Report Card for Portland’s 115-112 OT Loss to Dallas
A report card for the top 8 contributors in the Trail Blazers heartbreaking 115-112 OT loss to Wesley Matthews and the Mavericks.
*Starters
Damian Lillard: 25 points/10 assists/8 rebounds
Early on in last nights game, you could tell that Lillard’s flu symptoms had subsided considerably. He scored the first 5 points for Portland, and looked primed for a huge outing. Unfortunately, he eventually hit a wall, and struggled to put the ball in the hoop for most of the game (10-25). His stats were inflated due to a couple of give-me’s in the final seconds, and had a plus/minus of -9. With that being said, if he would’ve hit that game winner, this would be a sure fire A+ effort from Dame. Sadly, it fell flat; just like he did for most of the game. B+
CJ McCollum: 11 points/5 assists/4 rebounds
After scoring 15+ in each of the first 17 games of the year, it was McCollum’s second straight game in which he struggled to score the ball effectively. He shot an abysmal 4-21 from the field, making this an incredibly inefficient game from the 3 year man out of Lehigh. It’s too early to hit the panic button, but his recent difficulties could be a cause for concern if they continue. I expect CJ to turn things around on Thursday against the Pacers. C
Al-Farouq Aminu: 0 points/1 assist/1 rebound
This is not a typo. I did not forget to put a 1 in front of his point total (or mix up his stat line with Noah Vonleh’s). This is by far the worst I’ve ever seen Aminu play, as the starting small forward only took 2 shots in 18 minutes. I don’t want to spend too much time on this, but think about this for me: Would Terry Stotts consider bringing Aminu off the bench, and start Allen Crabbe or Gerald Henderson? Seeing how well those two played last night, it might be something to try…D-
Meyers Leonard: 23 points/1 assist/7 rebounds
Welcome back to the starting lineup, Meyers! Although he didn’t start the game, he took over for Vonleh to begin the second half. RCP’s very own Chad Crawford wrote a fantastic article earlier this week, examining Leonard’s role once he comes back from his shoulder injury. Go read it for his take on the situation. I think his 23 point (season high), 7 rebound performance speaks for itself; Meyers Leonard should start over Noah Vonleh. A
Mason Plumlee: 3 points/1 assist/5 rebounds
Plumlee had one highlight (his breakaway dunk after a steal) and that was about it. He only had 1 personal foul, so his 21 minutes were not due to foul trouble. Simply put: Meyers Leonard and Ed Davis outplayed Mason Plumlee, and were rewarded with the bulk of the minutes at power forward/center. D+
*Second Half Starting Lineup
Sixth Man A, B, and C of the Game
Allen Crabbe: 18 points/3 assists/2 rebounds
Gerald Henderson: 20 points/1 assist/4 rebounds
Ed Davis: 10 points/1 assist/11 rebounds
I felt that picking just one of these studs would be a disservice to those who didn’t see the game, so I decided to have 3 sixth men of the game. Crabbe had his career high in points, and his ability to bring energy and scoring during the first quarter was what brought the Trail Blazers within striking distance going into the second. Gerald Henderson finally shook off the rust that had held him back in his first 10 games of the year, and hit a huge 3 to take the lead 52-50 at the half. Guess what!? Ed Davis got 30+ minutes and recorded a double-double. I see a trend. Any time a bench scores 73 points, and outscores the starters, you know they played way out of their minds. Well done Blazers bench. A++
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