Portland Trail Blazers: Four statistical milestones to watch for during Orlando play

No. 1: Portland’s tug-of-war with efficiency

Since becoming a fulcrum of Portland’s offense in 2012-13, Damian Lillard’s presence has ensured that the Trail Blazers have finished no lower than average in offensive rating. In most seasons, they rank among the ten best offenses in the NBA, which makes it somewhat trivial that detractors have come to associate Portland’s dynamic backcourt with suboptimal efficiency.

With the pieces it has returning, the Blazers will be well-equipped to combat that thought. But here’s something to think about: if they don’t find a way to score efficiently, it’s difficult to buy stock in their ability to crash the Playoff party for a seventh year in a row.
Credit to Portland’s PDF press pass for these statistics. In 2019-20:

— When Portland shoots a better (or equal) percentage than their opponents, they are 25-7.
— When Portland shoots above the 50 percent threshold, they are 16-4.
— When Portland shoots less than the 45 percent threshold, they are 7-21.

The sample size is enough to rock the boat, especially when you consider where the majority of their offense is churned from. On the season, Lillard is taking 20.0 shots per game, and hitting on a career-high 45.7 percent.

Consider that deflated, too; because Lillard does so much of his damage well beyond the arc, and because only five players in NBA history can match both his ability to hunt free throws and hit them as efficiently, that 45.7 percent isn’t generous enough.

But, these are what the statistics point to, in describing some of the reasons the Portland Trail Blazers haven’t won games. Lillard’s done more than his part offensively, but given that Portland has had 28 games where they’ve fallen short of this parameter, others need to step up.

That means, hopefully, other Blazers ramp up their efficiency clips. The Portland Trail Blazers are 15-6 when Carmelo Anthony shoots above that 45 percent mark, a trend I would wager we’re bound to see a lot of.

On the other side of that tug-of-war rope, Kent Bazemore’s cold shooting never thawed during his time in Portland, so he’s responsible for shortening their offensive ceiling. But players like Anfernee Simons and Mario Hezonja would be wise to find their stroke with more regularity during Orlando play.

(Deepens voice) … Or else.