Despite their record, the Portland Trail Blazers have again produced a top-10 offense. Take a look at a film study on where players make (and miss) the most shots on the floor.
Even as it’s been over three months since the Portland Trail Blazers last played, certain sequences and moments have come to define what kind of year it’s been. For myself, one such string of plays in a Jan. 23 game against the Dallas Mavericks comes to mind.
The wheels of Portland’s offense are turning. Damian Lillard had already hit three 3-pointers in the first three minutes. Trevor Ariza adds 10 for the quarter. And by the end of the first frame, the Blazers are shooting 14-of-21. One might begin to say, business is booming …
… until you looked at that other side of the scoreboard: Trail Blazers, 37. Mavericks, 45. End of Q1.
That in a nutshell describes the type of season it’s been to this point. The Portland Trail Blazers are eight games behind .500, but it certainly hasn’t been because of offensive shortcomings. Despite an unusual roster shake-up for a team that was four games away from the NBA Finals, the Blazers have yet again churned out another elite offense.
Through this study, though, we consider a more in-depth look. The Blazers hit a ton of shots, but where are they most accurate from? Where do they tend to struggle to score from?
By and large, Portland remains a team content as a nonconformist. Only four teams in the NBA take more shots from the midrange area. And if you’re searching for teams that run isolation more than they do, that search stops at the Houston Rockets.
Yet even so, it’s hard to argue with the results when this team has been granted reasonable health. Those thoughts in mind, here’s a look at how (and where) players are performing at their most lethal in 2020.