PORTLAND — After a day to rest on it, the reality that Wesley Matthews is out has set in for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Matthews said as much on a Facebook post Friday morning, saying that he had hoped it was all a bad dream when he woke up.
It’s still all too real for the Blazers, who now must go to Minnesota to face the young Timberwolves.
The question has been asked since the moment Matthews went down: How can Portland make up for all that Wesley Matthews brings?
“You can never really make up for it,” Steve Blake said. “He’s that important to us.”
“(Matthews) plays harder than anyone on our team, plays with a lot of passion.” said point guard Damian Lillard. “A lot goes into being Wes Matthews. I think it’s hard for our team to think about not having him out there, just to think about all he brings to the team.”
The Blazers even reached out to Ray Allen’s representation according to Yahoo! Sports, but Allen’s camp reinforced his desire to sit out the rest of the season which he announced just hours before Matthews went down.
The Blazers, for now, will move forward with Arron Afflalo, CJ McCollum, Alonzo Gee, Allen Crabbe and Dorell Wright as player who could potentially see more time moving forward with a hole of 34 minutes a night to fill.
McCollum was playing well before the deal for Afflalo, stringing together double-digit scoring outings, as it basically eliminated his minutes. McCollum says that nothing changes for him personally.
“Even before Wes was hurt, I just continued to work hard and I’m trying to get better, keep your body in shape and just try to stay mentally engaged,” McCollum said. “That’s important. Now that he’s hurt, I’ll just continue to do the same stuff. Work hard, stay locked in and be ready to go if my number’s called.”
Alonzo Gee played in the second half on Friday and showed great athleticism and cutting ability. Dorell Wright has proven that he can come in to rebound and shoot the ball. Allen Crabbe has been something of an enigma, completely falling out of Portland’s rotation after a stretch of encouraging play in place of an injured Nicolas Batum in November and December.
Of course the deal for Afllalo, who had started in every game the past five seasons coming into Portland, looms large now.
Afflalo’s statistics are not that different from those of Matthews. Per 100 possessions, Afflalo is averaging 21.5 points this season while Matthews is averaging 24.1 per 100 possessions with better shooting percentages from the field and long-range.
Rebounding wise and in assists, they have comparable numbers as well. Afflalo also likes to work in the midrange a little more than Matthews but that could change as the Blazers new offense starting five tries to build chemistry in the last 22 games of the season.
But chemistry wise and defensively, there is no doubt that the Blazers will have to collectively make up for Matthews.
“We can’t relax now,” Batum said. “Guys got to step up now. We got to step up now. We all got to step up. Out of respect for him we can’t relax and lay down. We have to play now.”
