Portland Trail Blazers: Once a source of pride, the bench has become an Achilles’ heel

The Portland Trail Blazers second-unit used to be what made this team strong. Now, it appears to be one of their greatest weaknesses.

When the Portland Trail Blazers were 10-3 and life was good, one of the biggest stories was their revamped bench. Where a team like the Toronto Raptors, who had experienced regular season success and post-season disappointment changed their entire context by trading for Kawhi Leonard, the Blazers opted for subtler changes. Changes that included signing Nik Stauskas and Seth Curry and playing Evan Turner as the full-time backup point guard. They were adjustments around the margins and internally that looked to be paying major dividends earlier this season.

I even wrote a story just drooling over Portland’s excellent depth 12 games in. At that point, the Blazers’ best five-man combination according to basketball-reference was an all-bench lineup of Turner, Curry, Stauskas, Zach Collins, and Meyers Leonard. They were a blistering +55.5 in 27 minutes played.

But now, over the last month, this same lineup has cooled to a -.5. And the club’s last two games against the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies has me wondering if Portland should ever play a true second-unit on the road again.

Or maybe ever.

Against Houston, the Blazers had reached a 27-12 lead in the first quarter before James Harden hit a pull-up three, Damian Lillard tweaked his shoulder, and the rest of the bench checked in to join Evan Turner.

The Rockets finished the quarter on a 15-2 run and cut the deficit to two. From there, Portland never recaptured their first quarter dominance. Even with a 34-point performance from Damian Lillard, they lost the game 111-103.

A similar story followed the next day against the Memphis Grizzlies. Only this time, it was CJ McCollum who had the hot hand. He finished with 40 points – nearly half of the Blazers’ total scoring – in their 92-81 defeat.

Naturally, when a unit that used to be so effective has become so vulnerable, the question is: What happened?! (Add the appropriate amount of exclamation and question marks as it pertains to your concern).