Jordan for a Day: The greatest role player performances in Portland Trail Blazers history

Final Stats:
— 37 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists on 13-of-21 FG, 7-of-11 3P, 4-of-6 FT in 48 minutes

Date:
—Apr. 10, 2019

One odd fact from that game:
— The list of teenagers to produce a 37-point, 9-assist game (or better): LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anfernee Simons

The initial thought here was to insert Andre Miller’s 52-point game against Dallas, but he feels like too much of a “superstar role player” for a spot here. So, to top things off, we go with one of the most secretly-important performances in Blazers history.

There was some level of Jordan-effect to this game, too. The Blazers overcame a 25-point halftime deficit — in large part due to that said traffic cone defense — down 87-62.

It certainly helped that the Kings went with the second unit for the entire first half. But it wasn’t as if he wasn’t cooking already; he scored 23 points on 9-of-13 from the field.

In the fourth, Portland shot 17-of-24, anchored by Simons’ 12-point, 4-rebound showing. There’s a Jordan parallel, too, in the sense of how the Portland Trail Blazers managed to cut a 117-106 deficit in nine minutes, in large part due to Simons’ offensive brilliance, both as a scorer and as a passer (Gary Trent Jr. deserves a mention here, too.)

The game itself gave fans a glimpse into a potentially-bright future. And while some will say Simons’ 2019-20 campaign hasn’t quite lived up to the hype, it’s certainly better to have had and lost than never had in the first place.

And on this day, Simons would ensure no losing would come into fruition.