It was not too long ago that the offensive workload seemed to fall squarely on the shoulders of Lillard, McCollum, and Nurkic. Now, the Portland Trail Blazers offense is more diverse than ever.
On Thursday night, Damian Lillard scored only 13 points on 5-21 shooting. It was the type of game that the Portland Trail Blazers would have lost not more than a month ago. The last time that Lillard scored under 15 points came on February 5th against the Miami Heat. The Blazers lost 108-118 and Lillard scored only 13 points on 5-15 shooting. Rodney Hood, who was acquired in a trade two days prior, was not available for that game.
One of the biggest weaknesses for the Blazers over the past couple of seasons has been the lack of offensive diversity. Lillard, McCollum, and Nurkic were the only players averaging double-digit points last season and the Pelicans were able to give all of their defensive attention to Lillard and McCollum without another offensive threat on the wing. That unfortunate trend was continuing this season or so it appeared.
Flashback to Thursday night, Lillard scores 13 points while shooting less than 25% from the field, and the Blazers do not only score a whopping 113 points but they win the game. Six Blazers scored in double digits. CJ McCollum scored 21 points and was his usual self. Jusuf Nurkic had a big night scoring 27 points, but the praise surrounded reserve center Enes Kanter, who in his first game with the Blazers, put up 18 points on 8-9 shooting. It was not an unsustainable performance for Kanter, either, as he averaged 14 points per game with the Knicks this season and has posted a double-digit scoring average every season since 2013-14.
Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu also had impressive nights scoring 13 and 11 points respectively. However, the bigger story might be what the Blazers were missing last night. The diversification of Portland’s offense this season began with the emergence of Jake Layman, who averaged 11.3 points per game in January and 14.5 in February. Trade deadline acquisition Rodney Hood has posted a double-digit scoring average every year since his rookie campaign. Although, both players have been key to the Blazers recent success, which included a win over the Warriors, Hood and Layman combined for only ten points last night. Efficient shooter Seth Curry failed to score altogether. That is how deep the team’s collection of scorers has become. Four players massively underachieved relative to their roles in one game, yet the Blazers were still able to pull out a victory. Imagine a night when the team is firing on all cylinders.
The Blazers did not have any complementary scorers to surround their big three last postseason, but they currently have at least four. In the playoffs, opposing defenses can still double Lillard and McCollum, but this time around they are leaving either Nurkic, Hood, Curry, Layman, or Kanter open.