The Portland Trail Blazers haven't been perfect in their 3-0 start, but they're playing about just as good of basketball as you could've asked for to start the season under first-year head coach Micah Nori.
Tuesday's 136-129 win over the Los Angeles Lakers was genuinely the most exciting this Blazers roster has looked in years. General manager Joe Cronin deserves credit for this unconventional offseason work early on. But it's also a testament to Nori, who has this team playing the way he envisioned.
Ever since Nori arrived in Portland, he's had a plan to improve on last year's 42-win record. There was still plenty the Blazers could clean up when it came to defensive rebounding, shooting, and turnovers.
Blazers are executing Micah Nori's plan close to perfection
Nori has this team boxing out at one of the highest rates in the league. Offensively, they have a clean shot profile with everything largely coming either at the rim or beyond the arc. They also look far less stagnant compared to last season, where the offense was overly reliant on Deni Avdija as the primary offensive initiator. It's becoming a lethal offense with the amount of ball handlers and capable decision makers. It's essentially everything Nori said he would have this team be doing at a higher level actually coming to fruition.
Again, the Blazers were set to improve thanks to internal development and the addition of Damian Lillard and Ja Morant anyway. But you can already see early on how this team is benefiting from how well Cronin's offseason moves align with Nori's vision, particularly on the offensive end.
Just look at how more effective the Blazers have been in half-court points per possession compared to last year under Tiago Splitter:
SUPER early look at how team's halfcourt points per possession (logos) compares to last year's (faded logos) pic.twitter.com/K418FlgjqI
— ALL NBA Podcast (@ALLCITY_NBA) October 27, 2026
I’m not going that far after three games, but it does seem reminiscent of when Steve Kerr took over the Golden State Warriors after Mark Jackson. They had a roster trending upward regardless, but Kerr also contributed to that by proving to be the perfect fit. He got the most out of his stars' strengths, utilizing that motion offense to get the greatest shooters of all time open. Again, to a lesser extent, something special seems to be brewing with Nori and this deep and talented Blazers backcourt.
Micah Nori is the perfect coaching fit for this Blazers roster
I always tell everyone who's willing to listen that Nori gets compared to the Ted Lasso of the NBA, and there's something to be said about how that wit, creativity, and out-of-the-box thinking is unlocking this offense. It took a unique thinker like Nori to find a way to get these players complementing one another, and they now seem to fit surprisingly well within their roles.
The efficiency has gone up with improved shot selection and better ball movement. Again, something Nori said himself would improve over the summer. But now we're actually seeing how that's being implemented and contributing to Portland's 3-0 start.
Not only did he identify their roster weakness and how to address it, but he's also successfully executing that plan. That's also a testament to his 28 years of experience in the NBA, including 17 as an assistant coach.
He may be a first-year head coach who took a big bet on himself with such an unconventional contract. But Nori also emphasized the special position he is in as a first-year head coach who has the rare opportunity of taking over a team that already reached the playoffs.
Tiago Splitter even exceeded expectations, keeping this team afloat after losing Chauncey Billups and getting them to the postseason. But early on, that decision to move on to Nori is looking like an upgrade.
He had the perfect plan to get the most out of the strengths of this roster while mitigating the weaknesses. And the 3-0 Blazers are executing it even better than expected to start the season.
Nori may only have one year guaranteed on his three-year contract. But if this start is any indication, he shouldn't worry about that too much, as he already appears to be the perfect coaching fit in Portland.
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