The Portland Trail Blazers’ 2-1 road trip set the tone for their upcoming extended homestand.
The Portland Trail Blazers knew they had to improve on their 41-41 2016-17 campaign this season. Things seemed promising after a 5-1 preseason, but it was hard to tell if that was real improvement. The team has managed to prove there was something to it, as they’ve gone 2-1 to start the regular season.
Portland’s offense has been clicking: They’ve scored more than 110 points in each game and shot a league-best 48.6 percent beyond the arc. The defense has also held its own, keeping opponents under 100 points in both of their victories. But the biggest takeaway about the team’s start was that all three games were on the road.
It’s hard to win on the road, even against below-average NBA teams. So the Blazers’ dominance in their first two games and their ability to compete in their lone loss is impressive.
Now, the Blazers return to the Moda Center for 11 of the next 13 games, kicking off their home schedule. Their confines were very friendly to them last season: the team went 26-15 at home in 2016-17.
The Blazers have some things to be happy about heading into their extended homestand. However, not everything is perfect, as there is a key aspect that needs to be fine-tuned still.
We’ve been doing a good job of doing this so far, but the defense has to be acknowledged once again. I believe team continuity has played a huge part in the team’s improvement on that end. With only two new faces and a fully healthy roster, the Blazers are showing chemistry and tenacity that wasn’t present last year.
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Of course, Portland managed to dismantle both the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers last week. But they also put together a decent defensive showing in their loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 44 points on 17-for-23 shooting in the game. This performance helped him earn Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors.
However, the rest of the Bucks roster shot 43.9 percent from the field. Antetokounmpo couldn’t be stopped and seems well on his way to an awe-inspiring season. But the Blazers should be credited for forcing him into the position of needing to carry that much of the load.
Defense has been a team effort, but starting forward Al-Farouq Aminu has particularly been strong on that side. NBA.com indicates that he leads the team with his 84.8 defensive rating. He has been one the team’s best defenders thoughout his time in Portland. However, his struggles in other facets of the game relegated him to the bench for the second half of last season. It’s good to see him performing well in his return to the starting lineup.
Aminu’s 11.3 boards per game lead the team, and has helped Portland tie for fourth in the NBA in rebounding. Rebounds can be underrated at times, but they are key to maintaining a team’s possession or cutting their opponents’ possessions short. If the Blazers continue to rebound well, they will continue to control the pace and style of their games.
Offensively, it was fair to question how the team would supplement the loss of Allen Crabbe‘s 3-point production. He was second-best in the league last year, shooting 44.4 percent from outside. Only a select few players on the roster could hit 3-pointers consistently.
But the team has risen to the challenge early on. Almost everyone that puts up threes consistently has been knocking them down. Among them, C.J. McCollum has gone 6-for-10 on his threes while Damian Lillard is 7-for-14 so far. Even Evan Turner, a 29.9 percent career 3-point shooter, is 3-for-7 in his first three games this season.
These averages are surely going to regress in the coming weeks. However, such a hot start is a positive indicator that, even without Crabbe, the team can still score effectively from the perimeter.
The team’s big negative heading into their homestand is turnovers. Lead guard Lillard and point forward Turner have started the season with impressive assist-to-turnover ratios. Lillard is averaging 5.3 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game. Turner is averaging 4.3 assists and 1.2 turnovers per game.
The team collectively, however, has struggled at times to hang on to the ball. The team surrendered 16 turnovers in both their win over the Suns and their loss to the Bucks.
Opening night sloppiness was the culprit in Phoenix, but the Bucks’ tenacious, lengthy defenders were the cause in Milwaukee. That defense caused Portland to turn the ball over three times in the final 31 seconds of regulation, cementing their loss. Even McCollum recognized the issue following the game, posting his disappointment in himself on his Instagram page.
Thanks to a nine-turnover game against Indiana, the Blazers are still 10th in the league in giveaways, averaging 14.3 per game. But if the Blazers fail to tone down their turnovers, upcoming opponents such as the Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder will take advantage of that.
Next: 2017-18 Week 2 NBA Power Rankings
The Portland Trail Blazers did a lot of things right on their season-opening three-game road trip. Now, they will take this goodwill before their Moda Center faithful for 11 of their next 13 games. If they can maintain what they do right and fix their turnover problem, the team will please a lot of their fans over the next four weeks.