Blazers win second in a row, beat Magic 95-88

One game after overcoming a 16-point deficit to beat the Heat in Miami, the Portland Trail Blazers led for most of the game and played just well enough down the stretch to beat the Magic.

The big news for the Portland Trail Blazers as they took the court Friday in Orlando was the return of Jusuf Nurkic from an ankle injury. But perhaps even more noteworthy was the continued excellence of Al-Farouq Aminu, who’s been on fire lately. Against the Magic, Aminu shot six of nine from the floor, including three for five from three, finishing with 15 points and five rebounds.

Aminu, along with Damian Lillard (21 points) and CJ McCollum (20 points), might just be emerging as the Blazers’ for-real “Big Three.”

The Magic, on the other hand, are in a tailspin, having now lost four in a row and 15 of their last 18. They played the Trail Blazers without several key players and, despite mounting a couple of runs, played catch-up the whole game.

Let’s break it down.

First Quarter

Nurkic, who had missed the previous three games, also missed his first three shots – as cold as the ice used to wrap his gimpy ankle. His misses came from close-in, too, a continuing concern for a Blazers team in desperate need of consistent inside scoring.

The Trail Blazers were active from the start on defense, appearing to take assistant coach David Vanterpool’s lesson to heart, and they only turned the ball over once on offense in the first quarter.

The Trail Blazers led 24-20 after one. Aminu already had eight points and was two for three from three. McCollum also had a nice start, scoring six points on three of four shooting.

And rookie Zach Collins (four points, six rebounds, two blocks) got in the game early. Although his shots weren’t falling for much of the night, he played solid defense and continued to show good court awareness and instincts.

Second Quarter

Collins started the second where he left off, grabbing a rebound that lead directly to a Pat Connaughton three. Still, neither team was shooting very well. With about seven minutes left in the half, both teams were shooting just 38% from the field.

Still, by the end of the half, Portland had built their lead to seven and headed into the locker room up 50-43.

Aminu finished the half with 11 points and three rebounds. Lillard and McCollum both had eight points. And Nurkic had seven points to go with six rebounds.

Third Quarter

Nurkic, who was playing on a minutes restriction, was active on defense in the third, disrupting multiple shots at the rim. Lillard was a pest on defense, too, getting his hands in the passing lanes and harassing Orlando’s ball handlers. He scored the first eight points of the third quarter.

By this point, the only thing keeping the Magic in the game was their three-point shooting, especially from D.J. Augustin, who would finish the game 14 points (four for seven from three).

Good news: Nurkic didn’t commit his first foul of the night until almost four minutes into the third quarter.

Less good news: Nurkic got his second foul of the night on the very next play.

An 11-0 run by the Magic (and a 12-4 run to end the quarter) made it interesting, but once again Portland extended its lead, finishing the third up 75-66.

Dame had 21 at this point, followed by McCollum’s 14 and Aminu’s 13.

Fourth Quarter

Things got iffy in the fourth quarter for the Trail Blazers. Though Portland went up by 17 at one point, their biggest lead of the game, they also let Orlando score 10 unanswered points, cutting the Blazers’ lead to just seven.

Nurkic had a few costly turnover on bad passes, including a terrible entry pass from the baseline. And he couldn’t stop Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic, who finished the game with 26 points and 14 rebounds.

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Orlando was only down by five with less than a minute left in the game.

The Blazers’ defense, however, was relentless down the stretch. When Aminu got loose and dunked the ball after a long pass from McCollum, the game was all but over – but not before Lillard, attempting to dribble out the clock, accidentally lost the ball out of bounds with one second left.

It seems the ball got away from Lillard, but not the game.

Final score: 95-88.

Takeaways

DNPs

Maurice Harkless, Meyers Leonard and Jake Layman did not play against the Magic. And Blazers rookie Caleb Swanigan was once again in street clothes. It will be interesting to see how much court time those four get moving forward as head coach Terry Stotts continues to fiddle with his lineup.

Nurk at the Rim

Nurkic continues to be inconsistent at the rim. He missed his first three shots, all from close-in. He often displays a disconcerting tendency to toss the ball willy-nilly toward the basket. Sometimes they go in. sometimes they don’t – but they never look like they’re going to go in.

ET’s Offense

Evan Turner continues to disappoint on offense, scoring just eight points on three of six shooting. But he played aggressive defense and snagged eight rebounds, proving that he can help the Blazers win even when he can’t score – which is most of the time.

Busy Blazers

The Trail Blazers schedule continues to be jam-packed. They’ve already played four games since last Saturday, Dec. 9, and will play five more in the next eight days, starting Saturday in Charlotte. That means lots of quick turnarounds, players getting very little rest – and a chance to add a lot of games to the win column.