The Portland Trail Blazers did not take long to get back to their winning ways. They salvaged a road trip and looked like the Blazer team we have all watched this season.
The Trail Blazers beat the Indiana Pacers for the second time this season 95-85 on Saturday night to wrap up a five-game road trip. The Pacers fall to 7-17 on the season and are now in the middle of an eight-game losing streak. The Blazers snap a two-game losing streak and are now 18-6 on the season. Portland won the season series against Indiana 2-0.
The Pacers are exactly the same team as when the Blazers faced them last time. The only differences being C.J. Miles and Ian Manhimi were out with injuries joining the ever-growing pile of injured players for this Indiana squad. Coming into this game, the Pacers were in the middle of a seven-game losing streak. They are an energetic and passionate bunch, but there is not enough consistent offensive ability on the starting line up right now. Their go-to scorer is either David West or Rodney Stuckey at the moment because Roy Hibbert is non-existent. When those are a team’s two best options for scoring, a rough night is coming.
Portland, after suffering two losses, one bad one to Minnesota, needed to get back on track. They were outhustled in both games and were not as aggressive as they could have been. The FT line was a major contributor to both losses and the defensive intensity was turned down some. Like I said in my previous post, I am okay with losing to Chicago, but the Minnesota loss stings, especially with Oklahoma City roaring up the Western Conference right now. Portland needed to get a win to salvage the road trip and to go back home with a positive feeling as they will take on the San Antonio Spurs. Plus, they have another brutal four-game road trip coming up with games against the Thunder, the Houston Rockets and the New Orleans Pelicans.
They got back to form thanks to a 36-point second quarter that put separation between themselves and the Pacers and put the game away. The Pacers just do not have enough scoring ability unless most of their players are having career nights.
In the second quarter, Portland shot a staggering 78% going 14-for-18 from the field and 60% from three going 3-for-5. No Blazer scored in double-figures in the quarter, it was all balanced scoring. Wesley Matthews and Damian Lillard combined for 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting, 2-for-3 from three (Matthews). Steve Blake had a heck of a shift in the quarter. He played just under six and a half minutes, but had six points on 2-for-2 shooting, 1-for-1 from three with four assists. The Pacers led by one at the beginning of this quarter and by the end, they were staring at a 20-point deficit. Not a good way to go into halftime. Portland seemed to flip the switch and decided that this game was theirs. It seemed like every shot was going in and the defense cranked up. The Pacers shot just 30% going 6-for-20 from the field led by Luis Scola who had seven points in the quarter.
I mentioned this briefly in my previous post, but whenever the Blazers have balanced scoring, Portland is usually in a much better position. Take the Chicago game, both LaMarcus Aldridge and Lillard had 35 points, yet Portland still lost. Was that an anomaly? Maybe, considering that Derrick Rose had his best night of season and that Portland’s bench did not contribute much, but it seems that when there are only two scorers, the games come harder for Portland. When there is balanced scoring, it usually means the ball is whipping around and the players are locked in with each other.
The Pacers came out in the second half and outscored the Blazers 47-37 overall in the third and fourth quarters. However, Portland had too big of a lead. The Blazers biggest lead increased to 29 in the third quarter. The Pacers did shoot 41% from the field in the second half and out-rebounded the Blazers by ten. Furthermore, C.J. Watson scored 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting, 2-for-3 from three with four assists in the second half. It was just too late. In the fourth quarter, they got it to within ten on a couple of occasions, but the offense could not keep up. Once Indiana made a defensive lapse, Portland would score a quick five points.
It was a clear-cut, straightforward game. Portland had to come out aggressive early and they did scoring 22 points in the first quarter, but in the second quarter, the Blazers cut loose and could have walked out of the building at that point. Obviously, with the last two losses leaving a bad taste in their mouths, they wanted to end this game quickly so they could secure a victory early and squash any competition the game might have had.
The Blazers still went 10-for-12 from the line, which is lower than I would like. However, Indiana only attempted four more shots from line. So, while Portland’s numbers were low in that regard, they prevented Indiana from abusing the line. That was something that Minnesota and Chicago did repeatedly. Portland had 11 offensive rebounds to Indiana’s 12. Good to see that number almost tied and more manageable. The Blazers were out-rebounded offensively by nine in Minnesota and by three in Chicago. Finally, the Blazers had more points in the paint than Indiana (44-34) and were able to limit the fast break points to 10 for Indiana and Portland themselves had five. So, while Portland did not necessarily win in some of these statistical categories, it was much, much more manageable and not a glaring problem. The FT line is still something I would like to see come up. With the kind of players they have, attempting 20 a game should be the norm.
I want to take a moment to talk about the player that is Roy Hibbert. I feel like this guy needs a gigantic hug. Hibbert was an absolute beast a couple of seasons ago. He averaged 12.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the 2011-12 season. He then went on to average 11.9 point, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks the next season. Hibbert had blossomed and signed a four-year extension (one that Portland offered and Indiana matched). At the time, it was painful to watch. This was the best defensive center in the league that absolutely destroyed offenses. Blocking shots left and right, being a massive presence in the middle and even developing his own offensive game. Somewhere along the way (when Danny Granger was traded, in my opinion), Hibbert lost it. While he may be better than he was last year from a statistic standpoint (averaging 11.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks as of this post), he still does not command the paint or the attention he should be getting. This is a guy who is 7’2”, 290 Ibs. He should be man-handling anybody wanting to go up against him. However, Robin Lopez and Chris Kaman seemed to be able to box him out with ease or make him irrelevant in offensive possessions. He did finish with a double-double, but a person could not really tell he was in the game. Furthermore, he bites on way too many pump-fakes and ultimately leaves his feet too much. Kaman and Lopez both got him with the same pump-fake move that resulted in an easy basket. Now, Lopez and Kaman are not exactly Al Jefferson or some offensively skilled wizard in the paint. The fact that Hibbert bit not once, but twice was astonishing.
All this to say that Hibbert should be able to do whatever he wants, while he may not be as offensively skilled or focused as Dwight Howard, he could still average around 15 to 17 points a game on his size alone. A big man his size should be at least averaging double-figures in rebounding. 7.3 a game seems way too low for a player like him.
Not that it matters ultimately for Portland. The Blazers are doing just fine with Lopez.
Portland’s high scorer was Aldridge who had 19 points on 8-for-23 shooting and had 14 rebounds, one assist and one steal. Not exactly the shooting ridiculousness that happened in the Chicago game, but still a good game from the all-star.
Nicolas Batum finally scored over double-figures! Batum’s confidence has been shot for the last couple of weeks from a shooting standpoint. While he has been doing all the other things, having him at least be a threat from the outside is so important for this Blazer offense. He finished with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting, 1-for-5 from three with four rebounds, five assists and three steals. His three-pointer still has yet to drop more consistently, but he hit his fair share of mid-ranges and even got to the rim on a few occasions. Hopefully this is a sign of Batum finally coming out of his slump.
Lillard finished with 18 points on 7-for-22 shooting, 0-for-3 from three and had four assists, three rebounds and one steal.
Kaman, in 18 minutes, finished with 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting, with six rebounds and one assist. Blake, in 21 minutes, finished with eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, 1-for-2 from three with seven assists, two rebounds, one steal and block. Blake had a hell of a game and did it all. When the Blazers went wild in the second quarter, it was Blake and Kaman who were the catalysts.
Well, the Blazers will have a day off to fly home and then they will take on the San Antonio Spurs in their first meeting of the season at the Moda Center. Tip-off is on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. PST. Need I say more? This team is a wood chipper waiting to happen. This will be a test to see how much Portland has improved since the playoffs last season. Stay tuned!