6 Things We’ve Learned About The Portland Trail Blazers
By Duncan Smith
The Blazers are good in the clutch
This is some real small sample size theater here, but the Blazers have some really good numbers in the clutch. As defined on stats.NBA.com, where all these advanced stats are found, the “clutch” is the last five minutes of games with a lead or deficit of five points are less.
The Trail Blazers have only played 28 minutes in seven games this season in the clutch, but they’re 5-2 in those seven games. There’s a good chance that margin may be important by the end of the season as the Blazers battle to get out of the bottom three seeds of death, where they would be certain to face either the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder.
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In these late-game scenarios, the Blazers have an offensive rating of 139.2 points per 100 possessions, a defensive rating of 106, and are outscoring the opposition by 33.2 points per 100 possessions. Only the mighty Spurs have better clutch numbers with a preposterous net rating of plus-83.1 points per 100 possessions.
The main reason for this clutch success is almost certainly Damian Lillard. The Blazers have a remarkable turnover ratio of just 3.6, which means that they turn the ball over just 3.6 times per 100 possessions in the clutch. You need look no further than the man with the ball in his hands the most when you want to identify the reason the ball is cared for so well.
They’re also efficient when they get shots off, with an effective field goal percentage of 55.2, good for fourth in the NBA, and a true shooting percentage of 63.8 percent, good for third in the NBA.
Stephen Curry of the Warriors is the NBA’s MVP, but Lillard is in the next tier down of MVP candidates as a result of propelling the Blazer offense with such skill.
Speaking of Dame, on to the next page.
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