The Philadelphia 76ers are bad. Let’s get that out of the way right now. This team is not very good at all. They have a couple of interesting and dynamic players that are going to be good in a couple of years (Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid), but right now, it is not pretty in Philly.
The Portland Trail Blazers come into town at a time where Philly just needs a win. At the time, the 76ers were sporting a horrid 0-13 record and were wanting anything other than a loss to occur. I will say that the fan base is still supportive. Even as bad as their record has gotten, people can still see fans cheering and wanting their team to win. So, there are definite bright spots, but ultimately this fan base is going to have wait a couple of years before cheering for something truly special.
However, as a Portland fan, it is hard when the Blazers have to play games in this situation. Remember a couple of years ago during the 2012-13 season when the Blazers faced the then 0-12 Wizards? The Blazers gave them their first win of the season. Portland is much better team than it was during that season, but it is still something Blazer fans consider.
Consider no more! The Trail Blazers, after a rocky start and maybe some anxious fans, beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-104 on Monday night. The Blazers improve to 11-3 on the season and extend their winning streak to eight (the longest winning streak in the league at the moment). The 76ers fall to 0-14 and are still looking for their first win of the season. Looking at their upcoming schedule, their next chance might be against Minnesota or oddly enough Oklahoma City. Regardless, this is a grim scenario.
After a sloppy showing in Boston, the Blazers hoped to right the ship in that aspect and play a more effective and sharp game. In the first half, that was not the case. Portland shot 52% from the field, but 20% from three in the first quarter. However, the biggest problem was again the turnovers. Portland recorded eight in the first quarter alone. Eight! Sloppy passes, intended passes for alley-oops that flew out-of-bounds and silly plays like getting pick-pocketed or trying to get fancy. LaMarcus Aldridge led the way with eight points on 4-for-9 shooting and had five rebounds. Damian Lillard provided four points on 2-for-2 shooting. The turnovers were the big issue and the game started off slow for both teams, but only one had a decent excuse. After Nicolas Batum made an easy lay-up to start the game at with 11:48 remaining, the Blazers did not score again until 8:12 on a LA make. The game was stuck at 2-2 for longer than it should have. Portland had huge sections of the first quarter where the offense looked like it needed a pick-me-up. With 5:56 remaining, Portland had only scored six points, but the 76ers only had nine.
Philadelphia was playing a brand of basketball that is rare in the NBA. I do not even know what I witnessed. They played better than I thought they would, but the way they turn over the ball constantly requires some kind of strange skill. They shot 43% from the field in the quarter led by Tony Wroten (really?) who had six points on 2-for-4 shooting. Again, Portland would have been in trouble if they were playing against anybody else.
Portland ultimately turned up the offense thanks to contributions from the bench. Allen Crabbe, Will Barton and Chris Kaman closed the quarter well while LA was providing a steady stream of jumpers and swishes. The Blazers would outscore the 76ers 24-20 in the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the offense for Philly start rolling, They shot 55% from the field led by Henry Sims (who?) who had nine points on 3-for-6 shooting. Michael Carter-Williams, after having a horrid first quarter finished with seven points on 2-for-3 shooting and had three rebounds and one assist in the quarter. Noel also provided some nice production off the bench to the tune of six points on 3-for-4 shooting and two rebounds.
Portland shot a decent amount from the field, but the three-point shooting and turnovers crippled them. They shot 45% from the field led by Joel Freeland of all people. He finished with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting with two rebounds, his best offensive game this season. The problem was the 1-for-7 from three-point land and the six turnovers resulting in eight Philly points. More of the same, bounce passes that were ill advised, hesitation and, to give Philly credit, decent defense. Their hands were in the passing lanes and made it difficult on Portland. However, I think Portland was mentally hurting themselves more than any defense. The 76ers outscored Portland 32-26 to take a two-point lead into the half.
Portland took the script from the Boston game and used it in this game. They shot 63% from the field in the third quarter and 29% from three. The three-point shot was still not there, which is surprising, but everything else was falling. Most importantly, though, Portland cut down on the turnovers and had zero in the quarter. LA had went on a tear in the third finishing with 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting, 1-for-1 from three and had four rebounds. Lillard got going as well and record 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting, 1-for-3 from three. Robin Lopez, looking more energetic than in the first half had six points on 3-for-4 shooting and three rebounds.
However, a fan could argue that the defense was not as lockdown as it could have been for Portland. The 76ers shot 54% from the field and only attempted two three-pointers missing both. MCW led the way with nine points on 4-for-8 shooting. Wroten finished with seven and Sims finished six. Philly abused the lane. They have few shooters on this squad, so they rely on the paint. No stat explains that more than the 70 points they recorded in the paint. The disturbing aspect was that they had free lay-ins at times reminiscent of the J.J. Hickson era. Okay, maybe not that bad, but still a little surprising considering how good the defense has been in these past few games. Portland outscored Philly 39-28 in the quarter, essentially grabbing control of the game.
In the fourth quarter, it was a matter of Portland just standing their ground and not letting Philly get confident again. The Blazers did not shoot well as they shot 38% from the field and 38% from three. It was a weird quarter and Portland, after going on a hot streak, seemed to lose touch and forget their offense. Philly tried to mount a comeback as they cut it to eight with 1:31 remaining in the fourth, but after a Wesley Matthews three-pointer the game was sealed.
Again, not the best outing for Portland, yet they got the job done. The turnovers, while being bad, were fixed relatively quickly in the second quarter. Portland only had three turnovers in the second half. Far cry from the 14 they recorded in the first half. That total of 17 turnovers is still dangerously high and it has allowed these under .500 teams to gain confidence early. Portland cannot continue to depend on their really hot third quarters to save them night in and night out. This is similar to last season where the third quarter was their savior, but eventually the third quarter became their Achilles heel. Taking care of the ball will come, I predict, but going up against better teams like Memphis coming to the Moda Center in a couple of days is a game where the turnovers need to be almost non-existent.
Portland’s leading scorer was Aldridge. No surprise there as Philly has no one who can guard him well. Noel is the closest, but Nerlens needs to put on muscle and just grow up. LA finished with 33 points on 13-for-20 shooting, 1-for-1 from three and had 11 rebounds. This was an effective game offensively for him and he had a big third-quarter that ultimately gave Portland the win.
Matthews had a quiet 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting, 2-for-8 from three with four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Lillard has come down of late from his torrid shooting spree, but he still managed to finish with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, 1-for-4 from three, with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The bench provided some spark when they needed to. Freeland finished with nine points and four rebounds in just 14 minutes of play. Crabbe continues to grow as he finished with eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, 2-for-4 from three. Portland has their own potential Mike Miller in the works. Steve Blake, while not making any buckets had eight assists and three rebounds and was effective throughout. Kaman had a rough shooting night, but finished with eight points on 3-for-7 shooting with nine rebounds. He was effective in the fourth quarter has he had six of his points in the quarter and six of his nine rebounds.
Philly had a trio of 20 point scorers. MCW, Wroten and Sims recorded 24 points, 20 points and 22 points respectively. Someone has to score on this team and Sims was probably the odd man out in that scenario.
This was a case of Portland having to fight through a difficult and sloppy first half to get to the third quarter. However, their next matchup, the Charlotte Hornets, has talent and will take advantage of mistakes. It would not shock anybody if the Hornets feel like they need revenge because of what happened in Portland as the Blazers mounted a comeback to steal a game away just a couple of weeks ago. Portland looks to increase their win streak to nine games, while Charlotte looks to snap out of the funk they have been in. They have lost eight of their last nine games. Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m. PST on Wednesday at Time Warner Cable Arena. Stay tuned!