The Portland Trail Blazers won their eighth straight home game on Saturday, 118-111, over the Philadelphia 76ers to go to 9-8 on the year.
Q: What do you get when you combine a team that’s unbeatable at home with one that can’t win on the road?
A1: A .500 team.
A2: The 2021-2022 Blazers
A3: Inscrutability
Grades are out for the strong performance, the Blazers third win a row:
Grading player performances from the Portland Trail Blazers victory over the Philadelphia 76ers
Damian Lillard: A+ 39 PTS, 7 AST, 3 BLK, +9, 14-14 FT, 5-13 3PT
Damian Lillard was excellent from start to finish, scoring from all over the floor and taking over the offensive load when CJ McCollum went missing in the second half. This might have been Lillard’s best game of the season, and hopefully is an indication that he has shaken off whatever funk was on him. The 39 points were a season high.
CJ McCollum: B- • 18 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 4-9 3PT, -3
McCollum scored all 18 of his points before intermission (he and Lillard combined for 35 of Portland’s 55 first half points) but missed all seven of his second-half shots. Perhaps he had a bad burrito during the break, but Portland needs more from their number two superstar.
Norman Powell: A- • 17 PTS, 6-11 FG, 2 AST, +10
The Accountant may not have been all about the numbers tonight, but Norman Powell had a handful of important baskets, including a layup with 48 seconds left to put Portland up eight and Philadelphia into foul mode.
Robert Covington: B+ • 6 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 3 BLK, +10
Robert Covington still seems to think the floor inside the three-point line on the offensive end is lava, but he banged bodies with Tobias Harris and Andre Drummond on the defensive end all night.
Jusuf Nurkic: B • 23 MIN, 11 PTS, 11 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, +7
The Blazers biggest enigma this season continued to puzzle us, with an energetic but erratic performance that left the crowd wanting more. On defense Jusuf Nurkic was inconsistent but stellar in spots — he had a key block with five minutes left — and offensively he seemed to find his flow early, only to sit for all but 1:30 of the game’s last 18 minutes.
Larry Nance Jr.: A • 22 MIN, 7 PTS, 5 REB, 2 STL
Portland’s best bench player tonight continued the play that is making him a Moda Center favorite. Larry Nance Jr. also seems to have claimed the closing minutes of games at the five spot from Nurkic with his workmanlike efforts.
Nassir Little: A • 22 MIN, 11 PTS, 4 REB, 5-7 FG
Wow, this kid is fun to watch. Tireless hustle, fantastic instincts and decision making, and an aggressiveness this team sorely needs make Nassir Little a pleasure to watch every minute he’s on the court, and the Blazers biggest positive surprise this season. Little hit two consecutive big baskets — a 3-pointer and a dunk — early in the fourth.
Anfernee Simons: A- • 22 MIN, 9 PTS, 2 REB, 3 AST, +8
Portland didn’t need much offensively from Simons tonight, but he didn’t do a whole lot wrong either. Solid defense on Curry and some early displays of his eye-popping quickness were all he needed to contribute to help the Blazers tonight.
Cody Zeller: A • 8 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, +8
Two rebounds in eight minutes earns Zeller an A? No, it’s not grade inflation. Zeller stepped in when Nurkic started to fade in the first and pestered Andre Drummond into a couple of bad fouls, and was a staggering +8 in just eight minutes of play. In case you’re not good at math, that translates to a plus-48 per 48 minutes. You’re welcome.
Tony Snell: B • 10 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, -5
Tony Snell played in this game. I know that because I saw a #17 jersey moving around at various points, but I’ll be damned if I can tell you one thing he did, positively or negatively.
Greg Brown III, Dennis Smith, Jr., Ben McLemore, and CJ Elleby: INC • DNP
Chauncey Billups and coaching staff: A
Billups has done a great job adapting the lineup to opponents and game situations all season, and is handling the veteran Nurkic’s reduction in important minutes in a way that clearly is satisfying to the Bosnian big man. A staff-wide decision to challenge a foul call with 45 seconds left sealed the game for the Blazers.
Moda Center crowd: B-
The crowd seemed disinterested for most of the game, waking up only when the 76ers made a quick run to within a few points in the fourth. And the mask wearing habits were disappointing. We can do better, Portland.
If the Blazers continue to stumble on the road, they had better keep winning at this pace at home. They will put their three game winning streak on the line against Denver — the last team to beat them — at the Moda Center on Tuesday night.