Blazer Beef
After nearly two weeks of basketball without a victory, the Portland Trail Blazers finally got in the win column. But it wasn’t without their share of rough patches.
The rough patch that shows up in just about every Blazers game this year are their turnovers. So far this season, the Blazers are 22nd in the league in turnover percentage.
They’ve increased their pace of play so far this year, but that’s not an excuse for the turnovers that they commit. You can see Al-Farouq Aminu’s turnovers coming from a mile away. And Damian Lillard, using a larger portion of Blazers possessions than ever before, is also posting his highest turnover rate since his rookie year.
Mason Plumlee has been lauded for his passing ability, but boy, when those high-post passes aren’t there, they aren’t there. Plumlee has the highest turnover rate among the team’s regular starters, turning it over on 19 percent of plays. Noah Vonleh has started more lately but is posting a turnover rate of 21, but he’s also five years younger than Plumlee.
Blazer Bravo
Their win on Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers was a complete performance that the Blazers desperately needed.
Lillard’s crunch time heroics rightfully garnered the headlines, but what Portland’s defense did after he hit those big shots was much more impressive late in the game.
They’ve been unable to slow teams down late in games over the last two weeks, but they held the one of the league’s best offenses to 18 fourth-quarter points on 33 percent shooting. They were disruptive in help defense against Blake Griffin’s post-ups and Chris Paul never got going, while being guarded by Lillard.
Whether it results in an improved stretch of basketball on the defensive end remains to be seen.
By The Numbers
7 — The Blazers are seventh in the league in 3-point rate, with 31 percent of their shots coming from downtown.
42 — Damian Lillard is No. 2 in the NBA in 3-point field goals with 42 going into Sunday, behind Golden State’s Stephen Curry who has a league-high 71.
3 — There are three teams with a pair of teammates in the top-15 in points scored this season, including Portland’s Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Phoenix and Toronto are the others.
The Week Ahead
Tuesday vs. Chicago Bulls (7 p.m., CSN): The Bulls are 8-4 under new head coach Fred Hoiberg, but their offense — ranked 24th in the league in points per possession — is reminding some of the Tom Thibodeau days.
Friday vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., KGW): Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is slated to make his first appearance in Portland since April of 2013 when he put up 47 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals.
