(I used to do this for a semi-pro living; think...Burt Reynolds in Semi-Tough, only writing. Anyway...)
In the midst of a six game home stand where the last three have been decided by four points or fewer, the Portland Trail Blazers found themselves in yet another close contest against the Brooklyn Nets Friday, showing the same inspiring resiliency and frustrating inconsistency that had led them to a 6-5 record thus far. Six wins out of 11 is certainly not a damning proposition in the NBA, but with an early home-heavy slate and some less-than-elite opponents parking the bus at Rose Gar--er, Moda Center, piling up wins and confidence should be one of the squad goals before the clock ticks 2018.
The Nets have re-re-retooled for this season, and if I missed a re in there I apologize but you get the idea. Out are Brook Lopez, Bogdan Bogdonavich and Randy Foye, three of the top five game-starters from 2016-17, replaced largely by Timofey Mozgov, Allen Crabbe and DeAngelo Russell. For Crabbe it was a homecoming return to Portland, changing teams in the previous offseason after opening his career as a Blazer.
It figured to be something of a shootout from deep, especially from Brooklyn's perspective as they currently hoist more threes a game than any team except Golden State and Houston's ridiculous 45 per. (The Warriors get away with it by shooting 40% as a team; Houston (34%) and Brooklyn (33%) have questions to answer.) Portland ironically answers with only 25 threes attempted per game, perhaps owing to the newly found pick and roll connection between Damian Lillard and Yusuf Nurkic. The Blazers are actually excellent at defending this year so far, sporting the third best defensive rating (points per 100 possessions) at 102.5 coming in--but Brooklyn leads the league in pace, creating almost 107 possessions per game.
For the first quarter, things went largely according to both teams' plans: Brooklyn was able to hit from deep, and while Portland wasn't exactly killing it offensively they were able to exploit Nurkic against Mozgov repeatedly. Timmah! scored Brooklyn's first bucket and then got pushed around by the Bosnian Beast for 11 points in a variety of fashions, including a couple of nice deeper jumpers that Mozgov didn't bother to contest. Crabbe was in good form early, dropping a couple threes. A sweet downtown pop from Pat Connaughton at the first buzzer put the home team up 28-21, but style against style things were roughly a wash.
The Blazers opened the second well and threatened to establish a good working lead. When PC dropped another three to make it 34-24, it was the first of a couple attempts to settle in and manage the game. But Brooklyn, who had started to miss some of those voluminous three attempts, made just enough to hang tough while both teams went through their roster rotations. Shabazz Napier had a particularly good quarter, using his quickness and court recognition to take advantage of his spots and move around the bigger Nets. And when Nurkic returned he continued finding room as well, putting the Blazers up 46-39 on a nice finger roll with 2:52 to play. DeAngelo Russell quickly answered with five of his own however, and a pair of Lillard free throws at the end of the second kept the margin only within six, 52-46.
The third period looked like more of the second with starters instead of subs, as Nurkic did more early damage and tipped in a CJ McCollum floater for a 59-50 lead. Lillard hit a nice jumper off the elbow and after a fairly quiet stretch CJ sank two free throws to put the Blazers up 10 at 65-55.
And then the bottom essentially fell out. The Nets ran off 17 straight points, as Crabbe rolled to the rim unmolested and Quincy Acy, DeMarre Carroll and Spencer Dinwiddie all drained threes to take a seven point lead at 72-65. Ouch. CJ drained a three to recover somewhat at 77-70, but the quarter ended with the home team being outscored 31-18 and looking upward towards regaining the lead in the final stanza.
To this point Russell had been somewhat subdued, scoring only 10 through three quarters and not moving especially aggressively towards the rim. Through much of the fourth the pattern continued, as the Blazers did indeed re-establish a lead and seemingly set themselves on a winning path after a triple by Lillard gave him 13 and the Blazers an 89-84 lead with 5:40 to play. The Nets called a time out, and whatever message was delivered was well heeded. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson hit a turnaround fade and then frustrated the Blazers' Moe Harkless at the rim, leading to a Russell three to tie it.
In Portland's previous game against a tougher West opponent in Memphis, coach Terry Stotts opted to leave Nurkic on the bench in the final minutes, going instead with a somewhat more mobile but smaller and thinner Ed Davis. It sort-of worked, as the Blazers had an open look to win the game with a CJ jumper on a night when he dealt for 36 points and looked until then like he couldn't miss.
Tonight it didn't work at all. Russell popped on Davis when he failed to close, and ran by him when he got too close. A free throw and a driving layup gave the Nets a three point lead at 92-89 and Lillard answered with his own pretty shot to close within one, then another to take the lead. Hollis-Jefferson saw the same kind of opening and did his own jumper/layup pairing to re-establish a 96-95 lead. From there the Blazers got sloppy, Hollis-Jefferson thieving them twice in a row and Russell draining another jumper on Davis, and that was basically the ballgame.
This game highlighted once again IMO the crucial role the injured Al-Farouq Aminu plays for the Blazers, particularly on defense. The late stages of this game were crying out for someone 6'9 or taller with length and agility to stay on guys like H-J and DeAngelo. Nurkic was eliminated from the conversation by default, and rather than go with young players like Noah Vonleh or Caleb Swanigan--neither a confident defender in general yet--Stotts opted to stick with Davis. The Nets took full advantage and basically grabbed the game by exploiting the matchups the best. Mozgov wasn't on the court either, but the Nets don't rely on Mozgov the way Portland really needs Nurkic to balance both sides of the floor for them, so Brooklyn got the better end of the benchings.
The loss put the Blazers at 6-6, not horrible but underwhelming and frankly somewhat below expectations, especially as mentioned given the early home schedule. The 101-97 final was another close game but it frankly didn't seem that tight at the end. The Nets got a crucial rebound off a missed free throw and were able to squelch any last threat--and come on, that can't happen. CJ said afterwards, "That's a game we should have won," and I have to agree. The Nets outcoached and out-efforted the Blazers, and Portland has to be asking themselves some questions in the locker room.
Next up, the always-competitive Denver Nuggets. One thing to watch: the offensive effectiveness. Shooting 42% overall and 35% from deep is not how they're going to win a lot of games. Lillard's struggles are forcing them to look elsewhere, and it's showing up in the box score. Nurkic can cover the gap, he's shown, but he can't do it from the bench and teams are working to gameplan his advantage off the court. We'll see if Stotts and the Blazers can adjust to what the early video is showing teams, in terms of stopping what makes Portland effective. A couple more wins before spending most of the rest of the November in hotel rooms, should be their focus over the next week.