of the quarter allowed the Kings to take a three point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

Derrick Jones Jr. was the lone start to be on the court for the Blazers to start the quarter. Blazers did not start the quarter well, not that it really matters, but the Kings started off on a 12-2 run to get a double digit lead again.

The Blazers did not do a lot worth mentioning in this quarter. It broke down into a garbage time matchup.

Giles led the Blazers in points with 19 and Trent had 17 for the Blazers.

Next Up

The Blazers get a couple days off before they head to Denver to play the Nuggets. Tip is at 6:00 PM local time.

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