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Kelly Oubre Jr

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Blazers fall to the Warriors 137-122 as Steph goes OFF for 62!

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Blazers are finishing a back to back series in the Chase Center with the Warriors. After beating the W’s to start the new year, there was a lot of online chatter about how Steph isn’t getting the looks that he had when sharing the court with his fellow Splash Brother and how the Blazers now have the best backcourt in the NBA. He DID NOT like that.


Image via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

Image via Trail Blazers (used with permission)

First Quarter:

Quick pace to this one as Wiseman mishandles a rebound, chases it down to save it right to RoCo for an open 3. Rookie mistake. Nurkic starts the game (Bosnian) beasting inside for 2 early buckets in the first 3 minutes and Portland is off to a good start.

Wiggins size is affecting CJ as he’s blocked a shot and deflected a couple passes.

Nurkic gets called for a charge on Draymond. Bang-bang call that Stotts challenges. Early for a challenge, but seemed worth it to get Draymond in early foul trouble. The call is upheld and Nurkic is assessed the offensive foul.

Draymond is being Draymond and he and Dame are starting to chirp. Kerr wisely takes him out, but the next time downcourt, the refs have had enough and call a Double tech on Dame and Draymond while he’s on the bench.

Steph’s FT streak ends at 76, but he ends the quarter with 21 points. He’s cooking. 7-11 fg in the quarter.

CJ rattles in a 3 pointer at the buzzer. 36-33 W’s. 

Game is a little chippy.

Second quarter:

Wiggins blows a layup to start the quarter and CJ responds with a layup of his own. Wiggins has been terrible on offense this year.

Nice pick and roll leads to Eric Paschall finishes with authority on Robert Covington. My goodness.

CJ with the beautiful between the leg dribble into an and-one. Doing a great job of carrying the 2nd unit offense with Dame off the floor. 

Gary Trent Jr providing a spark in the 2nd quarter. Hit a nice step back followed by a drive should have been an And-One.

A Carmelo 3 results in a the rarely seen wing 3 wedgie (ball getting stuck between backboard and rim)

Back to back buckets for Steph. Pumpfake 3 followed by a beautiful drive. He’s making it look Steph-ortless. 

Great defense by CJ in transition leads to a jump all with 9.5 seconds left.  Half ends with a Nurkic block on Steph.

31 for Steph in the half. 10-18 FG. CJ leads the Blazers with 14. 

W’s out-rebounding Blazers 29-18. Out-assisting them 10-5. 

3pt FG for GS: 5-15. Portland shot 5-22 from 3 in the first half. They’ll need to pick up their shooting to stay competitive tonight.

Much cleaner 2nd quarter. 

66-54 W’s. 

3rd quarter:

James Wiseman with a nasty spin move at the FT line that leads to a monster dunk. Wow.

Steal, deflection and Draymond block to start the 2nd half. W’s playing good defense. 

Back to back to back buckets for Dame. 7 points in the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half.

Very questionable foul on a Curry corner 3 pointer leads to 3 free throws. Good acting by Steph. 4th foul on Jones Jr. 

Derrick Jones Jr. goes Airplane Mode for a tip dunk off a Nurkic miss. 

Draymond alley oops to Wiseman after Nurk gets taken out by Wiggins.  Nurkic hasn’t been a factor in this game since the 1st quarter.

Draymond badly airballs a 3. Steph gets the offensive “rebound” and gets fouled by Jones Jr. for the And-one. That’s 5 fouls on Derrick Jones Jr. and multiple cheap ones on him.  

A flagrant one is called on CJ against Wiseman on a leak out. Would not have been a Flagrant in the 80s/90s/2000s. Smh. 

Huge dunk by Oubre on a fake handoff to Steph.

Blazers need to start playing some defense. 

Kelly Oubre hits a corner 3.

He’s now 2-28 on the year from 3. He’s not Chef Curry with the shot, boy.

Steph has 40 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd. He’s set the new scoring record for the Chase Center, eclipsing the previous high of 39 set by Damian Lillard on Opening Night last year. It seems so long ago.  

