The Portland Trail Blazers bounced back from an ugly Sunday loss to close out a winning road trip with a 115-103 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.
Facing the Bucks without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jerami Grant led a balanced Blazers attack with 35 points, including 16-19 from the free throw line. Deni Avdija had 22 points and Donovan Clingan registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. In Antetokounmpo’s absence, forward Bobby Portis led Milwaukee off the bench
with 22 points while center Myles Turner added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
With the win, the Blazers improve to 8-10 on the season. Here are a few key observations from the game.
Fresh Legs
If there was a silver lining in a 27-point blowout loss to the Thunder the night before, it’s that the Blazers were able to manage the minutes of their top players. With the game out of reach early, no Blazer played more than 27 minutes on Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
The Blazers looked like a well-rested and motivated team against Milwaukee on Monday. They played with energy and aggression from the opening tip, racing out to a double-digit first quarter lead.
Milwaukee made a second quarter run behind the hot shooting of Portis, who had 14 points and four three-pointers in the period. But the Blazers countered with Robert Williams III, who quickly put a stop to the Bucks’ momentum.
Williams sat out Sunday night’s loss and looked springy against Milwaukee. He finished with four blocks to go along with eight points and five rebounds in just over 16 minutes of action.
Raining Threes
The Bucks entered the game with the second-highest three-point shooting percentage in the NBA, but it was the Blazers (3rd worst three-point percentage) who were hot from behind the arc.
Nine of their first ten shot attempts were from three-point range. They made five of those to jump out to a quick 16-7 lead.
They kept firing away all game and finished 18-43 (41.9%) from downtown. The 18 makes were their third most of the season and four Blazers (Grant, Avdija, Toumani Camara, and Caleb Love) made at least three.
Avdija Going Right
Deni Avdija has been outstanding through the first 18 games of the season, averaging 24.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. It isn’t just Blazers fans who are taking notice. The national media has caught on, rightfully identifying Avdija as a potential All-Star and a candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.
But most importantly, opponents have Avdija on their radar and at the top of their scouting reports. And opposing defenders are starting to heavily overplay Avdija’s right hand drive. Against Milwaukee on Monday, the Bucks were clearly determined to prevent his drives, particularly when he dribbles right.
When forced left, he doesn’t have as many tricks up his sleeve, and he can’t get to his favorite move of swinging the ball low to draw fouls as defenders reach in. He’ll often cut his left hand drives short, spin back, and pass the ball out.
As teams have employed that strategy over the past few games, he has gotten to the basket less, taken more threes, and earned fewer trips to the foul line. Against Oklahoma City on Sunday, the three-point shot wasn’t falling as he missed his first seven attempts. Against Milwaukee, he caught fire, making 5-7 from behind the arc.
But whether he is hitting his threes or not, Avdija is at his best when attacking the basket, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts as other teams continue to game-plan against him.
Vintage Camara
Toumani Camara made life very difficult for guard Ryan Rollins, who has been a revelation for Milwaukee so far this season. Taking on added responsibility with Antetokounmpo nursing a groin injury, Rollins was coming off games of 32 and 24 points, but he was went 4-14 from the field and had just 10 points against Portland.
Camara was a pest all night disrupting passing lanes, denying Milwaukee guards from catching the ball, getting under the skin of his man, and drawing offensive fouls.
Slamming the Door
The Blazers entered the fourth quarter with an 18-point advantage. That kind of lead is usually safe, but in today’s NBA, teams can come back quickly when they get hot from long distance.
On Monday night, the Blazers opened the fourth quarter with a Clingan dunk, a Grant layup, and a Clingan three to push the lead to 25 and force a Milwaukee timeout. The lead got as high as 33 with 8:41 remaining. It was good to see the Blazers stamp out any hope the Bucks had early in the quarter. The Bucks chipped away at the lead in garbage time, but never seriously threatened to come back.
Seeing Red
Lastly, a meaningless observation.
Why are Blazers coaches wearing red while the team wears PDX carpet jerseys? If the NBA is going to make such a big deal about the City Edition jerseys, shouldn’t they have matching warmups for the players and shirts for the coaches? The teal trim with red warmups is not a good look.
And when the Blazers wear those jerseys at home, they should have a PDX carpet-inspired court as well.
Up Next
The Blazers return home to face the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Pacific. With a win, the Blazers would clinch a spot in the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup tournament.
