The Portland Trail Blazers haven’t been subject to many blowouts this season, but someone should call Hugh Laurie, because they got housed by the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. The Blazers had a couple disadvantages coming into the game:
- They were playing without their team leader, Mr. Everything, future All-Star Deni Avdija for the first time all season.
- Portland had defeated the Warriors three times already this season, and Golden State wasn’t having it when it came to the sweep.
The cumulative effect was like watching a bout between prime Mike Tyson and prime Mike Wazowski. The Blazers fell behind 38-24 in the first period, allowed the low-scoring Warriors 67 at halftime (does little hand dance), and ended up losing the game 119-97.
Shaedon Sharpe led the Blazers with 19 points on efficient 9-15 shooting, 1-5 from distance. De’Anthony Melton did him one better, leading the Warriors with 23 points on 9-14 from the field.
This is the type of outing where you don’t review the game tape but immolate it, so we’re not going to spend too much time on analysis. Instead we’ll explain why the Blazers lost.
Without Avdija it was understood that Portland’s offense would suffer. You don’t replace 26 ppg on a whim. But the Blazers’ defense also collapsed. And not into the lane. More like into the Grand Canyon. They guarded the three-point arc with all the energy and effectiveness of Sgt. Schultz guarding the precinct of Stalag 13. “I see nothing! NOTH-ING!” The Warriors shot 23-58, 40% from the arc. To be fair, the Blazers stacked up against Steph Curry, holding him to 9 shots and 7 points, but I don’t think he cared. He had 11 assists.
It didn’t help that Portland shot like a drunken wombat playing their first game of Duck Hunt (without opposable thumbs). Portland ended up 14-47, 30%, on threes, hardly a credible showing.
Even when they miss shots, the Blazers can rely on offensive rebounds to give them second opportunities at scoring. Tonight they had 8 total. Under normal circumstances that’s Donovan Clingan’s average for, like, half a quarter.
We won’t even pretend the Blazers are good at taking care of the ball. They’re the worst in the league. But they overachieved tonight, vying for worst in the universe, perhaps. It wasn’t even a spate of them leading to big Golden State runs. Portland gave up a constant drizzle of turnovers on their way to 21 overall.
As mentioned above, Shaedon Sharpe stepped up to his role as scoring star, but Caleb Love couldn’t do the same. Love shot 5-16 on his way to 17 points, but he only had one field goal make before garbage time. He did have 7 assists and 2 steals though. And 4 turnovers.
Assists don’t usually matter that much, but it’s indicative of the evening that the Blazers got 19 dimes against those 21 turnovers. The offense was flowing like molasses through a cheese grater.
Meanwhile Golden State got 34 assists on 42 made shots. An 81% assist-to-bucket ratio. Whee. Defense.
You know who didn’t play, even in a blowout? Jonathan Kuminga. He was the only DNP on the roster. Seems like this guy is gone. Trade Deadline upcoming.
Alright. That’s enough of that. Who’s next?
The Blazers return home to take on the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night at 7:00 PM, Pacific. Hello, CJ. Wanna switch sides for a night?
