The Portland Trail Blazers played host to yet another quality Eastern Conference opponent Tuesday and were handed their second loss in as many days, falling 110-106 to the Orlando Magic at the Moda Center.
Portland fell behind by double-digits before clawing back and giving themselves a shot at an upset late, but sloppy execution and perhaps a few swallowed whistles ultimately sealed their fate.
Player of Note
Caleb Love provided much needed shot making on a night when the team needed bench production badly, and he did it in a variety of ways. He was 3-8 from deep, found holes as a cutter and was clutch in the closing minutes of the game. He finished with 17 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocks in 34 minutes.
Stat of the Night
Once again Portland struggled to hit the broad side [ed. Normally that phrase ends “of a barn”. Considering Portland’s shooting lately, we’ll say “of the continent”.] from beyond the arc, finishing the night with 9-32 shooting (28%). Orlando got off to a hot start behind Anthony Black, who connected on three triples in the first five minutes of the game and that really seemed to put the Blazers behind the eight ball from the get-go. The Magic didn’t shoot the lights out overall but finished 15-33 from deep. Portland was forced to play catch-up all game long. That’s hard enough to do scoring just two points at a time.
What We Noticed
The Magic did a heck of a job keeping Portland off of the free throw line. Even taking into account this game being the second of a back-to-back, one night after getting to the line 43 times against Detroit, the Blazers were held to just 19 attempts tonight.
It wasn’t out of a lack of aggression – Portland scored 58 points in the paint – Orlando just didn’t foul much. Whether that was a concerted strategy or just a soft defensive front doesn’t matter. For three quarters it was effective. The officials generally let them play all night and a lot of 50/50 calls were play-ons, which meant guys had to make shots.
The trio of Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara combined for 57 points but collectively shot 22-54 from the field. Only nine of their points came from the free throw line.
Up Next
The Blazers will get a couple days off before hosting the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night at 7 p.m. Pacific at the Moda Center.