Oubre picks up full court and Dame responds with a leaning 3 pointer in his eyeball. Dame Time may be coming a little early tonight. 

Another Curry pull up 3 as he ends the quarter at 45.  Hard to beat this team when he’s doing this. Even this year. 

Dame hits a buzzer beater long 2 from the corner to end the quarter. 

97-83 W’s to end the 3rd. 

4th quarter:

Simons starts the quarter off with a wing 3 off a good pass out of the post from Kanter. 

Kanter getting a lot of offensive rebounds, but that’s because the Blazers keep missing shots. 6 rebounds and 6 points in the first 5 minutes of the quarter. 

Warriors respond by putting Wiseman back in. 

Dame promptly blows right by Wiseman to cut the lead to 12. Most of the game has been at this distance as the Warriors have kept the Blazers down by double digits for the entire 2nd half. 

Curry hits another 3 to push the lead back to 15. 

Dame responds with back to back 3s of his own to cut the lead to 9. 

Steph hits a short leaner for 2 and the stars are starting to play like the All NBA players they are. 

Wiggins gets a tough drive and layup to go for an And-one after a foul from Melo.  Misses the free throw and the lead is 11. 

Melo responds with a corner 3 to bring the lead back down to 8. 

Blazers need a run to make this interesting. 

After two free throws by Curry, the lead is stretched to 10. Curry is 15-16 from the free throw line and has 54. 

A corner 3 by Wiggins is a dagger after a great screen and roll between Steph and Draymond. Looked like 2015 all over again. 

Two more FTs for Curry and he’s up to 56. 

Dame turns it over and the Blazers are starting to foul. 

Oubre and Dame are starting to talk. He seems excited that he finally hit another 3 pointer this year. 

No call on a McCollum dunk attempt where he’s clearly fouled by Wiggins leads to an Oubre run out. 

Melo gives him a hard(ish) foul to prevent the dunk. He’s fouled out and surprisingly there weren’t any extracurricular activities. Oubre sinks both.  Looking like it’s over with 2 minutes to go. 

Steph hits an absurd pull-up 3 to get 59. And immediately another 3 to get to a career high of 62. My goodness. 

Kerr takes him out with 33 seconds left to get the virtual standing ovation.  

I think he heard the online criticism because he DID NOT mess around tonight. 

Lillard led the Blazers with 32, CJ had 28, but together they didn’t match Steph’s output by himself. You aren’t beating this team when he goes Super Saiyan.

Blazers go down 137-122 to finish their road trip at .500

Next up are the Chicago Bulls on January 5th back at the Moda Center.

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Aron Baynes and Phoenix Suns scorch Blazers, 127-117

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda


Photo by Bruce Ely / Used with permission

Photo by Bruce Ely / Used with permission

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

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

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

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

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

I mean, who thinks about the Sacramento Kings?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Looking at the Blazers’ schedule

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

vs. Pelicans – 2/21

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (25-32)

vs. Pistons – 2/23

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

Prediction: Blazers win (26-32)

vs. Celtics – 2/25

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (26-33)

at Pacers – 2/27

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (26-34)

at Hawks – 2/29

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

Prediction: Blazers win (27-34)

at Magic – 3/2

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

Prediction: Blazers win (28-34)

vs. Wizards -3/4

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

Prediction: Blazers win (29-34)

at Suns – 3/6

The Blazers owe the Suns and Kelly Oubre a beating.

Prediction: Blazers win (30-34)

vs. Kings – 3/7

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

Prediction: Blazers win (31-34)

vs. Suns – 3/10

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

Prediction: Blazers win (32-34)

vs. Grizzlies – 3/12

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

Prediction: Blazers win (33-34)

vs. Rockets – 3/15

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

Prediction: Blazers win (34-34)

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

vs. Timberwolves – 3/17

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

Prediction: Blazers win (35-34)

vs. Mavericks – 3/19

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (35-35)

at Timberwolves – 3/22

This will be a good night.

