Blazers mauled by Raptors 99-85
The Portland Trail Blazers and the Toronto Raptors are comparable in a few ways.
The Blazers just finished a 4-game homestand, while the Raptors closed a 4-game road trip. Both teams were coming off wins over Western Conference’s bottom feeders.
Both teams are in the NBA’s top 10 in points per game, as well as opponent points per game. Both teams are waiting on two big men to return from injury.
And both team’s coaches, Terry Stotts and Dwane Casey, have worked together in previous coaching stops. They were both assistants to George Karl in Seattle, and both won a championship under Rick Carlisle in Dallas.
Portland and Toronto even compete for which team is truly “King of the North.” (Check the map: Portland wins that one).
Despite the similarities, at least tonight, the Blazers and Raptors didn’t look like they deserved to be mentioned in the same breath.
First Half
Portland started off well enough. Al-Farouq Aminu opened the game with a two-hand dunk. This was followed by a CJ McCollum to Jusuf Nurkic pick-and-roll ending in ANOTHER two-hand dunk.
Pat Connaughton added a three of his own, and Nurk worked his way back inside with a nifty baseline spin.
Despite encouraging signs, both teams were tied at 29 after 12 minutes.
While the Blazers attacked with all their weapons, the Raptors had funneled all of their firepower through DeMar DeRozan. He had 13 of Toronto’s first 15 points, shooting a perfect 5-5. It was more than enough to keep the Blazers at bay, even as they were playing their best basketball of the night.
Then the wheels fell off.
Portland did not score a single field goal through the first 11 minutes and 54 seconds of the second quarter.
Not. A. One.
After Evan Turner made a layup with five seconds left in the quarter, the Blazers had scored a depressing six points. This was only one point more than than the Blazers franchise record for fewest points in a quarter. And four of those points came from free throws.
All told, Portland made one of their 17 field goal attempts in the second quarter, and took a 19-point 35-54 deficit into halftime.
2nd Half
For Blazers fans with sore eyes, there were at least some highlights in the second half. There were also defensive bright spots, specifically from Lillard.
Dame found some hot streaks on offense too, hitting back-to-back threes late in the third quarter. Still, he never quite seemed to find his rhythm, despite putting up 36 points on 12/23 shooting.
No other Blazer came close to matching his production. CJ McCollum, with 16 points on on 5/16 shooting, was the only teammate to reach double digits.
Any athlete can tell you that off-nights happen every now and then. Let’s just hope that the whole Blazers squad got theirs out of the way all at once.
On a brighter note, Lillard notched his 76th game of 30 points or more, passing Geoff Petrie for second all-time in franchise history. Next on that list is Clyde Drexler, sitting comfortably at 130 games of 30+ points. Keep it up Dame. There’s still work to do.
Three Takeaways
Biggie is motivated. Sometimes, off-the-court stuff matters, too. Caleb Swanigan responded with force to a tweet from longtime Blazers reporter Kerry Eggers. After commenting that Zach Collins was getting playing time before Swanigan, Eggers got this reply:
He later explained to CSNSNW reporter Brooke Olzendam that it doesn’t matter who plays, just that the Blazers win.
Dame working on his “D”. There’s been speculation what’s slowing down Lillard’s offense is his effort on defense. After tonight, we’re not worried about his offense. The rest of the team is another story.
His defensive effort looks noticeably better, and that was rewarded with a few steals and a block tonight.
Pat Connaughton continues to impress. It’s not that Pat is suddenly a star player. He has, however, elevated himself from towel-waver to role-player. He also shows no meaningful sign of slipping back into his former role.
Despite only posting 6 points tonight on 2/5 shooting from deep (2/6 overall), the defense had to respect him, and he knew it. His confidence is rising, so look for his playmaking to do the same.
Next Game
Portland takes a 1-game road trip to Utah to face the Jazz on Wed. Nov. 1st at 6pm Pacific.
Next: How do the Portland Trail Blazers stack up in the Western Conference?