The Portland Trail Blazers made history Monday as the first NBA team to ever play a British team. We found out why they've never done it before, as this preseason contest lacked your traditional level of competitiveness.
Portland defeated the London Lions with a final score of 119-66. With a lopsided victory of that nature, it's hard to really come away with any definitive takeaways. How much was due to the Blazers picking up where they left off last season? How much was due to the level of competition?
With games like these, I think one of the most important or accurate takeaways is the shooting. You still have to make shots from beyond the arc regardless of who's defending you. From that standpoint, it was encouraging that the Blazers connected on 16-of-34 from beyond the arc, good for 47 percent. That was without Damian Lillard, who was a DNP - Coach's Decision in this contest.
With or without Damian Lillard, the Blazers are already shooting better
The Blazers ranked near the bottom of the league in three-point efficiency last season. General manager Joe Cronin pinpointed that as an area of weakness after the first-round playoff exit to the San Antonio Spurs, but surprisingly didn't do as much as we expected to address the issue this offseason.
There were some moves on the margins, such as the underrated addition of Micah Potter, who should be a valuable stretch big this team was missing from last season. But in terms of additions, this team is largely hoping that Dame's return will alleviate those floor spacing concerns.
We saw that be the case in their first preseason matchup against the Golden State Warriors. Lillard was 3-of-8 from deep, contributing to the Blazers shooting 17-of-44 (39 percent) from beyond the arc as a team. That's going to be a huge lift for Portland's offense this season.
However, we've also seen in the blowout win over London that this team should be better at shooting regardless of Lillard's return. Head coach Micah Nori previously mentioned the plan was for this team to improve its shooting efficiency by getting better shots, particularly when it comes to each player's strengths. Combine that with internal development of a young core that only continues to get better, and this team was already on track to improve their shooting from last season.
It's a small sample size and we certainly don't want to overreact to any preseason game, especially one against the London Lions. That said, the fact that Portland has shot the ball so well to start preseason -- with or without Damian Lillard -- is an encouraging sign that things are trending in the right direction on offense.
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