Portland Trail Blazers: Takeaways vs Sacramento Kings (10/20/21)
By Andy Quach
The Portland Trail Blazers looked good running the motion offense, but could take awhile to find their rhythm
Rookie Head Coach Chauncey Billups took no time installing the motion offense that he brought over from the Los Angeles Clippers and imprinted the playbook within the Blazers sets.
Damian Lillard was activated as a playmaker running the new system, tallying six assists in the first half. The wing players thrived running around off-ball screens for open looks from deep and back cuts to the rim.
Big men Jusuf Nurkic and Cody Zeller were also the recipient of some wide open lanes after setting screens at the top of the key.
A negative effect from the new system was that Damian Lillard had a hard time finding his rhythm early on.
A little flustered, Dame called his own number, clearing Cody Zeller off of the block, and took his man straight to the rim for two in the middle of the second quarter.
Lillard’s inability to find his flow cost the Blazers in the end, as the usually lethal sniper went 0-9 from deep including some heartbreaking misses in the clutch.
It will take some time for Lillard to find the perfect balance between running the offense and calling his own number.