Watch with me as I break down some of the Portland Trail Blazers’ most compelling games this year. Get on League Pass or scour your D-V-R and follow along.
With the 2019-20 NBA campaign expected to resume on July 30th, it’s the perfect time to look back at the Portland Trail Blazers season. This exercise will aid our collective knowledge and understanding of the team as they aim to finish out their schedule and make the playoffs.
Game 1 (Late Lillard Layup): Portland v Dallas (10/27/19)
Game 2 (Sixty Squandered): Portland v Brooklyn (11/8/19)
Game 3 (Melo Magic): Portland v Toronto (1/7/20)
Game 4 (Tolliver Takeover): Portland v Charlotte (1/13/20)
Game 5 (Overtime Oasis): Portland v Golden State (1/20/20)
Game 6 (Mamba’s Mark): Portland v Los Angeles (1/31/20)
So without further ado, time to watch the 7th game on the list, which is their 53rd game of the year, on the road against the Utah Jazz. Game recommendation by Ryan Mandel.
2nd Quarter Analysis: Portland wins the period 34-26
11:35 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Trevor Ariza gets beat on a backdoor cut, and Wenyen Gabriel, arriving late to help, gets away with a foul. Legal verticality requires having your arms straight up and jumping straight up as well. Gabriel jumps towards Jordan Clarkson and causes the contact.
11:15 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Ariza looks lost on this possession. He falls for a pass fake from Clarkson, then strolls back into the paint and falls for another fake, which leads to a dunk for Tony Bradley.
10:33 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Ariza fails to navigate a Bradley screen, which leads to a Clarkson triple.
10:17 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Ariza drives into the paint and jumps into Bradley’s chest. Ariza creates the contact, and rightfully doesn’t get rewarded for it. He goes straight for the official and gets ejected. I guess he didn’t feel like doing his job on this particular night. It’s especially damaging given the Blazers are already short-handed without Hassan Whiteside. Mike Conley steps up and hits the two technical free throws.
8:55 left in 2nd (defensive possession): C.J. McCollum, in no man’s land defending the pick-and-roll, allows a straight-line, left-hand drive to Conley. CJ doesn’t commit to going over the top or underneath the screen until it’s too late. Preferably, the defender should try to take away something. By being indecisive, the offensive player can do whatever he wants.
7:55 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Gary Trent Jr. makes the same mistake McCollum did defending the pick-and-roll. He initially goes under the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert screen, but then changes his mind and goes over. That indecision also prevents Trent Jr. from recognizing his help responsibility on Ingles, who comes off a down screen and drills a three at the top of the key.
7:35 left in 2nd (offensive possession): McCollum hits a corner three despite the contest from Mitchell. He proceeds to talk some trash in Donovan’s direction.
7:15 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Lillard rejects the screen from Caleb Swanigan, gets a step on Gobert, and finishes by jumping into the Frenchman’s body. Lillard probably didn’t deserve a free throw to boot, but it’s no coincidence the Blazers have regained the momentum after Dame’s return to the court.
7:02 left in 2nd (defensive possession): The lack of healthy centers hurts Portland on this possession. Gobert shoots right over the top of the undersized Swanigan.
6:35 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Lillard and Mario Hezonja switch a Joe Ingles-Bojan Bogdanovic pick-and-roll set thirty feet away from the basket. Switching has become the most popular defensive tactic against a screen, but low resistant switches provide the offense with an easy out. Lillard is switched onto Bogdanovic, who posts him up and scores. If the screen is set beyond the shooting range of the ball handler, the defense should play it traditionally and simply go under the screen.
6:15 left in 2nd (offensive possession): CJ hits an incredibly difficult runner moving right while jumping off his right leg. While his shot-making is beautiful to watch, he would be wise to seek out contact and draw more fouls. He’s only attempted 2.6 free throw attempts per game for his career. If he could double that number, it would not only make things easier on him but likely help him reach another level offensively.
6:03 left in 2nd (defensive possession): The Blazers switch another pick-and-roll, which leaves McCollum defending Gobert. Carmelo Anthony, defending Bogdanovic in the left corner, calls for a kick-out switch (a switch between two off-ball defenders to try and avoid a mismatch). McCollum is slow to react and scrambles to close-out to his new assignment, Bogdanovic, who then beats CJ off the dribble and gets an easy two.
5:45 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Swanigan sets a terrific screen on Ingles that frees up Lillard and forces help. The Blazers make the simple passing reads, and Hezonja drills a corner three.
5:20 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Ingles tries to force Lillard to go right, but the best players in the league don’t let the defense dictate the action. Dame utilizes his ball-handling to get back to his left hand and hits his patented step-back.
4:33 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Carmelo posts up and receives the ball on the left block. The Blazers have Lillard on the left-wing, Swanigan in the right short corner (baseline area between the paint and the sideline), and both Hezonja and McCollum on the right side beyond the three-point arc. Hezonja’s man Mitchell goes to double Melo, which forces Ingles to defend both Hezonja and McCollum. Hezonja makes an intelligent cut to the hoop, which forces Ingles to commit to him, opening the pass and ensuing shot for McCollum.
