Pesky Blazers Fade Away Late Against Clippers

SB Nation

The Portland Trail Blazers were defeated by the Los Angeles Clippers 114-107 to fall to 1-2 on the season. The Blazers dominated the second quarter to take a five-point lead into halftime, but the steady

offense of the Clippers allowed them to take back the advantage in the second half.

Portland was led by the 23 points of Deni Avdija, closely followed by 21 points from Jrue Holiday and 19 points from Shaedon Sharpe. On the other side, Los Angeles got 30 points from Kawhi Leonard and 21 points from Ivica Zubac.

Here are a few key observations from the game.

Defense Leads To Offense

The Blazers were at their best when they were running. The second quarter was marked by a lot of steals, a bunch of fastbreak points and a massive run as a result. After trailing by double digits for a couple minutes, Portland exploded with a 23-2 run to flip the momentum of the contest on its head. This run was on the back of some stifling defense, which led to easy baskets on the other side.

Throughout the second quarter, the Blazers forced eight turnovers and used that advantage to win the quarter 37-21. That aggressive defense over the course of the game led to 22 forced turnovers and 12 steals. Those transition chances led to a 29-10 fastbreak point advantage.

Although the game ended in a loss, the gameplan was clear. Get steals, run the court and get easy opportunities in transition. When they were able to, pushing the pace gave Portland the advantage against a much more experienced team.

Efficiency Struggles

The Blazers could not connect on shots on a consistent basis throughout the night. They made just 37% of their field goal attempts and 26.8% of their shots from behind the arc. Those shooting splits made it difficult for Portland to string together stretches of made baskets, which hurt them as Los Angeles began to pull away down the stretch.

However, there was one spot on the floor that the Blazers couldn’t stop making shots from:

Living At The Line

A massive 34-15 disparity in free throw attempts helped keep Portland afloat through their shooting woes. They made 28 of 34 attempts, good for 82% shooting. Aggressiveness getting to the rim helped the Blazers find easy points to help quell Clippers runs and supplement their own. Despite poor shooting from the floor, a good clip from the line was a major reason the game was competitive down the stretch.

Small Ball For Big Minutes

Donovan Clingan started the game at center and played 23 minutes. However, rookie big man Yang Hansen saw the court for just four minutes. The other 21 minutes of basketball saw lineups featuring no true center, and instead a combination of wings and guards. These lineups helped the Blazers fly up and down the court, but it did not come at the cost of sacrificing the rebounding advantage by a wide margin. Portland was out-rebounded 52-49, but held Zubac, who averaged 12.6 rebounds last season, to just 8 boards. The Blazers also out-rebounded the Clippers 18-7 on the offensive glass.

The speed advantage the Blazers held with the small-ball lineup vastly outweighed the slight edge their opponents got on the glass when Portland played small. The work of Toumani Camara and Avdija in the de facto center role has been very impressive on the interior and their versatility has given the Blazers a major weapon in this new lineup.

Grant Off The Bench

Jerami Grant has come off the bench in all three games so far this season, and he added another 17 points to his season total. This performance came less efficiently than his previous two, as he made just 4 of his 10 shots, but his ability to get to the free throw line has been a major asset. He made 7 of 9 attempts from the line to help bump up his scoring totals in a less electric night from the field.

After a bit of a down season last year, Grant seems to have found his rhythm again. Coming off the bench in this spark plug role might be a perfect casting for Grant to give the Blazers a scoring bump when he gets on the court.