Blazer Beef
If there is one thing to get on the Blazers about for their play last week, it was their play against the Detroit Pistons last Sunday.
They did not shy away from criticizing their pick-and-roll defense that allowed Reggie Jackson to go for 30 points but their inconsistency defensively has gotten in the way of the Blazers reaching their goal of being a top-15 defensive team.
The Blazers have been winning with offense since the All-Star break, posing the 21st ranked defensive rating since the break according to NBA.com.
Their subpar defense in their win against Washington was erased thanks to the heroism of Gerald Henderson and the Golden State Warriors scoring 81 points in the first half Friday.
The top-five defense they played in the month leading up to the All-Star break may not be sustainable, but a middle ground might be.
It looks like they are still trying to find it.
Blazer Bravos
Saturday’s take-care-of-business win over the Orlando Magic was another impressive display of discipline from this young Blazers team.
Their play has far exceeded the expectations of everybody and a big reason for that has been the maturity shown by the fourth-youngest team in the NBA.
Lillard and Stotts have had the Blazers ready to play every night and the ability to move on from one game to the next is not an easy one for a young team to acquire.
Also, after Lillard had set the league on fire, he also showed his brilliance in assuming different roles as the lead guard.
After a rough game against Golden State, Lillard saw that ball movement and sticking to Portland’s offense was their best plan of attack against the young Magic.
Lillard’s ability to know when to take over and when to let his teammates get going is another sign of his maturation as a game manager in addition to his prolific scoring ability.
By The Numbers
1.5 — With 15 games left in their season, the Blazers have a 1 1/2 game lead over Houston and Dallas for the 6th seed in the Western Conference.
10 — Since Jan. 1, the Blazers have had the 10th best net-rating in the NBA according to NBA.com.
15 — According to Nylon Calculus, Blazers forward Noah Vonleh has allowed the lowest field goal percentage when protecting the rim on the team at 45.8 percent. That puts him in the top-15 in the league.
The Week Ahead
Monday at Oklahoma City Thunder (5 p.m., CSN): The Thunder have lost a league-high 12 games when leading after three quarters. If playoff seeds hold as they are, this will be Portland’s first round match-up.
Thursday at San Antonio Spurs (5:30 p.m., KGW, NBATV): Former Blazer LaMarcus Aldridge has hit his stride with the Spurs and rediscovered his nose for the rim. He is taking 28 percent of his shots at the rim after experiencing a steady decline since the 2011-12 season.
Friday at New Orleans (5 p.m., CSN): A bad season has gotten worse for the Pelicans after losing guard Eric Gordon for the rest of the season.
Sunday at Dallas Mavericks (1 p.m., CSN): The Mavericks have lost five in a row, but won the first meeting between these teams and only needs to win one of their next two meetings to have the tiebreaker over Portland.
