Portland Trail Blazers overcomes adversity to set the stage for the 2nd half of the season: mid-season report and awards

The Portland Trail Blazers 2020-21 season is likely to be forever remembered and defined by the injuries of CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, and therefore viewed as the history of two injuries and the history of two halves.

The second half of the season starts on Thursday at home against Phoenix (24-11), while the Blazers try to stay in the middle of the playoffs in a highly competitive Western Conference that has 10 .500 teams or better and where the Portland is in fifth place, just three games away from runner-up Suns and three ahead of ninth Golden State (19-18).

Helping the cause of the Blazers will be the eventual return of McCollum (broken foot) and Nurkic (broken). The fact that the Blazers are in this position, despite 45 games lost from these two (22 together) is certainly the story of the first half.

The Blazers (21-14) were 13-9 without McCollum and Nurkic in the lineup. The Blazers’ ability to avoid falling below 0.500 without their second and third best players was not only a testament to Damian Lillard’s game and leadership, but also the depth of the list and the ability of coach Terry Stott to get the most out of the players. available.

“I am very proud of what they have done so far,” said Stotts of his team.

The home stretch began roughly for Portland, who lost four of their first six games without Nurkic and McCollum. This included explosive losses to San Antonio (125-104) and Milwaukee (134-106). By this time, the team’s defense had established itself as one of the worst in the league, despite the additions of defenders Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr.

Sitting on 10-9 with a poor defense and knowing that McCollum and Nurkic would be going for a while, he created a dismal picture for the rest of the first half.

Then, something clicked.

Portland won eight of its next nine games, including two over Philadelphia (24-12), to move to fourth place in the West.

Granted, the Blazers faced a delicate part of their schedule. Of the eight wins, six were against teams below .500. Still, the fact that he found ways to win five games away from home and four games decided by four points or less, spoke about the team’s ability to overcome adversity.

Gary Trent Jr. completed the job as a starter in McCollum’s place. Enes Kanter became a double-double machine starting for Nurkic. Anfernee Simons elevated his game beyond anything he had demonstrated before. And Carmelo Anthony, 36, overcame an ugly situation in which he hit 18 out of 65 to become one of the team’s most trusted scorers.

“We talked about how deep we were this season and the fact that we were able to sustain these injuries and still find ways to win games speaks to our depth,” said Stotts.

However, some red flags appeared after the team’s victory in eight of nine. Portland played three strong Western teams in a row (Phoenix, Denver and Los Angeles Lakers) and lost all three. This happened after losing at home to Washington (9-17 at the time).

Lillard himself pointed out that the Blazers did not respond well to the leap in competition after partying mainly on losing teams in disputed games. In fact, the Blazers went from 4 to 7 against the nine best teams in the West and will face 13 of those games in the second half, in addition to three against the 10th placed Memphis (16 to 16).

This defeat also exposed the Blazers’ weak defense, which reaches the second half with a rating of 117 (28th in the league). The Blazers’ attack is in eighth place with 116.5, thanks in large part to a commitment to the three who saw the team take second place in attempts at three points (42.3) and eighth in percentage (38.2% ). The team’s net rating of -0.54 occupies 20th position, however, and is not exactly a good sign in the future.

Lillard said he was pleased that the team had found a way to get the job done most nights without Nurkic and McCollum. But he added that Blazers cannot assume that life will be easier when they return.

“I think we had a really solid first half of the season and now we just have to make sure that, even when we’re closer to full strength, we don’t get them back and we think it’s going to be easy all of a sudden,” said Lillard. “We have to continue to be focused as we always have, trust each other and continue to add the same energy and focus that we had. And I think that if we keep doing that, we will be an even better team in the second half. “

Stotts pointed to the many great stories the team had during the first half. The subscription wins. Overcoming injuries. Individual growth of the player. All of this led to the best record the team has had in 35 games since the start of 27-8 during the 2014-15 season.

“Doing this in the situations we live in is, I think, remarkable,” said Stotts. “But we know that we are only halfway there.”

FIRST MIDDLE OF AWARDS

During the most recent episode of the Blazer Focused podcast, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian / OregonLive and I shared our midseason awards for the Blazers. Here is a summary of my list, with a mention of the direction that Freeman took when we disagreed.

