Portland Trail Blazers: Player grades from win over OKC

The Portland Trail Blazers overcame the Oklahoma City Thunder 102-99 last night. Here are the player grades from the win.

In their final game of a 4-game road trip, the Portland Trail Blazers struggled at times, and were forced to win ugly against OKC.

Despite shooting 48 percent from three, the Blazers looked extremely sloppy, and were ultimately lucky that the Thunder weren’t any better. There were 15 lead changes and 35 turnovers; the Blazers still have the look of a brand new team.

Damian Lillard led Portland with 23 points and 13 assists, with the majority of his points once again coming in the fourth quarter. CJ McCollum chimed in with 22 of his own, and looked the better player of the back-court for much of the game, whilst Kent Bazemore also performed well, hitting three threes on his way to 14 points.

A late 4th quarter flurry from deep sent the Blazers on their way, with Rodney Hood joining Dame and Bazemore in hitting some big-time shots. All three had their moments, but which player graded the highest in tonight’s game?

I’m handing Kent Bazemore the game MVP tonight, after impressing on both ends of the floor. ‘Blazemore’ shot 75% from three, and also added 5 rebounds to hit stat-line. Bazemore wasn’t all over the stat-sheet tonight, but he was there when it mattered.

In a game that lacked a great deal of energy, Baze was key in keeping the Blazers intense. He provided great energy off the bench, and helped Portland through some lackluster offensive possessions.

The guard hit two HUGE threes at the end of the 3rd quarter, at a point where the game was threatening to slip away from the Blazers. He wasn’t a human highlight reel tonight, but this isn’t what Baze is about. Bazemore gave Portland energy when they were down, and hit shots when they were cold, this is why he’s tonight’s game MVP.

Once again, Damian Lillard was quiet for most of the game, and came alive when the Blazers needed him down the stretch. It’s easy to get caught up in Dame’s late-game heroics, and end up not evaluating his performance accurately.

He wasn’t shooting the ball well, and at times was careless when handling it. He didn’t force however, and fed CJ’s hot hand in the first half, see the 13 assists. But for me, he can be better. I’d love Dame to start a little sharper, and not have to still be in the game late, hitting the big shots.

He was huge in the fourth (as per), and pulled Portland away from the Thunder, but he only gets a B here, as the first three quarters weren’t up to his standard.

One side-note, Dame is passing the ball amazingly right now. Maybe it’s because he finally has able shooters on the wings, but regardless, Lillard is finding his teammates at exactly the right times, in exactly the right places. As long as Hood and co keep knocking down those shots, Lillard could easily average double figures in assists.

CJ’s game was almost a flip of Lillard’s. He was four of five in the first quarter, and looked in the mood early. I don’t want to say he faded, because 22 points and five triples is in no way a bad game, but I was expecting more.

McCollum ended up seven of twenty-two from the floor, and made some poor decisions in transition. He seemed to get stuck at times when driving; he looked like he had too many options. He had one play in the third, where he could have hit a lay-up or kicked it out, but settled for an awkward floater, it summed up most of his second half.

A few big shots from downtown gives McCollum a B for tonight, but much like his running mate Lillard, he will be expecting more of himself.

After hitting the midrange over Chris Paul to start the game, I immediately thought it was going to be another 20 point game for the former Duke guard.

But despite starting in such an aggressive manner, the rest of Hood’s offensive performance was, average. I love the fact he was seeking mismatches, and wasn’t hesitating on pulling the trigger from three. He wasn’t feeling his shot, and that’s fine. Hood is making an impact just by having the ability to hit from deep, and at times this will be enough for Dame and CJ.

He ended up shooting three from ten, but turned his night around by hitting the dagger, with 30 seconds to go. With Portland up two, Hood caught a pass from Lillard in the corner and hit nothing but net, ultimately sealing the game.

Rodney will have off nights, but is a major wing upgrade for Portland, and tonight’s shot proved that.

Man, I was disappointed with Whiteside tonight. With Steven Adams out, I anticipated a huge game from Whiteside, but his performance was far from this.

He had two fouls early in the first, and had four a few minutes into the third. He did have some nice defensive plays, in particular the perimeter defense on Danilo Ganillari, but this was about it. Whiteside should have took over in the paint here, but looked out of sync on offense, missing far too many lay-up’s inside.

He shot 44%, which is far too low, and the misses weren’t defended that well, he just didn’t look sharp. I was pleased he closed out the game with the starters, especially after hurting his knee, but Whiteside needs to be better than tonight. A C+ for his defense alone.

How is it, after Tolliver had 6 points and only took 5 shots, that I’m sitting here saying ‘ANTHONY TOLLIVER BREAKOUT GAME!!’

I absolutely adored the vets performance tonight, he did so many things right. Tolliver is here to hit threes, and to put his body on the line defensively. Tonight, he did that perfectly. His two threes came within two minutes of each other, both in transition, both in rhythm.

But the thing I loved about Tolliver tonight was his defense, the little plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet. The forced turnover on Paul when switched onto the perimeter, the smart rotation that led to a block inside on Gallinari. In the fourth quarter, his hustle led to a big McCollum three-ball; he set the tone tonight, and settled into his role perfectly.

Tonight was all the Blazers will ever need from Tolliver, and he’s stepped up in the absence of Zach Collins. A- for the vet, and hopefully a sign of things to come.

There is no question that Anfernee Simons can score the basketball. He can score it well. Simons had a really nice stint off the bench tonight, hitting three from six from the field for seven points.

Out of the bench unit, Simons can perhaps create his own shot better than anyone, a quality that showed its worth tonight. The second quarter was depressing at times tonight, but Simons kept the Blazers rolling with a couple of impressive buckets. He followed up a step-back three by attacking Paul and beating him off the dribble, looking confident in doing so.

Perhaps my favorite play from Simons tonight came midway through the second quarter. Simons blocked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the rim, grabbed the board, drove the ball up the floor to then find McCollum with a clever pass over his shoulder. It showed off his I.Q., and the fact he isn’t just a scorer.

Simons has struggled defensively at times this year, but is proving his worth as a dependable bench threat, and someone they can look to in stagnant offensive periods.

The Blazers won ugly tonight, and showed off their elite threat from behind the arc. The reward is a few days rest, before returning home to face the 76ers on Saturday night.