The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Sacramento Kings by a score of 110-98 on Tuesday evening, earning their third preseason win in as many tries. Portland played the majority of their expected regular-season participants. The Kings left half of their team in street clothes. Or, in this case, sweatsuits. Given the disparity, the final result was expected. The Blazers looked good nonetheless, with sharp ball movement, nice tempo, and decent rebounding typifying the outing.
Deni Avdija led the Trail
Blazers with 26 points on 9-13 shooting.
Here are a few observations from the game.
Two Ball Handlers
Damian Lillard and Deni Avdija both started the game. The chemistry looked good on offense. They switched off ball-handling responsibilities nearly seamlessly. The offense churned similarly no matter who initiated. Each looked comfortable receiving off-ball as well. Each had 4 assists, establishing themselves as co-leaders.
Sacramento’s defense was not stout. This wasn’t a definitive test for the offense. But my gut feeling says that there’s going to be little to no friction between Dame and Deni this year. Their games are flexible enough to adapt to each other.
Scoot Starts
Starting alongside Lillard in the backcourt was none other than Scoot Henderson. No lie: he looked good out there. First, he blended with the two stars, playing away from the action but ready to shoot when called upon. Second, he spearheaded a nice, game-long trend of Portland’s guards penetrating to the rim and looking for a score, short lob, or pass to the three-point arc.
Scoot’s distance shooting looks smooth. His penetration, in the words of the Sacramento Kings broadcast crew, is “quick as gossip”. Like Lillard and Avdija, Henderson finished the game with 4 assists.
Oh, and Scoot is continuing last season’s trend of playing free safety, running at steals in the midcourt and making opponents watch their dribble instead of charging down the court.
There’s a lot to love about this early look at Scoot Henderson. Stay tuned, Blazers fans.
The Ins and Outs of Ja Morant
With Henderson starting, Ja Morant came off the bench. He was looking to score aggressively early. That’s not a bad role for him. There are some caveats:
- Morant does not look as comfortable off the ball as his backcourt counterparts. He’s magic with the rock, off the dribble. He draws defensive attention, the kind that makes passing easy and teammates’ shots open. But when he’s away from the ball, Morant looks lost and dull.
- It could have been Ja. It could have been the second unit. It could have been both. But Portland’s defense took a big step backwards when the starters left. Sacramento wasn’t playing enough scorers to make them pay, but it was definitely two different teams out there tonight.
All of that said, Morant is still an electric player. He scored 14 points and led the Blazers with 6 assists and no turnovers. It’s hard to argue with a guy who, even when looking slightly out of place, still puts up stats commensurate with the leaders of the organization.
Threes and Threes
Portland shot 11-44 from the three-point arc, a dismal number. But the news isn’t all bad. It appears with this year’s Blazers there will be threes and threes.
The good type, the italicized ones, come off of the aforementioned guard penetration. All four ball-handling guards (Lillard, Morant, Henderson, and Jrue Holiday) and Deni Avdija can get to the rim. Collapsing defenses leave other Portland guards and wings wide open on the perimeter. Those are good shots for the Blazers. Everybody fired quickly and confidently, regardless of result.
The other type of threes—solo and off the dribble—just look bad. Portland’s shooting is an eyesore. The releases aren’t consistent. The spots on the floor aren’t either. It’s just a circus out there, as repeated bonks off the rim will testify.
This is a wee bit of a headache for Head Coach Micah Nori and company. Somehow he’s going to have to get brilliant, solo-offense-capable players to execute with precision nearly every time down the floor, setting up great looks for everyone. Freelancing threes definitely isn’t going to get it done for the Blazers this season.
Up Next
Boxscore
Only one preseason contest remains for Portland: Friday night at 7:00 PM, Pacific at the Chase Center against the Golden State Warriors.
