Report Card: Trail Blazers Bear Down in OT vs. Grizzlies

Player grades from the Trail Blazers’ 112-106 OT victory over Mike Conley and the streaking Memphis Grizzlies.

Starters

Damian Lillard: 33 points/5 assists/4 rebounds

Lillard played a game high 43 minutes, while scoring north of 30 for the first time since 1/23 against the Lakers. With McCollum struggling to find his groove early, Lillard took on the full scoring responsibility in the first half. This led to him notching 20 of his 33 points in the first two periods. He was also huge for the Trail Blazers from the free throw line, as he finished 10-12. It’s games like this that make you wonder why he’s not heading to Toronto this weekend. Grade: A+

CJ McCollum: 21 points/6 assists/3 rebounds

If the first half would have told the whole tale for McCollum, last night’s contest might have ended up being his worst outing of the year. He didn’t score until midway through the second quarter, but to his credit, he had a team high 6 assists. Luckily, he stayed confident in his shot and single handedly won the game for Portland in OT. He started the period with three straight buckets, which ended up being enough to finally put away the feisty Grizzlies. Grade: A+

Al-Farouq Aminu: 4 points/3 assists/5 rebounds

Although Aminu played 40 minutes, he was a non-factor for most of the game last night. Offensively, he went just 2-5 from the field, and failed to make a three point shot in over 12 games. Some of that lack of production can be attributed to Marc Gasol’s injury, that forced Terry Stotts to move Aminu to power forward as part of a much smaller lineup. On defense, he wasn’t much better, as he didn’t record a single block or steal – the first time that’s happened since 12/31. Grade: C-

Maurice Harkless: 11 points/2 assists/2 rebounds*

*second half starter

Although Meyers Leonard started the game, I couldn’t resist adding Harkless to the list of graded players. Harkless has now scored in double figures for two straight games, something that has happened just twice before this season and not since he was getting regular playing time in late December. Although the last two road victories will give more credit to the star players, Harkless has played a huge role filling in for Noah Vonleh. Prior to his start against Toronto, Harkless had played a total of seven minutes in the previous five games with an average of .4 PPG. Since then, he has been getting 18.3 minutes per game with an average of nine points. Grade: B+

Mason Plumlee: 4 points/2 assists/6 rebounds

Plumlee was once again outplayed by Ed Davis, who had more points, rebounds, and a higher plus/minus than the big man out of Duke. This is coming off the heels of a strong 10 point 8 rebound game for Plumlee, so it isn’t surprising he struggled against the Grizzlies. He has been one of the most inconsistent players on offense all year, and continues to put up poor games on a semi-regular basis. Grade: C

Sixth Man of the Game

Gerald Henderson: 16 points/1 assist/3 rebounds

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The resurgence of Gerald Henderson continued against Memphis, as the athletic wing had another fantastic game off the bench for the Trail Blazers. I could go on about his contributions on defense, but Henderson’s night was highlighted late in the 4th quarter. Down by five with a little over five to go, it appeared that the Grizzlies had finally found their groove. It has a reoccurring theme for Portland, who have hung on deep in games only to let it slip away near the end. Not this time. Henderson scored five quick points, to tie the game once again. He obviously made the play of the game, a buzzer beater tip in to send it to overtime (Allen Crabbe was also present for the tip, but we’ll give Henderson the nod). Enjoy the ride folks. Grade: A+