The Portland Trail Blazers are allowing 21.6 opponent points off turnovers per game, ranking sixth-worst in the NBA. Seven of their ten losses have now been by single digits, two of which were from heartbreaking buzzer-beater threes at the hands of Desmond Bane and Nikola Vucevic.
The Blazers' new-look roster and established identity give them a much higher, more consistent floor on a nightly basis. Because of the competitiveness of these games, it's safe to assume that the results will start tilting in their favor if they stop handing opponents points on a silver platter.
Blazers must limit turnovers with thin margin of error out west
Part of that established identity comes from their size, defense, and physicality. Portland typically compensates for the lack of shooting on its roster by winning the possession battle -- efficiency doesn't matter as much when volume increases.
They frequently pick up opponents the length of the court, ranking top five in opponent turnovers per game (16.9), despite key injuries to players who help elevate that roster strength, such as Blake Wesley and Matisse Thybulle.
Largely thanks to Donovan Clingan, Portland also ranks second in offensive rebounds per game (15.8); that's behind only the frontcourt-heavy Houston Rockets, which aren't afraid to deploy double-big lineups.
Shooting is an apparent roster weakness that Portland will eventually need to address externally, hopefully by February's trade deadline. Given the importance of the three-ball in the modern NBA, the Blazers are fighting an uphill battle, as this is now their third consecutive season ranked in the bottom five.
Still, the reality of their roster construction and general manager Joe Cronin's vision is that the Blazers are a team designed to win the possession battle. The missing piece to complete that puzzle is limiting turnovers themselves.
That's still one glaring weakness in Deni Avdija's game, who is averaging a career-high 3.6 turnovers this season. Jrue Holiday has done well in his increased role as a primary offensive initiator, filling the void for Scoot Henderson, who remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. But collectively, Portland must emphasize taking better care of the ball.
It's not surprising that Portland has this issue, considering they have dealt with several backcourt injuries in addition to being a young, inexperienced team that emphasized pushing the pace more this season.
The health concerns will eventually fix themselves, but Portland must find a way to limit opponent points off turnovers without compromising its style of play. Avdija remains aggressive but learns when to change gears, which is something he emphasized this offseason. The Blazers still look to run in transition to utilize their athleticism, but don't force the issue too much. It's essential they find a balance going forward.
The margin for error is so thin in the loaded Western Conference, and these are things they'll need to clean up to get back to the postseason.