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

The efficiency tables are turning

The Blazers defense was the talk of the town at the beginning of the season, but since then, things have started to slip. The team is still seventh in the NBA  in defensive efficiency, conceding 104.0 points per 100 possessions.

However, more recent results paint a better picture of the team’s descent on defense. Over the last four games, Portland has allowed 115.0 points per 100 possessions. That’s the third-most in the NBA over that span.

The team’s offensive efficiency is what picked up and kept the team afloat. Portland’s 103.7 points per 100 possessions is 21st in the league on the year. However, that has picked up to 109.6 points per 100 over the last four games, 11th-most in the NBA. The Blazers have scored over 100 in eight consecutive games.

But the changes in their efficiency have created a seesaw effect in their net efficiency: when one is up, the other is down. The Blazers sport a net efficiency of -0.3 points per 100 possessions this season, 16th in the league. That dropped to -5.5 over the last four games — 20th in the NBA over that span.

The effect is even present in their scoring streak: The Blazers are 4-4 over the last eight games. If Portland wants to compete with the caliber of teams they faced on this trip, it needs to make sure it’s efficient on both ends of the floor.