MVP (NOT NAMED LILLARD): ENES KANTER

Where would Blazers be without Enes Kanter? The loss of Nurkic pushed Kanter into the starting lineup. Harry Giles III’s relatively recent injury left Kanter as the team’s only big healthy.

Kanter responded to the call by producing 16 doubles after Nurkic fell (20 in total) on January 14. Kanter ranks third in the NBA in rebounds per game (11.9 in 26.3 minutes). He ranks second with 4.2 offensive rebounds per game, providing second-chance opportunities for a team of high-volume three-point shots. For 100 possessions, Kanter ranks second with 22 total rebounds.

The team never executes the attack through Kanter, but he averaged 11.9 points from 59.4% of shots. Kanter will never be known for his defense, but on several occasions he made important defensive plays that helped the team win.

“He was invaluable to us,” said Stotts. “Especially with the fact that Nurk is out.”

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: ANFERNEE SIMONS

When McCollum fell, Trent moved on to the starting lineup, which meant that Simons had to not only back up the shooting guard location, but also replace McCollum as the main reserve guard behind Lillard.

Simons, who won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest on Sunday, responded by raising his shot percentage from three points to 41.1%, after shooting just 33.2% last season. This caused his effective shot to rise from 46.9% last season to 54.3% this season.

His punching off the bench allowed the Blazers to better replicate what they lost when McCollum left the team.

Freeman chose Trent, who had the burden of going from backup to starter and carried the load magnificently. He averages 15.9 points per game this season, compared with 8.9 last season, and hit 40.1% in three.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER: DERRICK JONES JR.

This was a close encounter between Jones and Covington, but we both chose Jones. Covington leads the team with 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

In the team’s last eight games, Covington has accumulated 19 blocks and 13 steals. But Jones is there in blocks (1.1) and has an average of 0.8 thefts. Where he separates is like a defender with the ball. Jones often assigns the task of defending the best wing of the opposing team. In addition, he made some spectacularly defensive plays that gave him an edge in terms of style. At NBA.com, Jones has a defensive rating of 112.2, compared with 113 for Covington.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: JUSUF NURKIC

Yes, Nurkic played only 12 games, but he is having his worst statistical season with the Blazers. He arrived on the training ground out of shape (albeit for personal reasons) and it showed in his game.

Nurkic averaged 9.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game. Compare that to his performance last summer in the bubble, when in eight games Nurkic gave Portland 17.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. This is the Nurkic that Blazers should see in the second half. If not, your return may be a failure compared to Kanter’s move.

Freeman went with Covington because of his offensive production of ups and downs. Covington averages just 7.9 points per game, while shooting 37.4% of the field and 33.3% on three.

BEST VICTORY: 115-107 AT LOS ANGELES LAKERS, DEC. 28

The first half included many notable and dramatic victories for the Blazers. But how does this get any better than defeating the champions on the road? Freeman agreed, but noted that the two victories over Philadelphia were huge, especially the first one, which came on the road and without Lillard.

WORST LOSS: 125-122 VS. OKLAHOMA CITY, JAN. 25

There were a few candidates, but the most disconcerting defeat was the 125-122 home loss to Oklahoma City on January 25. The Thunder had 6-9, without Al Horford and George Hill, and had one of the worst three-point teams in the NBA (32%). Still, against Portland, Thunder hit 45% in three (18 of 40) against a very uninspired defensive performance that left Stotts quite disgusted after the game. Freeman went with the 118-111 home loss to Washington, which ended the Blazers’ six-game winning streak and started a four-game losing streak.

BEST GAME OF THE FIRST HALF: WINNER OF THE LILLARD GAME IN CHICAGO, JAN. 30

End of January. In Chicago. Less than 12 seconds to play. The Blazers lost by five.

Lillard hit a three with 8.9 seconds on the clock. The Blazers forced a high ball with 6.2 remaining. Trent won the jump and dropped the ball to Covington. Covington swung the ball, then hit the ball to Lillard, who took a step back, fadeaway three over Lauri Markkanen’s 7-foot outstretched hands. The ball bounced when time expired and gave the Blazers a 123-122 victory.

The rest of the Blazers surrounded Lillard, and Kanter gave him a big kiss on the forehead.

– Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).

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