3. Comeback Kids
Every team comes upon a time when they find themselves down big and in desperate need of buckets to mount a comeback. While more effort on defense and smart shot selection can shave a lead, sometimes the clock may dictate a need for substitution.
Usually, this situation calls for a lineup that can get hot and evaporate a lead one triple at a time. The team may have to play fast, hit difficult shots, and aim for mostly 3-pointers to erase the deficit before the game is over.
Hopefully, the Blazers won’t find themselves in this position often, but they should be prepared for the worst case scenario in the playoffs. If Portland ever finds themselves down big in the fourth quarter, they should run out a five-man group that can run up the score quickly.
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: CJ McCollum
SF: Norman Powell
PF: Tony Snell
C: Robert Covington
This lineup swaps out Jusuf Nurkic for Tony Snell, a non-shooter for an off-ball sniper. One simple substitution completely shifts the Blazers ideal playstyle. This group can play with speed, has multiple ballhandlers, and features five shooters on the floor at the same time.
Being able to play five-out will open up the floor for Dame, CJ, and Powell to get to the cup off the bounce and potentially create good looks from deep for the four other shooters if the defense collapses.
Sticking Robert Covington at the five will likely force the opposition to take their center out of the game, usually a team’s most important defender. At that point, it turns into a matter if the Blazers can outscore their opponents quick enough to get themselves back in the game.
While defense isn’t the main focus of this grouping, it’s not completely abandoned. If this lineup can force the opposing team to downsize, they have plenty of defense in the frontcourt to aid in the comeback.
Snell is strong, quick, and long enough to contain any small forward moonlighting at the four. RoCo can more than slow down any smallball center.
One of the main reasons that the Blazers fell to the Nuggets in the first-round was Stotts’s insistence on sticking with Enes Kanter when Jusuf Nurkic was in foul trouble. Kanter was repeatedly torched by Nikola Jokic and even JaMychal Green. Stotts refused to go small with Covington at the five, until it was too late.
While RoCo couldn’t slow down the Joker—no one really can— the Blazers found it much easier to trade buckets with Denver with Covington drawing Jokic out to the perimeter. Hopefully, Billups will be much more willing to play small when needed.
I would expect the offensive rating of this lineup to shoot upwards of a 130 points per 100 possessions. If they can play enough defense, this will be a group that can mitigate any lead.