Preview: Portland Trail Blazers Face Test Against Detroit Pistons

The Portland Trail Blazers take on the Detroit Pistons this afternoon.

After blowout wins against the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks, the Portland Trail Blazers travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons. The club will hope to remain perfect in their third game of a four-game road trip and extend their longest winning streak of the year to seven.

Currently, Portland (48-27) sits at third in the West, remaining a half-game ahead of the Houston Rockets. Detroit (38-37) holds onto the sixth spot in the East, just 1.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Orlando Magic.

These teams faced off just six days ago, and the Blazers were victorious 117-112. Of course, today’s matchup will happen under a different context. Not only is this the second night of a back-to-back for Portland, but Rip City will also be without starting center Jusuf Nurkic, who was lost to a compound fracture in his left leg on March 25 against the Brooklyn Nets.

Nurkic put up solid numbers in that previous contest, going for 15 points, six rebounds, and two blocks to go along with the highest plus-minus of the Trail Blazers’ starters (+4). As a physical, two-way center, he was a key piece in this matchup, as the Pistons trot out league-leading rebounder Andre Drummond (15.4 rpg) night-after-night to terrorize opponents on the interior.

No doubt, the Blazers’ big man depth chart in Enes Kanter, Zach Collins, and Meyers Leonard will be tested. If Kanter gets torched early when Drummond dives to the basket in the pick-and-roll, watch for Collins to get subbed in sooner than usual.

And this is before we even mention Blake Griffin, who returned to his sixth All-Star game this season after a four-year hiatus. On the year, he averages 24.7 points, 7.7 boards, and 5.5 assists. An all-around player who can score, facilitate, and defend, the forward is also having his best year shooting from deep on the highest volume of his career – 35.8% on 6.9 attempts per game.

On the surface, the Blazers have a slew of athletic, defensive-minded wings who can take shifts in working to contain him – guys like Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, and Jake Layman.

However, this wasn’t the case on March 24, as Blake dropped 27 points on 55.6% shooting from the floor. If the man is feeling it, there’s little more you can do than try to force the ball out of his hands. Even then, though, Griffin is shooting a solid 36.9% from deep on catch-and-shoot opportunities.

But there’s no guarantee Griffin is hot tonight, as Detroit has become notorious for their inconsistent play. Throughout this year, they have shifted between winning streaks of five and losing streaks of the same magnitude, becoming a nearly .500 team in a topsy-turvy way.

Still, this game will be the first test for the Blazers since losing Nurkic. Likely playoff bound, the Pistons hold a much larger collection of more talented and experienced players than both the Bulls and Hawks. While it was hard to truly assess this Portland’s team’s ability following the injury against these bottom-feeders, Detroit should provide a better measuring stick.

Damian Lillard was rolling in his last game, putting up 36 points in 32 minutes. In his previous game against Detroit, he had 28 on 6-for-10 shooting from deep. Without their starting center and CJ McCollum not accompanying the team on this road trip, the Blazers will rely on Dame to replicate these types of performances.

To win tonight, Portland will probably need someone else to step up. After all, it took 40 bench points to squeak out a 5-point win last time. Seth Curry, Aminu, and Harkless are all likely candidates.

But maybe a win isn’t all that important. Maybe the team should just focus on seeing what works against elite big men and finishing the contest with their remaining roster intact…

The fun starts at 4:00 P.S.T.