With Lillard sidelined and Nurkic hinting at a return, CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony combined for 73 points as the Trail Blazers hold on against Detroit.
In a game that the Portland Trail Blazers probably should have put to bed in the second quarter, it took season-highs from both CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony to finally climb back and do so late on Sunday night.
After recently trading Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers and buying out Reggie Jackson, the Detroit Pistons came into the Moda Center as losers of their last five games, good for 19-40 on the season. Despite the Blazers missing four starters to injury, this seemed like a game that they would handle fairly easily. With 4:10 left in the first quarter, it looked as if they Blazers would do exactly that, as they led 30-11 and were in the middle of a 24-2 run.
For the first time all season, CJ McCollum was looking confident coming off of screens, and the Blazers were firing on all cylinders. McCollum and Anthony had gotten off to a combined 9-9 start, and things were looking sharp on both ends of the court.
Then, both teams went to their benches, and things got ugly for the Blazers. The Pistons answered with a 23-3 run of their own, and Blazers fans were booing the bench unit for their lack of effort, forcing Terry Stotts to call a timeout.
The Trail Blazers were getting absolutely destroyed by Detroit’s bench and continued to do so for the rest of the night, combining for just 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting. Meanwhile, Detroit’s bench put up 70 in the game, primarily led by the young big man Christian Wood (32 points) and point guard Brandon Knight (15 points).
It is no coincidence that Portland’s bench is getting killed by opposing point guards and centers. Despite stellar performances from CJ McCollum (41 points, 12 assists, 9 rebounds), Carmelo Anthony (32 points, 4 rebounds), and Hassan Whiteside (16 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists), it was extremely obvious that this team is going nowhere without Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic on the floor.
While the clock is ticking quickly for the Blazers to make a playoff run, a Jusuf Nurkic return may come just in time to save the day. On Saturday morning, Nurkic hinted at his imminent return with this video on Twitter, which shows two “loading” icons:
— Jusuf Nurkić 🇧🇦 (@bosnianbeast27) February 22, 2020
While Nurkic has tweeted his fair share of cryptic messages in the past, I have to think that this post means something significant, especially now that All-Star weekend has passed. Although the Blazers never really gave a timetable for his return, it was widely believed that they were targeting the All-Star break to bring him back.
With the team just 3 games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th seed in the West and Jaren Jackson Jr. missing time, it seems like a very realistic possibility that we see him back on the court in the next week. Until then, the Blazers must rely on CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony to hold them afloat as they take on the Celtics, Pacers, and Hawks over the next few games.
According to FiveThirtyEight, the Trail Blazers have an 18% chance of making the playoffs, while the Pelicans have a 66% chance, and the Grizzlies an 8% chance. But as we know, Damian Lillard doesn’t care what the predictions say.