The Portland Trail Blazers fell 124-103 on Thursday night to the Memphis Grizzlies in a game that was at least closer than the final score suggests. Still, it marks Portland's first loss of the season, now putting them at 3-1.
Some of it was due to the Blazers simply not playing well or having it Thursday. Damian Lillard didn't look like his normal self with just 9 points on 3-of-13 shooting. There were others who weren't up to expectations offensively as well, with Portland shooting just 12-of-49 (24 percent) from beyond the arc as a team.
That should correct itself in time with Lillard and others getting more games under their belt. It was impressive and even surprising that the Blazers started the season so hot with all these moving parts under first-year head coach Micah Nori. However, this loss also (hopefully) showed Nori adjustments that he needs to make himself.
Portland was lost without Robert Williams III
Portland was at a disadvantage in this contest without Robert Williams III (knee). Ideally, that would promote first-round pick Yang Hansen to second string to spell Donovan Clingan. Instead, Nori went with Branden Carlson as the first big off the bench in the first half, switching to Micah Potter in the second half.
Williams totaled 59 games played last season, which was just the second most of his career. General manager Joe Cronin did a good job of adding insurance with Williams' new deal, fully guaranteeing only the first of his three years to mitigate injury risk. But as this loss to Memphis showed, Portland is still exposed in these games without Williams.
It even seemed more the case this season with how dependent they are on these bigs like Clingan and Williams to protect the paint, compensating for Portland's undersized guards. Not to say Hansen will do the Blazers any favors when it comes to that elite rim protection, but with how drastic of a dip it was going from Clingan to Carlson/Potter, they might as well give Hansen those minutes for player development and evaluation.
Yang Hansen needs to climb up the Blazers' center depth chart
Carlson offered some of that defensive versatility as Williams, but there's a reason Nori made the halftime switch to Potter. That gave Portland more offense with his floor spacing, but left much to be desired as far as maintaining that defensive identity.
At least when Hansen is in, the offense flows much more smoothly. He's a far better passer than both Carlson and Potter, giving Portland someone to run the offense through for stretches. Carlson and Potter were both underwhelming coming in for Clingan, leaving us to wonder why Cronin added all these bigs in the first place if they aren't significant upgrades over Hansen.
The win-now timeline makes perfect sense as to why Portland can't give Hansen extended or consistent minutes. But they should at least be able to give him a backup role in situations like Thursday, when Williams is unavailable.
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