Portland Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from 4-game road trip

Matchup nightmares

The Trail Blazers have a number of talented pieces on their roster. However, we’ve seen over the years that they can only produce so much consistently. Those limits were apparent throughout the trip, namely during their three straight losses.

Portland’s upside was present in its game against the Thunder. Even without Damian Lillard, the Blazers got a combined 68 points from C.J. McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and Shabazz Napier. Coupled with active defense, Rip City was able to get the best of Oklahoma City’s All-Star trio.

But the matchup issues showed themselves in the following three games. They took on the uptempo offense of the Rockets in the second game of a back-to-back. The Blazers just couldn’t keep up, even as Houston was without an injured James Harden. Instead, Chris Paul‘s 37 and Eric Gordon‘s 30 points compensated for his absence.

In New Orleans, the Blazers couldn’t contain Anthony Davis, allowing The Brow to score 36 points. His dominance also opened things up for his fellow stars. DeMarcus Cousins dropped 24 points while guard Jrue Holiday came away with 25. Portland’s 12 made 3-pointers (on a season-high 42 attempts) were no match for the 62 points in the paint they conceded.

Lastly, in Minnesota, they once again played sluggish. A brutal second quarter of 2-for-15 shooting and seven turnovers set them back against a Timberwolves team that has now won seven of their last nine games. Jimmy Butler (24 points), Jeff Teague (22) and Karl-Anthony Towns (20) combined for 66 points.

Quite simply, Portland’s roster can produce well in certain instances. However, its limitations can show themselves when Rip City has to take on teams with multiple potent scorers night in and night out.