1. Blazers’ role players stepping up
Despite Lillard and McCollum having off nights, the Blazers led for most of the game and made the team with the best record in the NBA play hard for 48 minutes. The Rockets had to play a strong game if they wanted to come out of Portland with a win.
In the past, Portland would not have a chance at winning if those McCollum or Lillard were not on, especially against a team like the Rockets. The last couple seasons, the Blazers’ success was solely dependent on getting good games from those two guys.
This team has good depth and has shown that it doesn’t always need its star players to carry the team. The Blazers have role players that can step up and make an impact in meaningful games.
They got 83 points, 38 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals, 63 percent shooting from the field and 68 percent shooting from the 3-point line from their role players against Houston.
Next: 2017-18 Week 23 NBA Power Rankings
The role players on this team should gain a ton of confidence after this game, and hopefully, they can play like this when Lillard or McCollum also have good games. This Blazers team is going to be a threat in the playoffs, and even though they lost, they can learn a lot from this game and maybe also be better because of it.