The Portland Trail Blazers bounce back big time and trounce the Grizzlies
By Andy Quach
The Portland Trail Blazers looked to bounce back from an embarrassing loss against the Los Angeles Clippers and defend their homecourt against the red hot Ja Morant-led Memphis Grizzlies.
Through active defense and patient, surgical offense, Portland redeemed themselves in a major way, downing the Grizzlies, 116-96.
The Blazers displayed a much better effort than against the Clips, particularly in the second-half against Memphis, erasing a six-point half-time deficit.
Takeaways from Portland Trail Blazers bounce-back blowout of the Memphis Grizzlies
Damian Lillard continued his cold streak in the first-half, but had a redemption of his own, catching fire in the third quarter. He finished with 20 points and 10 assists, hitting four of his triples at a 36 percent clip.
CJ McCollum didn’t have the most efficient night, but hit timely buckets when Portland needed them the most. He continued his streak as the Blazers leading scorer with 23.
Desmond Bane led the way for the Grizz, tallying 19 points, including 4-7 from 3-point land.
Portland, like many teams, has been wildly inconsistent through the first couple weeks of the season. Fans will get a good chance to see if the team is more like the one that came out against the Grizz and Phoenix Suns or the one that floundered against the Sacramento Kings and Clippers, as the Blazers are about to enter a tough slate of playoff-level squads in their next eight matchups:
Clippers, Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Clips, and Suns.
Fast Break Notes:
- Larry Nance Jr. was the most active player for the Blazers tonight and the difference was palpable. He finished second on the team in plus/minus with a staggering +18, just behind CJ’s +23.
- Jusuf Nurkic had a bounce-back game of his own right, taking advantage of the Grizzlies weak pick-and-roll coverage. He finished with 17 points on a clean 6-8 shooting.
- Robert Covington’s cold streak has been overshadowed by Dame’s, but people will take notice soon enough. He’s now 5-17, 29 percent from deep. The Blazers will need him to find his jumper post-haste.