The Portland Trail Blazers' 124-118 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday served as a reminder of why this team traded for Ja Morant. Portland's surprising offseason acquisition remains sidelined with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, causing him to miss most, if not all, of November. Losses like Friday show why the Blazers still need Morant in order to make a playoff run in the stacked Western Conference.
Portland shot 19-of-43 (44 percent) from beyond the arc and still came up short. Part of that was simply because Luka Doncic went Dragon Ball Z mode and transformed into Super Saiyan form, finishing with 53 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
But through their 6-2 start, the Blazers have proven they can overcome hot nights from superstars like Doncic and pull out wins, even beating Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on the road earlier. The issue with this loss was that Portland also beat itself, especially in the turnover department.
24 turnovers against Lakers show why Blazers traded for Ja Morant
Head coach Micah Nori always talks about winning the possession battle. Well, he can't be too pleased with Friday's performance, where they had 24 turnovers compared to just 11 for Los Angeles.
Avdija recorded eight turnovers, Henderson had five without any assists and just two points, Damian Lillard had four, and even big man Donovan Clingan added three of his own.
Lillard looks to be in good shape overall coming back from that torn Achilles. But the Blazers have also found that ideal role for him at this stage in his career, playing far more off-ball. Jrue Holiday added playmaking off the bench and was one of the lone bright spots, finishing with seven assists and zero turnovers. Still, you could feel Morant's absence and what was missing from this game.
Just compare it to last time these teams faced off at the beginning of the season. Portland had a healthy Morant starting that game and won on the road 136-129, putting them up 3-0 at the time. Morant vindicated Nori's decision to start him, with 23 points and 4 assists on efficient 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Most importantly, the Blazers had a far more reasonable 14 turnovers.
We've seen Morant's value to this offense and how important he is as a secondary playmaker in the starting lineup to take pressure off Avdija. We also saw in Friday's loss, after Doncic's 53-point performance, that the Blazers could use more help in the star-power department.
Blazers' offense is in much better shape after the Ja Morant trade
The Morant trade was already justifying itself thanks to his better-than-expected fit that led to the Blazers' hot start to the season. They're still in great shape at 6-2 despite the loss to the Lakers, but do face a tough challenge ahead with upcoming games against the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder (twice).
In the bigger picture, however, the Blazers should be in even better shape once Morant ultimately does return in the next few weeks. This offense certainly needed his playmaking to stay organized on Friday, and they'll miss his star power against arguably the two best teams in the league. But in some ways, the loss to the Lakers was encouraging about their position in the Western Conference.
The Blazers now seem firmly in that second tier of teams in the West like the Lakers, Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Houston Rockets. The Morant trade helps them get there with an offense that's equally explosive as it is structured, just like the Blazers' newest point guard.
Many of these teams, including the Lakers, like to turn games into track meets, which should bode well for Portland’s preferred playstyle. They couldn't execute as well Friday, but fortunately we've already seen what this team looks like with Morant. The Blazers' playmaking and turnover struggles in Morant's absence only further confirm he was the right addition, especially given how little they had to send to Memphis.
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