The Portland Trail Blazers, without Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and several others, did not have to be even remotely close during Thursday night’s game in Philadelphia, which boasts the best record in the Eastern Conference.
But sometimes the NBA’s randomness has a sense of humor, and tonight the Blazers were the jester, winning 121 to 105.
The Blazers (12-9) started with Gary Trent Jr., Rodney Hood, Robert Covington, Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter, four of whom are usually reserves, then left and gave one of this team’s best defensive performances of the season.
Portland coach Terry Stotts said that sometimes, when a team is short of players, the remaining players in the squad find a way to get together and get the job done. Where this victory ranks among his many victories, Stotts said, it is difficult to say. But he added that it certainly had significant significance.
“It will always be a memorable victory,” said Stotts.
The key was the defense and the movement of the ball. The Blazers (12-9) were disturbing in defense, contesting the perimeter shots and being aggressive against anyone who went to the basket. Offensively, the team moved well, placing screens for each other and finding the man open. There was clearly no dominant figure on the ball controlling the game, which forced everyone to move to make the attack flow.
“Everyone played the game the way it should be played,” said Stotts. “If they had the opportunity to score, they did. If not, they were approved. “
WHAT DOES IT MEAN
Blazers are expected to negotiate Lillard, McCollum and Nurkic tomorrow.
Just kidding.
The victory took the Blazers to fifth place in the Western Conference. It also proved that the team managed to play an aggressive and attentive defense for 48 minutes. Now, if only Blazers could do this more often and when most of their best players are available.
It’s over when …
The Blazers played an excited first half to push Philadelphia to a 57-57 score at halftime.
But surely the superior 76ers would go out for the second half and take control, correct?
Do not.
Portland opened the third quarter with a 14-0 run to take the lead from 71 to 57 with 9:19 remaining.
Trent hit two trios during this stretch.
Philadelphia stopped the bleeding for a few minutes before the Blazers started playing again, using their defense to force stop after stop, until they led up to 22 in 88-66.
Portland entered the fourth period winning by 97-76.
“The third quarters, especially on the road, can really be a busy quarter,” said Stotts. “Obviously, it made a difference.”
ELLEBY RISES TO THE OCCASION
In addition to overcoming great chances of winning, the story of the night was the play of choice for the second round of the Blazers in 2020, CJ Elleby, from Washington state.
He entered the game with 19 points and eight rebounds in the season in 44 minutes of action.
In 31 minutes off the bench on Thursday, Elleby scored 15 points out of 5 out of 9 shots and also had seven rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal.
Kanter said Elleby’s recovery, defense and energy were “the next level”.
“He did an incredible job,” said Kanter.
PRESENTED AND SHOWN
The list is long.
Kanter had no real chance of stopping Philadelphia pivot Joel Embiid, but the Blazers pivot did his job in other areas by scoring 17 points and 18 rebounds. He had seven of the team’s 18 offensive rebounds.
“These extra assets really helped,” said Stotts.
Trent made just 8 out of 23 field shots, but hit 4 out of 9 trios to finish with 24 points, the team record. He also added three assists.
Hood, who played as a point guard, scored in several ways and appeared close to being fully recovered from his Achilles tendon injury last season. Hood hit 7 of 14 shots for 16 points and had five rebounds and three assists.
“I thought he did an excellent job directing the attack,” said Stotts.
Anthony started and hit 8 of 14 shots with three marks in four attempts of three points to end with 22 points. He also had four assists. After going through a five-game drop, Anthony in his last two games hit 16 of 30 shots (53.3%), scoring 44 points.
Embiid scored 31 points in the first half and finished with 37 on 14 of 21 shots. Portland was content to allow him to shoot mid-size jumpers most of the night and he fired well. But few of his teammates fired well, so in the end, Embiid’s points proved irrelevant.
SHOWN AND FIZZLED
Not a single Blazer. Eight played significant minutes and everyone stood out. So much so that Keljin Blevins entered the game late for a few minutes.
As for Philadelphia, the team hit 6 out of 26 in the three-point range. Danny Green started, played 27 minutes and hit 1 out of 5 (all three) to end with three points.
NEXT (Blazers Schedule)
Portland concludes its six-game trip at 10 am on Saturday against the New York Knicks (10-13). The Blazers’ next home game is on Tuesday, against Orlando (8-14).
– Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress(Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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