Portland Trail Blazers Keep Gutting Out Wins
By Phil Watson
Wednesday night’s game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets was significant on a number of levels.
Not only was it the Rockets’ first trip back to the Moda Center since this happened:
“This,” of course, being Damian Lillard’s buzzer-beating dagger to end Houston’s season in Game 6 of the Western Conference first round last May.
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But of more fundamental importance was the fact that the Trail Blazers’ 105-100 win over the Rockets allowed Portland to jump Houston in the Western Conference standings, moving into third place in the conference by percentage points.
There is still more than a month to go in the season, so it’s way too soon to start looking at matchups, but at the same time, No. 6 San Antonio vs. No. 3 Portland is just another indicator of how crazily deep the Western Conference is—with 10 teams sporting records better than .500 (that is as opposed to a whopping six in the East).
But how Portland got the win Wednesday started with the job Nicolas Batum did harassing James Harden without fouling him. Harden only made five trips to the foul line—well off his average of 9.6 attempts per game—and scored 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting.
It was just the 14th time in 63 games this season that Harden has been held to less than 20 points.
Portland’s defense ruled the day, holding the Rockets to 41.8 percent from the floor, while out-rebounding the Rockets 60-40.
That allowed the Blazers to overcome:
- 20 turnovers that led to 25 Houston points.
- Arron Afflalo’s 2-for-13 night.
- Damian Lillard’s 5-for-16 night.
- A 10-for-33 (30.3 percent) performance from 3-point land.
There is very little in that above list that spells “big win over quality opponent,” but Portland got it done in part because of its often-maligned bench.
Yes, LaMarcus Aldridge was, well, LaMarcus Aldridge, with 26 points and 14 boards, but he also turned it over five times. Robin Lopez also registered a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards and Batum actually showed a passing acquaintance with a shooting touch, scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 from the floor and 3-for-6 from deep.
But the bench withstood a 23-point onslaught from Houston’s Corey Brewer and came up with 22 points and 17 rebounds. Not great numbers, but they came at vital times.
Meyers Leonard knocked down 3-of-4, including 2-of-3 from deep—and there is nothing quite like a 7-foot-1 guy canning 3-balls to spread out a defense in a hurry—for eight points in just nine minutes. Chris Kaman grabbed 10 boards and Steve Blake did Steve Blake things (four assists, hit a 3, plus-13 in 20 minutes).
Portland’s projected bench for the stretch drive and the postseason took a hit blew an Achilles tendon on March 5 and the Trail Blazers stumbled in their first game after the injury, losing at home to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves.
But with a four-day break, the Blazers were able to regroup a bit and grinded out a tough win over Houston.
Afflalo was acquired from the Denver Nuggets at the trade deadline, ostensibly to provide scoring punch for a second unit that averages just 25.7 points per game, second-worst in the NBA.
Matthews’ injury scrapped that plan and now Afflalo, who was having to adjust on the fly for the first time in his career (he had been traded before, just never during a season), is running with the starting five.
One could, however, regard some bench production statistics with a grain of salt.
Yes, Portland is 29th in the league in bench scoring. The team just behind them is the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they are doing OK for themselves.
On the other hand, the Los Angeles Lakers have the second-best bench-scoring average in the league at 41.4 points per game and it has carried them all the way to … 14th place in the Western Conference at 17-46.
So, as the old car commercials on TV used to be fond of reminding us, your mileage may vary.
That Portland is third in the West despite losing Lopez for 23 games because of a fractured hand, despite Aldridge playing through a torn ligament in his thumb and despite Lillard and Batum having their worst shooting seasons from 3-point range is testament to what they have been doing well.
Specifically, that means defending, not something we often equate with Portland. But Portland is tied with Houston for the third-best defensive rating in the NBA, allowing 99.7 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com/Stats.
Their net rating of 4.9 is fourth in the NBA and their raw scoring differential of plus-5.0 is third in the West behind the conference-leading Golden State Warriors and the fifth-place Los Angeles Clippers.
If Lillard can find his shooting touch, the Blazers become just that much more dangerous.
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But at some point along the way, a slump turned into just a bad year for Lillard, who was hitting 42.5 percent from deep through the first month of the season, but has made just 31.1 percent since.
Batum, playing through a balky wrist, has hit 50 percent overall in five March games, including 42.9 percent from deep, to get his seasonal percentages up to 40.0 and 30.2, respectively.
But despite 44.4 percent shooting that has the Blazers in the bottom half of the league in that statistic, Portland keeps winning, to the tune of seven of 10 and a 42-20 overall mark.
That is a pace for between 55 and 56 wins and despite popular theory, NBA teams don’t win 55 games by accident.
In this case, Portland’s often-overlooked defense is saving the day.
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