Portland Trail Blazers: Has their defense truly improved?

The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the top defensive teams in the NBA. How did this come to be? And can they sustain this success?

The Portland Trail Blazers just split a home-and-home series with the Sacramento Kings. On Friday, Portland lost 86-82 at the Golden 1 Center. The next night, however, the Blazers were able to bounce back with a 102-90 victory on their home floor.

One constant between the two games is that the Blazers made it hard for the Kings to score. Sacramento shot 40.2 percent from the field between both matchups.

Defensive performances such as the ones against Sacramento are becoming the norm these days. The Blazers have held opponents under 100 points 10 times this season. This includes their last four games and six of their last seven games.

According to NBA.com, the Trail Blazers sport a 98.5 defensive rating thanks to their stout efforts. That is currently the second-best rating in the NBA. This is in stark contrast to their last few seasons. Portland was 21st in defensive rating in 2016-17 (107.8) and 20th in 2015-16 (105.6).

The key places where the Blazers’ defense has found success are directly at the rim and along the perimeter.

This season, the Blazers are holding teams to 54.9 percent shooting in the restricted area, best in the league. Last season, they allowed a league-best 56.4 percent in the restricted area. In 2015-16, Portland held teams to a third-best 56.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the team has made great strides with its 3-point defense. Blazer foes shot 37.0 percent from deep in 2016-17, making Portland the fourth-worst 3-point defense in the league. Nowadays, they’re holding opponents to 32.4 percent from beyond the arc, third-best in the NBA.

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The Blazers have been adept at defending shots in the restricted area for awhile. In the past, the team accomplished this by having perimeter defenders follow their assignments into the paint. This left them exposed for drive-and-kick opportunities, thus the high opponent 3-point percentages.

However, the acquisition of Jusuf Nurkic and the return of Ed Davis have really changed how the team was able to defend. With Nurkic and Davis in the paint, perimeter defenders can simply funnel their assignments to them and stand pat on the arc.

On average, Nurkic, Davis and Al-Farouq Aminu defend the most shots within six feet of the rim on the team. Nurkic holds opponents to 54.5 percent shooting on 5.9 shots within six feet of the rim per game. Davis forces players to shoot 53.3 percent on 4.0 attempts per game.

But Aminu beats them both out by keeping opponents to 46.3 percent shooting on 5.1 attempts per game. He has been out with a sprained right ankle since the beginning of November. However, his paint defense will be very welcomed once he returns.

On the perimeter, Damian Lillard, Evan Turner and Maurice Harkless have been the most effective defenders. Lillard has held opponents to 26.8 percent 3-point shooting and Turner keeps players to 28.6 shooting from outside. Harkless is currently the toughest defender of the three, keeping his assignments to 22.2 percent shooting beyond the arc.

The Blazers have improved immensely on defense this season. They have a number of rim protectors that have lightened the load for perimeter defenders, allowing them to guard the outside more effectively. In the process, the Portland Trail Blazers have been able to lock down the two most important scoring areas on the court: at the rim and beyond the arc.

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Naturally, the challenge will be maintaining this intensity all season long. If they do, this year-to-year turnaround could make them a tough out in the Western Conference playoffs.

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