Prediction: Blazers win (36-35)

at Hornets – 3/24

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

Prediction: Blazers win (37-35)

at Pistons – 3/25

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

Prediction: Blazers win (38-35)

at Celtics – 3/27

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (39-36)

at 76ers – 3/29

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (38-37)

at Nets – 3/30

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

Prediction: Blazers win (39-36)

vs. Jazz – 4/2

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (39-38)

vs. Grizzlies – 4/5

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

Prediction: Blazers win (40-38)

vs. Cavaliers – 4/7

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

Prediction: Blazers win (41-38)

vs Nuggets – 4/9

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

Prediction: Blazers lose (41-39)

at Warriors – 4/13

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

Prediction: Blazers win (42-39)

vs. Clippers – 4/15

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

Prediction: Blazers win (43-39)

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

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

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Blazers blow game to Phoenix Suns, 122-116

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

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

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

So here we are tonight against the Phoenix Suns.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blazers lose a heartbreaker by six.

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

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

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Dame, Blazers scrape past Booker-less Suns, 111-110

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
mccollum-vs-suns.jpg

Damian Lillard saved the day for Portland in a desert thriller against the Suns on Monday night. Devin Booker was out for Phoenix, but they still made do with Kelly Oubre Jr. and Aron Baynes leading the charge. The Blazers got off to an embarrassingly slow start but made it interesting throughout the game, ultimately pulling away in the final minutes.

Lineups

Portland: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Kent Bazemore, Carmelo Anthony, Hassan Whiteside

Phoenix: Ricky Rubio, Mikal Bridges, Kelly Oubre Jr., Dario Saric, Frank Kaminsky

Game Summary

Phoenix jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the opening five minutes, with Carmelo Anthony’s 3-pointer being the only bright spot early. Phoenix held a 16-point lead before the Blazers regained consciousness within the first period, but Damian Lillard picked up his third foul with 3:12 left, having gone 0-for-5 from the field up until that point. At the end of the first, Portland trailed by 8 with CJ leading the way at 12 points. The real highlight of the first quarter was the fouling, though: Portland committed 12 fouls in the first quarter alone. 

https://twitter.com/GeraldBourguet/status/1206765019515351040?s=20

Dame finally hit his first 3 with a few minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Blazers cut the deficit to single digits (67-59) before the half thanks to a beautiful alley-oop from Dame to Melo.

https://twitter.com/trailblazers/status/1206774647527575552?s=20

Lillard opened the second half with a pair of 3s before picking up his 4th personal foul a few possessions later. Momentum started to shift Portland’s way after a tough and-one by Melo. CJ buried a 3 to give the Blazers the lead late in the 3rd. Kent Bazemore became the first Blazer not named Lillard, McCollum, or Anthony to score in the 3rd when he took back the lead with a 3 of his own. The Suns

Kelly Oubre couldn’t stop throwing it down, smashing three massive dunks in the first three quarters. He led the way for Phoenix with 24 points on 10-for-21 shooting.

Down the Stretch

Damian Lillard’s driving layup was blocked off the backboard by Aron Baynes but called as a goal tend on the floor. The call was reviewed and overturned despite minimal evidence against the original call.

On the ensuing possession, Oubre drained a corner 3 as he was fouled by Bazemore and completed the 4-point play.

With 32 seconds left, Dame received the inbound pass, drove past Rubio on an iso and jumped through Baynes for the foul and the bucket.

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1206795283289362432?s=20

Another lengthy review and one free throw later, the Blazers had a one-point lead with 26 seconds remaining.

The Suns held for the last shot and found an open look with Rubio, but the Spaniard couldn’t get the shot to go and Lillard’s rebound secured the victory.

Final Lines

  • CJ – 30pts, 7reb, 7ast, 5TO on 11-20 FG, 3-7 3pt
  • Dame – 27pts, 5ast, 4TO, 9-21 FG, 3-8 3pt
  • Melo – 23pts, 8reb, 2stl, 3blk, 8-16 FG, 4-6 3pt
  • Whiteside – 10pts, 14reb, 3blk, 4TO, 5-7 FG
  • Baze – 11pts, 3stl, 4-10 FG

This was a more important win for Portland than it seemed early on. I personally was ready to give up this game when we were down 16 in the first quarter. Melo gets my game ball for playing through a painful corner 3 airball and giving the Blazers some much-needed energy throughout the night.

