The Portland Trail Blazers have played 85 games this season and postseason, so I probably don't need to go into detail about what they're good at and what they struggle with. But if you need a quick refresher, the Blazers have been one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league, and the most turnover-prone. Those have been the biggest thorns in the team's side this year — they're two pretty big thorns, too, so it's impressive this team has gotten here in spite of those struggles.
On Friday night, the Blazers lost to a Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs team after blowing a double-digit lead in the third quarter. That, in itself, isn't the worst thing in the world, as the Spurs are still a very good basketball team when Wembanyama isn't on the court.
The tough pill to swallow from this loss is that the Blazers actually performed pretty well in the areas they usually struggle in — making it really hard to imagine the team winning three more games in this series if those numbers come back down to Earth.
Only 10 turnovers (to the Spurs' 13), 37% from deep, and 16 offensive rebounds. The Blazers did what they did well and didn't fall into the traps they usually do. It still wasn't enough to finish the job, though, despite a 15-point lead in the third quarter, and that's what will sting Blazers fans the most.
Blazers shot themselves in the foot time and again in second half
This series isn't over — if the Blazers were ever going to win this series, it was going to be in seven games. They have a chance to even the series on Sunday afternoon, and
With Victor Wembanyama out, the Blazers should have been able to attack the paint like they were so good at during the regular season. But Deni Avdija, the league's leading driver, had one of his worst shooting games of the season, finishing just 3-15 from the field, while Shaedon Sharpe scored just four points.
In some ways, the Blazers took advantage of Wemby's absence. But in some other, crucial ways, they didn't, and going just 23/52 from two-point range is not a recipe for success, and not the mark this team wanted to be at without the DPOY roaming the paint. Leaving points in the paint on the table is always a painful way to lose a game, and the Blazers did that (while also missing nine free throws).
Halfway through the third quarter, the Blazers looked to have this game nearly in the bag — then everything unraveled. If they want to even the series on Sunday, they'll probably have to do it with Victor Wembanyama back in the picture.
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