The Portland Trail Blazers had the third-best offense in the 2019/20 season

The Portland Trail Blazers finished the season with the league’s third-best offense. What factors played into them achieving this?

After a difficult 2019/20 season, the Portland Trail Blazers surprisingly finished with the league’s third-best offense. Injuries to crucial personnel limited them defensively, but the offense wasn’t a problem at all.

Which factors contributed to this result, and who were the key players that were part of it?

The first thing that stands out when looking at the Blazers offense is how they took care of the ball. They had the second least turnovers in the league, led by Gary Trent Jr., who finished in the 99th percentile when it came to taking care of the ball. Five of the top six Blazers in terms of usage took the care of the ball at a rate that put them in the 80th percentile or higher.

The main reason, though, that the Blazers had a top-three offense in the league was their incredible shooting.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are two of the best shooters in the league, and they both achieved career highs in three-pointers made and attempted. By adding Carmelo Anthony and the breakout season of Gary Trent Jr., they had two other great shooters who aided this offense.

They lost defense when Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless departed, but they did well to replace this with offense.

The Blazers ranked 16th in three-pointers attempted, and then third in percentage. This led them to make the tenth most threes in the league.

In terms of the mid-range, we all know how great the Blazers have been from this distance recently. But, interestingly, Dame this year changed his shot profile significantly. He reduced the number of midrange shots he took from 27 percent of his shots, down to a career-low 19 percent of his shots.

But, because they added Melo and Whiteside, they actually took more midrange shots this season than last.

The above meant that they ranked fifth in accuracy from the midrange this season, another impressive mark.

From a player standpoint, Terry Stotts running a lot of high screen and roll actions for Dame and CJ meant both could create with a lot of open space in both the half-court and in transition. It was simple but effective and saw both players get a lot of open looks from three. This enabled Dame, in particular, to have his best NBA year, while also having one of the greatest individual seasons in Blazer history.

Dame also had the greatest deep shooting season in NBA history.

Stotts deserves credit for his ability to get a shorthanded team to the playoffs, while also having one of the best offenses in Blazer history.

With the 27th ranked defense in 2019/20, it’s almost certain that next season won’t have an offense only focus, especially with Jusuf Nurkic back from injury. The negativity around Coach Stotts should be tempered until we see this squad at full fitness. This team is excellent offensively and can improve overall with the return of key personnel.