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Ranking the 2019-20 NBA Small Forwards

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
Kawhi-Leonard.jpg

These rankings are going to be a little bit different without Kevin Durant sitting at the top. Maybe Kawhi would have knocked him off the top and he could have been number two. We’ll have to see how things shake out next year and if Durant comes back at all for this coming season (doubt it).

30. Troy Brown – Washington Wizards

There have been quite a few Wizards coming in dead last in the rankings here. That’s not a good sign for their season projections. I do think we’ll see a big jump from Mr. Brown this year. I think he has the game to average almost 15 points a game and probably flirt with 7-8 boards a game as well. Would like to see him take the next step defensively as well. He’s got quick hands and decent footwork.

29. Andre Roberson – Oklahoma City Thunder

It’s almost been two years since Roberson has been on a basketball court. His knee pretty much exploded. People say he looks good in his recent scrimmages, but there is no way he’s the lockdown defender he once was when he comes back. He better have worked on that jump shot while he was out.

28. Justin Jackson – Dallas Mavericks

I am not sure what we are going to get out of Jackson this year or even he’ll finish the year as the starter in Dallas. The Mavs have the personnel to run a good three-guard lineup and move Luka Doncic to the three full time.

27. Kelly Oubre Jr. – Phoenix Suns

Inconsistent. That is the one word that you can say about Oubre. He has a ton of potential, but he’s never been able to put the mental game together to match his physical game.

26. OG Anunoby – Toronto Raptors

Poor Anunoby. The man who has been tasked in replacing Kawhi Leonard. Anunoby isn’t a bad player, but he’s not a top-level player at the position. I really like the kid though. He’s a ball of energy. I think he gets to double figures most nights in scoring this year and his defense should be decent.

25. De’Andre Hunter – Atlanta Hawks

I don’t quite know how to rank Hunter yet. He was a little up and down in the preseason (which rookies isn’t). This ultimately might be too low for him. The Hawks are for sure going to be a nightly watch on League Pass though.

24. Kyle Anderson – Memphis Grizzlies

This actually is probably too high for Anderson. He’s a solid defender and after five years his offensive game has never really developed as it should have. He has a ton of skill and potential, but I’m not sure if he’s going to reach it.

23. Glenn Robinson III – Golden State Warriors

This was projected to Alfonzo McKinnie, but he is now no longer with the team and I’m stuck in traffic at the time of this publishing.

22. Nicolas Batum – Charlotte Hornets

We’ve seen a steady decline in Batum over the last few years. He’s probably the best scoring threat outside of Rozier on the Hornets roster. Maybe?

21. Taurean Prince – Brooklyn Nets

Prince will hold down the fort until Durant returns. Again, another guy with a ton of potential and now that he’s got a good point guard in Kyrie he might be able to bring something to the table.

20. Jonathan Isaac – Orlando Magic

Points improved last year for Isaac, but his three-point shooting went down (he took more and therefore missed more) a couple points, but nothing to be worried about there. Isaac should take another jump up in the scoring and also start to become a little bit more of a lockdown defender.

19. Kevin Knox – New York Knicks

Knox should a lot of promise as a rookie, but it’s the Knicks and well. God knows what is going to happen next there. He’ll probably be traded for Gallinari, who will then sign with Denver in July.

18. Tony Snell – Detroit Pistons

As long as Snell keeps this starting job he should average double figures for the Pistons. He showed flashes of good defense last year, hopefully Casey can get a little bit more out of him this year.

17. Andrew Wiggins – Minnesota Timberwolves

I probably should have put Wiggins at #30 to appease the internet basketball community. He can be a good scorer, but he doesn’t care at all about playing defense. He needs to get the mental portion of his game figured out and soon.

16. Otto Porter – Chicago Bulls

I’ve been a fan of Porter since his Georgetown days. Year after year he continues to improve and get better. He should have a career year with the Bulls this year.