3:34 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Lillard draws a double at half court and passes it to the open McCollum. CJ ends up settling for a floater over Gobert, a shot that misses the mark. He should take better advantage of that situation. He had an open three, and after opting against that, he should prioritize getting to the basket to score, get to the line, or find a teammate.
3:10 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Lillard draws another double at half court. Hejonza is the open man, and Lillard finds him. Mario has Trent Jr. wide open in the corner and has his chest pass deflected out of bounds. With a 2-on-1 situation, the bounce pass will almost always be the correct option. That’s two straight possessions where the Jazz have given the Blazers a 4-on-3 advantage, and Portland has failed to capitalize.
2:23 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Hezonja, guarding Ingles on off-ball screening action, tries to shoot the gap (instead of trailing and sticking to the opponent’s body, taking a more direct route to attempt to intercept a potential pass) and allows a wide-open three.
2:13 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Dame recognizes another double is coming, splits it, then attacks downhill before pulling up for a silky smooth, free-throw line jumper.
1:23 left in 2nd (offensive possession): Lillard drives left and looks like he’s going to attempt a left-handed layup that would have been rejected by Gobert. He instead takes an extra dribble, which surprises Gobert, and proceeds to finish on the right side of the rim.
1:11 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Trent Jr. pilfers Bogdanovic as he tries to perform a rip-through (moving the ball from one side of your body to the other). The turnover leads to a three for Hezonja on the other end.
0:51 left in 2nd (defensive possession): Trent Jr. makes another tremendous defensive play. This time he anticipates a right-hand drive from Mitchell cuts him off and simultaneously pokes the ball away with his left hand.
3rd Quarter Analysis: The Jazz go on a late run and win the quarter 30-17
11:05 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Carmelo fails to switch on a screen and leaves Conley wide open, who proceeds to drain the triple.
10:37 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Lillard gives up a straight-line drive to Conley, who finishes the layup before the help has time to arrive.
10:23 left in 3rd (offensive possession): McCollum comes off a double screen at the top of the key and makes an assertive move driving downhill and pulling up over the backpedaling Gobert.
10:15 left in 3rd (defensive possession): The Blazers screw up their matchups after the made basket. Swanigan finds himself on Conley. Both Lillard and McCollum try to remedy the situation, which leads to Ingles getting a wide-open three. An abysmal defensive showing to start the second half for the Blazers.
9:25 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Lillard makes his second consecutive defensive stop. This time he strips Mitchell as he goes up for the shot.
9:18 left in 3rd (offensive possession): Lillard takes a ridiculous pull-up three while trying to contort his body and draw a foul call. The whistle never comes, but the shot somehow falls.
7:42 left in 3rd (defensive possession): The Blazers make multiple solid rotations to snuff out this offensive trip for the Jazz. Hezonja helps and recovers on multiple occasions and slides his feet to cut off an Ingles drive. Lillard closes out hard to Mitchell and forces a travel.
6:33 left in 3rd (offensive possession): It doesn’t appear to be Anthony’s night. He is 1 for seven after a Dirk-like one-legged fade-away is off the mark.
6:26 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Trent Jr. goes under the screen defending Mitchell, which, combined with the Blazers conservative, drop-back scheme, leads to a wide-open pull-up three.
5:53 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Carmelo Anthony makes a nice instinctive switch. He is guarding the screen in pick-and-roll action, and when Mitchell rejects the screen and blows past Trent Jr., Melo is there to contest the shot and force the miss. Switching can be incredibly useful if executed and communicated correctly, even when no screen takes place.
5:30 left in 3rd (defensive possession): The Blazers, due to their lack of depth at center, are going with Melo as the backup five. After switching effectively on the last defensive stop, he completes this trip with a sturdy defensive board while holding off the “Stifle Tower.” Gobert, for as good of a defender and roll man as he is, lacks a post-up game, which affords teams the luxury of going small against him and the Jazz.
5:03 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Hezonja has a great defensive sequence. First, he communicates to Trent Jr. that he’s leaving his man to help. Mario recognizes the roll from Gobert, gets in his path, and takes a charge.
3:55 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Royce O’Neale makes a lazy outlet pass, and Trent Jr. sneaks in, snatches it, and throws down a monster right-hand slam. He has significant potential as a defender, the biggest weakness he has to work on is his screen navigation, but he’s already a play-maker on that end.
3:41 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Swanigan hedges on the Mitchell-Gobert pick-and-roll and becomes complacent as soon as he gets within touching distance of his original assignment. The ball is passed to Clarkson in the left corner, who shot-fakes Lillard and drives baseline. Swanigan is not in position to help because he is still behind Gobert. Hedging and recovering is not concluded until you’ve regained proper positioning for both rebounding and help purposes.
3:24 left in 3rd (offensive possession): Lillard comes off a staggered screen up top and tries a bounce pass through a couple of defenders. The ball bounces off Gobert’s foot, which leads to a transition basket for Utah. Lillard complains to the officials. The kicked ball rule is designed to prevent the defense from intentionally kicking the basketball to gain an advantage. It’s hard to tell if Gobert stuck his foot out or if the pass just incidentally hit his shoe. Bad call or not, this changed the momentum of the game and started a Jazz run.
