Through the first three games of the regular season, the Portland Trail Blazers have tried different lineups to close games.
The NBA season is young. But just three games in, and the Portland Trail Blazers have already utilized a plethora of lineups to end games. Finding the right combination will likely be a work in progress throughout much of the year, and we very well may see some groups we wouldn’t have imagined this summer.
Of course, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum will be a part of every closing lineup. This is for good reason. They are the team’s best players, after all. Even if both could be better defensively, they are electric offensively and have a reputation of coming up big when it matters.
When the game-clock gets below five minutes, they may as well replace the numbers with a big light display that reads “Lillard-Time.”
But even though the backcourt is set in stone, the front court is anything but.