15. Brandon Ingram – New Orleans Pelicans

Will Ingram finally live up to being worthy of the #2 pick in the draft in 2016. He’s another person with a ton of potential, but for some reason or another hasn’t put it all together. With Zion being out for a few weeks he’s going to be able to work on his chemistry with Jrue Holiday and hopefully become a solid second option for Nola this year.

14. Rodney Hood – Portland Trail Blazers

I think we get a big season from Hood. After a slow start in Portland (and his career), we should see a big jump in his scoring and in his rebounding this coming season. As the year goes along he’s going to get better and better with Dame and CJ.

13. Will Barton – Denver Nuggets

Barton is this high because of the potential he has. He’s often hurt, but when he plays he’s good. The bad thing here is both Torrey Craig and Michael Porter Jr. are breathing down his neck for PT. If he gets hurt and misses an extended amount of time he’s probably will not get his starting gig back.

12. Cedi Osman – Cleveland Cavaliers

We should see another jump from Osman this coming season. It’s hard not to cheer for this kid.

11. Harrison Barnes – Sacramento Kings

Barnes might have found a home in Sacramento. He’s never lived up to the hype he had coming out of UNC (unfounded if you ask me) and has been ostracized by each fan base that he’s played for. I think he’s finally in a comfortable situation and we should see him post nearly 20 points per game this coming season.

10. Eric Gordon – Houston Rockets

The dude gets buckets. Not sure how many chances he’ll get with both Westbrook and Harden dominating the ball on most possessions, but when he gets the chance he’ll let it fly and knock down threes.

9. Joe Ingles – Utah Jazz

Ingles is one of the better defenders at the position and gets in the head of opponents really well. Look how he destroyed Playoff P two years ago for verification. We could see an uptick in scoring from Joe this year, but his value is guarding the toughest wings in the league.

8. Gordon Hayward – Boston Celtics

Hayward is this high because I think he’s going to have a big bounce back year without Kyrie. He’s going to mesh a lot better with Kemba and play well with both Tatum and Brown. I predict he’ll lead the Celtics in scoring this coming season and play some kinda okay defense.

7. T.J. Warren – Indiana Pacers

Warren is going to get lots of buckets in Indiana this year. While Oladipo is out he’s going to be the main scoring threat for the Pacers. He had some scary good moments in the preseason and I think that will carry over to the regular season. It’ll be interesting to see how he meshes with Oladipo when he returns.

6. Khris Middleton – Milwaukee Bucks

Middleton got paid and I think he’s going to play up to that contract. He should be an All-Star going forward. Middleton should average over 20 points a game this year and play pretty good defense on the perimeter. Giannis will make his job easier in the scoring department.

5. DeMar DeRozan – San Antonio Spurs

It seemed like he had a hard time adjusting to life in San Antonio last year. He still put up numbers, but they were much quieter than they were in Toronto. I watched quite a lot of Spurs games last year and he seemed to disappear for long stretches of time and Pop pulled him in weird moments when you think he’d be on the floor to close out a contest. I think we’ll see him have a big bounce back.

4. Tobias Harris – Philadelphia 76ers

He should be the second scorer for the Sixers this season. With Embiid and Horford holding down the paint he won’t have to worry about battling for too many rebounds and focus more on his defense and scoring.

3. Jimmy Butler – Miami Heat

Probably the second-best two way player in all of the league. After having to share the workload in Minnesota and Philly last year, Butler now has his own team. He’ll be the Heat’s only real scoring option to start the season.

2. LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers

Man, there has been no better for so long. For the first time ever LeBron looked mortal and the Lakers missed the playoffs because of it. He had to carry a lot last season with some inconsistent teammates. Outside of Anthony Davis things won’t change much, but for the first time ever we could see LeBron embrace a second fiddle status behind Davis.

1. Kawhi Leonard – Los Angeles Clippers

He’s the best two-way player in all of the league. He should be an MVP candidate, but the load management will keep him from being a serious contender.

Other posts in this series:

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

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