The Portland Trail Blazers end October with the same seven-game record they’ve had the last three seasons. What can they do to keep this year from being more of the same?
The Portland Trail Blazers ended October with a thud.
Portland fell flat in its matchup against the Toronto Raptors Monday night, losing 99-85. The Raptors’ notoriously staunch defense stagnated Rip City’s offense. They held the Blazers to only six points in the second quarter, the fewest in any second quarter in franchise history. This was also Portland’s first game this season in which they failed to score at least 100 points.
The loss drops the Blazers’ record to 4-3 as the team enters November. Oddly enough, the team has started its season with that record every year since the 2014-15 campaign. How the Blazers arrive at 4-3 varies, but they always seem to find their way back to that number.
October started promising enough: Portland throttled the Phoenix Suns by 48 points to kick off the season. That was followed up by two sizable wins over the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans and a close loss at the Milwaukee Bucks.
However, fortunes have changed over the past three games. The Blazers lost to the Los Angeles Clippers on a buzzer-beater and stalled out against the Raptors. The lone win over that span was by only seven points to a Suns team they had already blown out.
What we could be seeing is the “feast or famine” nature of a lower-end playoff team. Their losses have come to bonafide playoff teams (Bucks, Clippers, Raptors) while their wins have come to rebuilding teams (Suns, Pacers) and a team on the cusp of qualification (Pelicans). At this early juncture, we could be seeing the baseline forming before our eyes.
However, that shouldn’t be acceptable if that is the case. This roster was retained from last year with the expectation that continuity would help them take a step forward. Finishing another season around 41-41 would be disappointing.
More from Portland Trail Blazers
- Damian Lillard needs just two words to dismantle a Blazers fan’s hot take
- NBA Rumors: Stalled trade talks may lead to Blazers, 76ers keeping stars
- The NBA’s strong message to Lillard clears path for a major trade
- NBA Trades: Is this the deal that finally sends Damian Lillard to Miami?
- 5 players who will challenge Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year
Luckily, 4-3 doesn’t automatically foretell the Blazers’ fortunes for the rest of the year. Their year could unfold in a number of ways. In 2014-15, the team went on a 26-5 tear after their start and ended the season 51-31. In 2015-16 they lost their next six games en route to a 7-17 stretch. But the team was able to right the ship and finish 44-38.
The 2016-17 saw the team float around .500 for a bit before enduring a 4-11 December and a 2-7 February. However, Portland was able to turn things around in time and make the playoffs with a 41-41 record.
This Blazers team is capable of ending this season more like 2015 and less like 2017. For one, the defense has to remain aggressive. Even though it was a hard loss, the Blazers still held the Raptors to under 100 points. That’s the fourth time they’ve kept a team under 100 this season. It was also Toronto’s second-lowest point total this year.
If Portland continues to uphold its defensive principles throughout the season, the close games and the muddier matchups will eventually swing its way.
The biggest takeaway from Monday night and October at-large, though, is the offense cannot go back to being a two-man show. Damian Lillard looked like his old self against Toronto by scoring 36 points on 12-of-23 shooting, while C.J. McCollum scored 16 points and went 3-of-5 from 3-point range. However, no one else on the team cracked double-figures.
The Blazers’ offense is at its best when the ball is moving and at least one more player is putting up points alongside Lillard and McCollum. It keeps defenses honest and prevents the game from solely falling on the shoulders of the backcourt.
The Blazers begin November with a mixed bag of a schedule. There are lighter matchups over that span like the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and a home-and-home against the Sacramento Kings. However, there are also some tougher tests against the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies. Luckily, the team plays seven of its next nine games at home.
Next: NBA Halloween - Playing trick-or-treat with early season trends
The Portland Trail Blazers are starting this season the same as they have the last three seasons, but they’re still in position to end the year better than they have in the past. It all depends on what they learned during their whirlwind October and how they respond moving forward.