Trail Blazers drop third straight in frustrating road trip
The Portland Trail Blazers, on a 2-game losing streak and needing a win, turned in another poor fourth quarter performance, and the Orlando Magic got a 111-104 win. You’ve got to think that Trail Blazers locker room is one of the last places on Earth you’d like to be. One can only hope that they use this as a chance to pull together, and that they can find something from these last few games that helps them the rest of the season into the playoffs.
Recap
Portland started off by letting Orlando shoot twice as many shots as them, no recipe for success. Even though their shots weren’t falling, Orlando was content with shooting 30% if they had twice as many opportunities, thanks in part to six Portland turnovers. With the Magic leading the whole way, the Trail Blazers were able to cut it to two, but allowed a free throw and a late three that pushed the Magic ahead 25-19 after one quarter.
The second didn’t start any better for the Trail Blazers, who quickly found themselves down double-digits. The Magic were getting easy looks and the Trail Blazers weren’t– the scoreboard showed it. Limiting turnovers and hitting a few threes allowed Portland to crawl back, and this time it was the Trail Blazers capitalizing from some late-quarter scoring, as Lillard was fouled and hit the and-one at halftime. The double-digit Magic lead was trimmed to just two again, and the Trail Blazers trailed 58-56 at the half.
Unfortunately, Chris Kaman, who had eight points and four rebounds on perfect shooting in just nine minutes, was diagnosed with a shoulder sprain, and would not return. Lillard’s 16 halftime points led all players, and Nicolas Batum was on triple-double code yellow with 6-7-3.
The Trail Blazers got their first lead of the night, 61-60, on a bailout LaMarcus Aldridge three. Portland then led for most of the rest of the third, taking an 81-75 cushion into the fourth that had most people thinking that this one was prime to be cracked open.
But instead of cracking the game open, the Trail Blazers just cracked, allowing a 23-9 run that was more painful to suffer through than it looked on paper. Falling 111-104 and on a 3-game losing streak, the Trail Blazers need something pretty drastic to change if they want a chance against the Memphis Grizzles tomorrow.
Players
So who needs to step up to help right the ship?
LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 and 10 with a block, and was 2-4 from deep. You can’t ask him to do more than he’s already doing.
Damian Lillard had 18-4-4 with just one turnover, but was 0-5 from deep. Not awful, but you could tighten that up. You’re only getting a few more points if he plays to his averages.
Nicolas Batum with 8-11-4 and a steal was great, however, his five turnovers were not, and you could stand for him to take more than five shots the whole game.
Arron Afflalo needed nine shots for his seven points. Not a great performance.
Robin Lopez led the scoring charge early, but finished with just 10 points and three rebounds. Very un-RoLo like, even for his recent stretch of less-than-statistically-dominant games.
C.J. McCollum‘s 15 was a very nice bench surprise, but many of those points came when the game was decided. Now let’s see him put up those numbers when it matters most.
Meyers Leonard was pumped for his only three of the game, finishing with 5-and-5.
Chris Kaman left the game with a shoulder sprain, and did not return. Here’s hoping it’s not anything too serious, as the Trail Blazers need himfor the rebounding battle in Memphis tomorrow.
To answer the question at the beginning of this segment: plenty of people.
Notes
- Elfrid Payton is the first Magic player in history to get triple-doubles on consecutive nights. And his hair game was absolutely on point.
- Aldridge is now the Trai Blazers’ franchise leader in total rebounds (5,340).
The Trail Blazers are on their way to Memphis, where they will take on the 47-21 Grizzlies for the final time in the regular season.