Engrave the name “Nick Smith Jr.” on the notorious plaque of Blazer killers who have silenced the Moda Center over the years. Showing shades of Yogi Ferrell in 2017, this may be one of the most out-of-left-field
entries on that plaque in some time. But, man, did the third-year guard on a two-way contract burn the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
On a night where Los Angeles Lakers superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic and key starter Austin Reaves didn’t play, Smith gashed the newly vaunted Blazers defense for 25 points and six assists on 10-15 shooting from the field. Smith hadn’t played in LA’s last two games. He had only appeared in two games this season. Yet, he coming off the bench, he buried the Blazers with back-to-back 3s in the final minutes — the knockout blow in Portland’s disappointing 123-115 home loss.
“What’s his name?” Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter asked himself in front of reporters, racking his brain for the answer before it came to him. “Nick Smith Jr. played a great game. He just changed the whole pace. We could not guard him.”
“He was scoring on every level,” added Blazers guard Jrue Holiday. “He was in the paint, [midrange jumpers], 3-pointers. He just kinda controlled the game.”
Just as the absent star power for Los Angeles took out some of the air of anticipation for Monday’s matchup, Portland’s defeat at the hands of Smith and the Lakers’ B Team has quickly deflated some of the fuzzy feelings evoked by the Blazers’ hot 4-2 start to the season. The Blazers followed up their best win of the season against the Denver Nuggets on Friday with their worst loss of the season against LA on Monday.
On top of Smith’s 25 points, Lakers center Deandre Ayton got revenge on his former team with 29 points and 10 rebounds and forward Rui Hachimura added an efficient 28 points. Even Bronny James got in on the fun, playing 19 minutes and producing five points and six assists. Portland’s defense allowed LA to shoot 58.8% from the field and 9-23 on 3s (39.1%), which looked sparkling compared to the Blazers’ 9-40 mark from deep (22.5%).
“They played harder than us,” Splitter said. “They shot the ball better. We were not as aggressive. [It was] one of those nights we could not dominate with our defense, and they just shot better than us in a lot of ways.”
The Blazers started slow, but rebounded to take a double-digit lead early in the second quarter. Then the Lakers rallied back and swung the momentum. By the late third quarter, after the Lakers rallied back from a nine-point deficit to keep it tight again, it was clear LA wouldn’t be laying down easily. By the late fourth quarter, the Blazers were just trying to keep their head above water. Then the levy broke when those consecutive triples from Smith put LA up 12 around closing time.
Deni Avdija powered the Blazers with 33 points on 10-20 shooting. Guard Shaedon Sharpe scored 23 points on 8-17 shooting. Forward Jerami Grant added 18 points on 10 shots. Outside of those three, nobody had it going on offense. The team as a whole never found much of a rhythm. From the slow start, to the poor offense, to the unsharp defense, it was the type of performance that made one wonder if the players experienced a mental letdown heading into the game since both of the Lakers stars were out.
“Hopefully not,” Splitter said to that idea. “I was afraid of that before the game, and usually that happens, right? Two stars like that don’t play, and then their guys are gonna step up. They’re hungry. They want to play. They want to prove to their coach they gotta play more minutes.”
“I think our energy was there,” Holiday added. “But something was a bit off.”
True to Holiday’s point, the Blazers still forced 17 turnovers and registered 13 steals. The Blazers still turned LA ball-handlers over with their signature pressure, leading to the breakaway layups that have typified their success in the early season. But alongside the forced turnovers, the Blazers defense didn’t uphold that same fortified front. They didn’t get enough stops, and a rolling Lakers offense put up 38 points in the third quarter and 39 in the fourth.
“I think we could not impose our defense,” Splitter said. “I think they were getting the shots they wanted.”
That lack of pop from Portland’s defense could be due to the absence of bench sparks Matisse Thybulle and Blake Wesley, who are both missing time with injuries. In Portland’s first game this season without either of the defensive-minded guards, Splitter continued to deploy a 10-man deep rotation. He dipped into the team’s pool of two-way contract players to do it, playing Sidy Cissoko and Caleb Love. Splitter commended Cissoko’s energy in the game, but said the team didn’t get enough from the other guys at the back of the rotation.
After that loss, the team needs more from everybody.
“Everyone,” Splitter said. “Everyone has gotta step up. I think the whole team was just not there defensively.”
