3 takeaways: Trail Blazers top Raptors for first preseason win
By Minh Dao
The Portland Trail Blazers faced the Toronto Raptors at the Moda Center as they continued to find their regular season rhythm.
After a loss to open preseason, Portland bounced back. The Blazers took this game 106-101 over the Raptors with their star backcourt leading the charge.
Damian Lillard posted 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds in 26 minutes; C.J. McCollum bounced back with 15 points on 5-11 shooting.
For the Raptors, Kyle Lowry had 23 points and Norman Powell posted 15 of his own.
Jusuf Nurkić chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds. A brief scare came when Nurk collided with Pascal Siakum and limped off the floor.
The good news is that he returned and played.
Anthony Morrow showed up with his best outing yet. He was lights out with 12 points on 4-5 shooting from downtown in only eight minutes.
He continues to make a push for the 15th roster spot, and Pat Connaughton‘s role
Meyers Leonard regressed from the previous game and only had three points along with four fouls. He looked erratic and wasn’t the first big off the bench.
Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan both impressed with Leonard’s struggles.
Collins showed up on the defensive end and finished with eight points and six rebounds. Swanigan continued his solid preseason with six points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Evan Turner had a nice bounce-back game with nine points in 22 minutes as he came off the bench.
ET was used more as a pinch-hitter for Lillard and McCollum and also led the second units. Using him in this manner brings out the most of his unique skillset, which included a couple post-ups.
3 Takeaways
Rim protection
The Blazers seemed to have a real knack for protecting the rim, allowing only 34 points in the paint. Nurkić and Collins were quick on their toes and disruptive around the cup.
The duo remained long, active and combined for three blocks. This will be an integral part of the Blazer defense for the season as the bigs need to be vertical without fouling.
They didn’t forget to finish possessions either. Both blocked out and combined for nine defensive rebounds.
3-point shooting
With the departure of Allen Crabbe this past summer, there were questions as to how Portland would sustain their sixth-ranked 3-point shooting (37.5 percent) from last season.
Besides Lillard and McCollum, no other rotation player shot 37 percent or higher last season.
This game helped ease those questions with 14-35 from beyond the arc (40 percent). Morrow led the charge, while McCollum (4-6) and Connaughton (2-4) helped out.
We can expect others such as Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless and Swanigan to help too.
Rotation update
For the first time this preseason, Terry Stotts announced his starting lineup prior to the introductions. He opted for Aminu and Harkless to go with the trio of Nurkić, McCollum and Lillard.
This sent Ed Davis and Turner to the bench with the latter being the first sub with Connaughton.
The surprise came when the first bigs off the pine were the two rookies, Collins and Swanigan.
Stotts had mentioned he knew what Aminu and Harkless looked with the fellow starters, but wanted to see how it affected the rest of the rotation.
Preseason is about experimenting and figuring out the kinks, but with the two rookies continually impressing, it could be the writing on the wall for Leonard and Davis.
That nine-man rotation played the majority of the first half, with Morrow coming in during the second quarter.
We will continue to keep tabs on this situation as it unfolds, and we will likely not know the true rotation until mid-October.
Next: Blazers get recognition in GM Survey
Up Next
The Blazers take on the Los Angeles Clippers this Sunday at the Staples Center.