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For one half, the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers admired the task of dominating the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. If only NBA games lasted 24 minutes! After a second half of adjustments and an ultra-aggressive defense, the Lakers were able to pull out for a 102-93 win. The loss sent Portland back to 18-14 and returned to sixth place in the Western Conference standings. The silver lining is that Portland only has three games left before they spend an entire week resting and recovering. Not to encourage mediocrity, but in seasons gone by, being No. 6 and walking on water above .500 would have been a welcome sight for the Blazers in the first half of a program. Law? Either way, here’s a rundown.
Imagine the Blazers were watching the tape from last season’s Western Conference first round during the flight to STAPLES Center. Early on, Portland was part of a team determined to seek revenge.
They took a 15-4 advantage, creating more turnover than a bakery at breakfast time. Anchored by the contagious energy of Gary Trent Jr., they forced four giveaways in the first six minutes – this after forcing just one roll in 48 minutes on Tuesday against Denver – and it pulled them away from the No.1 defense in Los Angeles half court. .
How the stars were defended in the first quarter was probably the most intriguing story. After struggling to defend LeBron James in last summer’s playoffs, they had to draw inspiration from the results with Derrick Jones Jr. He made life difficult for James, using his 7-foot wingspan and athleticism. On the other side, Damian Lillard was up to the challenge, with 15 out of 5 out of 8 points on the pitch. He pushed the Blazers to a 29-24 advantage after one.
Basketball, as they say, is a game of chess, and it was around this time that Frank Vogel and Terry Stotts started moving their pieces. The Lakers seemed to take a page from recent naysayers’ book on how they defend Lillard. In the pick-and-roll, they made a concentrated effort to get to that dribble to his left, where he is most dangerous in pulling situations, while keeping a certain size in his zone. Ever the creator, Lillard found other ways to “hunt” for her snap – as CJ McCollum would say – with internal cuts and quick pull-ups in transition.
Outside of that predominant scenario, this game offered more positives in terms of Gary Trent Jr.’s development as an overall goalscorer. He became Portland’s second-largest points producer, averaging 19.0 points in his last 16 games. He put the ability to score all three levels on tape, as well as create his own shot.
The end of the second trimester was a stress test; Lillard was knocked out in a defenseman-not-under-the-ankle shooters contest, and Jones Jr. and Robert Covington faced serious problems. Still, even so, the Blazers held a slight 57-54 lead in the second half.
After spending much of the first half soaking up the Blazers’ best hay, the Los Angeles Lakers opened the third quarter ready to send a message: At full focus, they’re still the first heavyweight in the Western Conference.
Portland didn’t quite have a response to the energy of the Lakers players, namely Alex Caruso, Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma. Two statistics in particular – points on turnover and offensive rebounds – showed the disparity.
The Lakers had 20 points on turnover and 12 offensive rebounds going into the fourth quarter. Because of this, the Lakers won the quarter 31-19 and entered the fourth quarter with an 85-76 advantage.
If you’re looking for a quote or sound clip that describes this game, stop me if you’ve heard this one before, courtesy of Richard Jefferson of ESPN: “They’re going to need someone else to start shooting because they’re just adjusting their defense to stop Damian Lillard.
The Blazers played with moxie, but, as Terry Stotts might say, Portland just couldn’t get enough shots. The offense was not creative from a ploy standpoint except for a post from Lillard, but Portland had a chance to cut the deficit. They used Lillard’s gravity in pick-and-roll or double-drag screens to stretch the Lakers’ defense, but couldn’t throw a stone into the ocean.
All in all, that turned out to be the streak of the game. It turned out to be a tail of two halves, in terms of how aggressive Los Angeles was to defend Lillard. In their victory tonight, they made a statement: you cut off the serpent’s head, and the rest will not survive. They held one of the best second-half teams in the NBA at just 36 points with that suffocating defense. As tonight’s game shows, Portland may still have a ways to go to reach the top of the West.
– Damian Lillard’s ability to play through pain has become almost Iverson at this point. You could tell he wasn’t quite the same after Talen Horton-Tucker slipped under his foot during his 3-point first-half attempt. That he still got the attention he did is remarkable. A few bounces here or there, and maybe it ends up being a different game.
– Talk about running out of time at the wrong time. The Blazers’ 36 points in the second half were tied for the least of the season. Their attack hasn’t been this dry in half a year since their Jan. 14 loss to Indiana.
– It’s unclear who the finger points to first, but the Blazers couldn’t find a way to score on Lakers’ traps on Lillard, or when he was off the ground. The second unit combined for 13 points on 16 shots. Having one of them almost certainly change the scene of this game.
The Blazers hope to end the final round of the “first half” of their schedule on a high note, starting with a home game against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. PT.
Instant recap
The score of the box
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