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Portland Trail Blazers: Keys To Overcoming Wesley Matthews Injury

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 5, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews (2) grimaces in pain in the third quarter against Dallas Mavericks at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews (2) grimaces in pain in the third quarter against Dallas Mavericks at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Portland Trail Blazers
March 4, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum (88) reacts after scoring a three point basket to tie the game against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

Nicolas Batum

All the focus will be on Arron Afflalo, but the margin for error is even smaller for Nicolas Batum now. His struggles this season have been well documented, and though he’s shown signs of life recently, his numbers have dropped off of a cliff compared to last season:

  • 2013-14: 13.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 5.1 APG, .465/.361/.803 shooting, 15.8 PER
  • 2014-15: 9.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 4.8 APG, .391/.290/.855 shooting, 12.5 PER

Matthews ranks fourth in the NBA in made three-pointers (173), and even though he was attempting 7.4 threes per game, he was drilling them at a 39 percent clip. As you can see, Batum is also shooting 39 percent … from the field. That’s not going to cut it, and he’ll definitely have to start knocking down more than 29 percent of the 4.3 three-pointers he takes per game.

The good news is Batum had a stronger month in February and an even better start to March. Last month, he averaged 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game on 41.1 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent shooting from downtown. Those aren’t All-Star numbers, but they represented a drastic improvement from the first few months of the season.

Batum’s first March game was a dud, as he finished with two points, five assists and four rebounds while going 1-for-6 from the floor. But in the two games since, he’s tallied 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game on 52.2 percent shooting.

A small sample size, to be sure, but for the Blazers to be successful they’ll need Batum and Afflalo to tag team that lack of three-point shooting in the wake of Matthews’ injury. They also might need Batum to harness his versatility on the defensive end as well. The time for excuses and patience with Nicolas Batum is up.

Next: Two Bench Guys Stepping Up

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