A report card for the top 6 contributors in the Trail Blazers blowout loss to Kevin Durant and the Thunder.
Starters
Damian Lillard: 20 points/2 assists/5 rebounds
Lillard started off cold, and stayed cold for the duration of the game last night against the Thunder. After missing his first couple shots, he was never able to get in any sort of rhythm. Some credit should be given to Russell Westbrook, who played solid defense, but a 6-20 night is rare for Dame regardless of the defender. His passing game wasn’t up to par either, as the starting PG only had two assists on the game. This was just the second time Lillard has shot .300% or under. Against the Chicago Bulls on 11/24, he shot an abysmal .182%, but was able to pile up 8 assists. Getting back on track will be tough for Lillard, as the team heads to Orlando to play the hard nosed Magic. B
CJ McCollum: 24 points/4 assists/4 rebounds
McCollum was the Trail Blazers most consistent scorer last night, which isn’t saying much. After a very strong first quarter in which he scored 12 points, he failed to make another basket until late in the third quarter. It’s a shame he couldn’t have stayed hot (or even semi warm) in the second and third quarters, because that’s when the Thunder put the game out of reach. Games like this prove that high point totals from Lillard(20) and McCollum(24) don’t always guarantee a win for Portland. B+
Al-Farouq Aminu: 5 points/0 assists/5 rebounds
This was Aminu’s worst game offensively since 12/8 against the Cavaliers. In that game, he only scored 4 points while having to guard LeBron James for most of the game. Much like that contest, Aminu had his hands full with one of the best players in the league, Kevin Durant. Durant shot .571% from the field, which sounds like a failure for Aminu. Yet, when you look at KD’s stats , it was tied for his lowest shooting percentage of the month. Look for Aminu to get back to scoring double figures while he guards the likes of Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier, who are just a little less talented than Kevin Durant. Sarcasm, folks. C-
Noah Vonleh: 2 points/0 assists/7 rebounds
Noah Vonleh played a season high 26 minutes in last night’s loss. Did he take advantage of the opportunity and play his game of the year? No, sadly he did not. He played more than Ed Davis did off the bench (which if you think that is crazy, you are not alone), and squandered most of it. He did, however, tie his season high for rebounds. So that’s progress…right? D+
Mason Plumlee: 14 points/3 assists/10 rebounds
Once again, Plumlee was the only reliable big man for Portland. It was his second straight double-double, and surprisingly, his second straight game in which he had more assists than Damian Lillard. I give more credit to Plumlee, who’s ability to distribute to his teammates has become a very underrated part of his game. He now has at least 3 assists in the last 5 games, and is 6th in the NBA for all qualified centers in assists per game (2.6). A
Sixth Man of the Game…where were you?
I scanned the bench stats, and decided to award no one with sixth man of the game. The only two players to have a positive +/- were Tim Frazier and Pat Connaughton (whose minutes came in garbage time). They all failed to score in double digits, with bench leaders Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard combining for 7 points on 3-13 shooting. On a night where several starters were off their games, the bench needed to step up to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, they failed to do so, which was a major reason the Trail Blazers lost last night’s game. F