2:21 left in 3rd (defensive possession): Trent Jr. doesn’t get back on defense in transition, which leads to a 2-on-1 and a second consecutive layup for Bogdanovic.
0:27 left in 3rd (offensive possession): McCollum uses his fantastic footwork to get Juwan Morgan off his feet, draw a bump and convert an up-and-under.
Final 3 minutes: Game in the balance
3:00 left in 4th (offensive possession): Lillard uses his body well to create contact and finish at the rim over Gobert. He’s become incredibly consistent at finishing in traffic.
2:35 left in 4th (offensive possession): Lillard is able to draw two defenders as he jumps into his shot motion. He recognizes the defense has left McCollum in the right corner and turns his shot into a pass. CJ obliges with a three to cut the Utah lead to 2.
2:14 left in 4th (defensive possession): The Jazz have a stagnant possession that leads to a tough step-back three from Bogdanovic, but unfortunately, the Blazers can’t come up with the rebound. After the reset, Gobert catches the ball in the paint and makes a brilliant touch pass to O’Neale, who drills the left corner three.
1:43 left in 4th (offensive possession): The referees don’t notice that the clock isn’t running for an entire possession. CJ makes a nice pocket-pass to Swanigan, who hits a difficult push shot. You rarely see the refs miss something that obvious, but it’s a sign of things to come for the officiating crew.
1:16 left in 4th (offensive possession): Lillard’s shot-making is just out of this world. He gets a screen going right and pulls up before Swanigan can even finish setting the pick. The ESPN replay shows an angle that highlights Lillard’s shot from behind. He not only has to adjust the ball into his shooting pocket while he’s airborne, but he’s simultaneously extending his left leg to keep his defender, Ingles, from getting too close to the release. Another 40 point night for Lillard.
1:05 left in 4th (defensive possession): Swanigan switches onto Bogdanovic and gets beat off the dribble for an easy two. It’s hard to be a productive big in the league today if you’re undersized and also struggle to move laterally.
0:48 left in 4th (offensive possession): Dame rarely resorts to the floater, mainly because he is such an analytically savvy player. But he hits a clutch one here and shows he has that in his bag of tricks.
0:40 left in 4th (defensive possession): Trent Jr. fails to box out Mitchell, who can poke the ball to a teammate and get Utah a second chance. Mitchell can get a screen and attack the backpedaling Swanigan to give the Jazz the lead again. Not sure why the Blazers are switching with Caleb when that is not his strength.
0:19 left in 4th (offensive possession): Lillard drives and gets the ball up on the backboard before Gobert blocking it. The refs don’t blow the whistle, and because they didn’t call it a goaltending violation, they can’t review it. This is especially egregious because the refs know this, and therefore anything that is even remotely close to goaltending in the final two minutes should be called one, so they can take a look. It’s frustrating to see the refs miss such an obvious call in the closing stages when the players should be the ones deciding the outcome.
0:09 left in 4th (offensive possession): Melo gets the rebound on the free throw miss with the Blazers down 3. He dribbles it up and gets doubled, and right when you think he’s going to take a desperation heave, he finds Swanigan in the right corner wide open. The shot is released on time, and it appears to be on-line, but hits off the back of the rim. It’s a tough loss to swallow for Portland. Lillard is rightfully angry and berates the refs.
Other Notes:
Brian Forte, Josh Tiven, and JB DeRosa were the officials. They were, to put it frankly, terrible the entire game, missing calls on both ends.
Anfernee Simons left the game and didn’t return after suffering a concussion. The play happens at the 0:40 second mark of the 1st quarter. He attempts a shot while Royce O’Neale contests from behind. O’Neale comes into Simons’ landing area, which causes Anfernee to fall backward and hit his head on the court. Another missed call that should have been a flagrant one foul.
After Ariza’s ejection and Simon’s injury, the Blazers had just seven players available. To add to the challenge, this was a road game on the 2nd night of a back-to-back
2:32 left in 1st (offensive possession): Lillard beats O’Neale with a gorgeous behind-the-back dribble and makes a ridiculous reverse layin with a spin-off the glass. Dame scored 16 points in the opening period on 6-6 from the field and 4-4 from three. Lillard finished with 42 points, 27 of which came in the first half.
I don’t like Utah’s chances in the bubble without Bogdanovic, who is out after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery. As this game illustrates, he’s vital to the Jazz offense in so many ways. He provides elite floor spacing, transition attacks, and secondary shot creation. He finished with 27 points on 10 of 16 from the field.
1:42 left in 1st (offensive possession): Gary Trent Jr. shows his continued progression with his offensive game. He creates significant separation on a step-back three that is nothing but net.
McCollum and Lillard played all but twenty seconds in the second half.
I would have liked Stotts to go with Wenyen Gabriel instead of Caleb Swanigan down the stretch. I love Gabriel’s athleticism and switching ability more than what Swanigan provides.
With Utah putting Ingles on Lillard, the Blazers went to Ariza on the block in the opening quarter to take advantage of his size over both Conley and Mitchell.