Best of the Season, Part VII: Shabazz is the man as Trail Blazers whoop Thunder

With Damian Lillard out for the second consecutive game, Portland gets more than enough firepower from Shabazz Napier and a host of other Trail Blazers.

The New Year started off well for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Beginning with an overtime win at Chicago on New Year’s Day, the Blazers would go on to win four of their first five games in 2018, including an exciting win over the San Antonio Spurs.

One game later, on Jan. 9, the Blazers would find themselves facing the Thunder in Oklahoma City. And just as in the game against the Spurs, they’d have to do it without Damian Lillard, who sat the bench with a strained right calf.

More from Blazers News

Portland had already beaten OKC once — a 103-99 home victory back in November. And with this win, one of the best of the season, the Blazers were well on their way to sweeping their rivals in the season series.

Blazers-Thunder

Portland (21-18) and Oklahoma City (22-18) entered the game with almost identical records. And with a lineup that included All-Stars Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, it appeared the Blazers were going to have a rough time playing the Thunder without their own All-Star in Lillard.

And while that may have been true for the Trail Blazers for large stretches of the season, it would not be true on Jan. 9.

Shabazzmatazz — and more!

Shabazz Napier started the game at the point and went on to play one of his best games. He scored 21 points — second only to the 23 points he scored against Philly in December. And he was 5/10 from the field, including 2/3 from the three-point line. He also grabbed five boards and two steals.

But a more complete picture was emerging for these New Year Blazers: They were getting consistent minutes from up and down the lineup.

Pat Connaughton (10 points, four rebounds), Zach Collins (nine points, five rebounds) and Maurice Harkless (nine points on 3/3 shooting) were big off the bench.

And the Blazers also got reliable performances from CJ McCollum (27 points on 11/19 shooting, plus seven assists) and Jusuf Nurkic (20 points on 8/15 shooting, plus eight rebounds).

In fact, the Blazers shot 53 percent from the field as a team against the Thunder. It really looked like Portland was rounding into shape.

As we wrote at the time:

"The Trail Blazers are 4-1 in the New Year. And the offense has been better, averaging 114.4 points per game. The Blazers have scored at least 110 points in every game so far this year."

Plus, by this point in the season, the Blazers’ defense had become one of the best in basketball.

Final score: Blazers 117, Thunder 106.

Long Story Short

Playing without Lillard, the Blazers were able to beat a quality opponent for the second game in a row. And what’s more, the bench was coming to life; Collins, especially, was becoming a vital piece of the second unit.

Napier was proving himself to be one of the best back-up point guards in the league. Harkless, it appeared, was back from the dead. And Nurkic was making significant improvements.

Next: Neil Olshey was right to keep Terry Stotts

With their victory over the Thunder, the Blazers had won six of eight games.

And for a short while in the Blazers’ New Year, it looked like they were becoming a team to be reckoned with — thanks to Shabazz “Is the Man” Napier’s performance in one of Portland’s best games of the season.