Rodney Hood’s offense keeps improving
Despite the national media continuing to hark on about the Blazers losing Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless, the decision to re-sign continues to look better and better as Rodney Hood is clearly proving why he is in fact a major upgrade.
On road games like this one, the Portland Trail Blazers will usually need a significant third scorer — Hood filled this void tonight. 20 points on 66 percent field goal, with 14 of these points coming in the first quarter. Hood kept the Blazers in it through the Mavericks’ hot start, and continues to look like a terrific scoring wing.
Tonight’s offense reminded me of the Denver series; Portland would often get Hood the switch onto the smaller guard, which led to his reliable post and fade. Hood torched Jamal Murray with this move last postseason and gave the small Dallas guards a similar feeling tonight.
https://twitter.com/NBCSNorthwest/status/1188611726536855553
When Dame, CJ and Hood are all shooting well, the Blazers become a very tough team to guard. Add Nurkic into the mix late in the season, and Portland holds host to one of the league’s most formidable offenses. Hood’s scoring has the ability to elevate Portland, and he showed just how important he is tonight.