The shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers made a great effort in their 116-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, but often missed a stop or shot to top themselves. Despite a balanced scoreboard with six double-digit players and 19 3-pointers, the Blazers once again failed to guarantee victory.
The defeat lowered the Blazers to 25-18 and to sixth place in the Western Conference. Portland will now enter Thursday’s game with a two-game losing streak. If you missed Dave Deckard’s instant recap, take a look at it.
The winner of the “extra pass” is determined tonight
It is ironic that in a confrontation composed of so many isolation specialists – including the two greatest NBA scorers, James Harden and Damian Lillard – that so much of tonight’s attack has focused on scoring in almost every way until the end.
Because of the night after night fear that Harden and Lillard generate, the defensive goal was often to send two defenders towards him and force a pass away, or to send both defenders to Lillard on ball screens. The question then became: could the other Portland players take advantage of 4 on 3 situations?
This scenario took center stage at the end of the third quarter, when Portland relentlessly tried to exploit this setup with backdoor cuts for Derrick Jones Jr. Seriously, you may have thought your TV was stuck in a loop. It is not surprising that Jones reached the high point of the season in field goal attempts (14), Enes Kanter almost equalized his high point in assists (6) and Lillard hit just 17 shots. The last offensive possession of the Blazers, a fall of three, where Lillard passed out in the ensuing double, served as a final reminder of the action that preceded it.
There were situations in which both teams went into post-season mode, hunting for clashes that created chances. There were many traps and doubles. There is a discussion to be made about the 54 attempts at 3 points in this competition, especially without certified knockdown shooters in Portland’s non-initial spins.
Nightmare Mode: Transition Defense
Blazers always leave observers wishing for more outside the half-court defensive sets. These problems are even more exacerbated when they stop defending both in the middle of the court and in the transition. Unfortunately for the Blazers, tonight was one of those nights when they failed to slow the advance of the Nets in either situation – leading to 24 escape points for Brooklyn.
For contextual purposes, the NBA’s worst transitional defense belongs to the Philadelphia 76ers. They allow for 15.7 quick break points per game. All too often, James Harden was able to look ahead of the Blazers’ defense and loft passes that prepared teammates for easy scores at the start of the timer. It may be the Portland scheme, but the lack of effort also needs to be mentioned. It seems especially problematic, given that Portland doesn’t have a ton of reputable guys breaking offensive glass, except for Enes Kanter, which means it can be difficult to find an excuse for this lack of resistance.
As the Blazers digest the film of tonight’s loss, that must be one of the things to be reinforced. In the year, Portland ranked as the sixth worst in permitted transition points.
Enes Kanter’s Marquee Night
For all the negative aspects that come with another loss full of missed opportunities, there are always some aspects that stand out as positive. In tonight’s game, Enes Kanter fits that bill. Limited to a rotation of eight men and only one real big man, Kanter led the Blazers in minutes played (39) and filled the stats sheet along the way. He flirted with a triple-double with 19 points, 19 rebounds and six assists in a field shot performance of 6 of 8.
As noted in the first lesson, much of what was done during his passage came from the extra pressure that was sent to Lillard. But Kanter is as independent as he looks. He stole the glass vigorously and managed 10 offensive rebounds – one less than the team’s record.
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The Blazers return to action on Thursday against the Heat in Miami.