There is no cooking quite like home cooking, and the Portland Trail Blazers showed more pep in their step tonight than at any point during their last five games on the road. The reward? Portland 131, the Indiana Pacers 111. Scoot Henderson led five Blazers in double figures with 28, and Pascal Siakam paced the Pacers with 22 who lost contact with the Blazers in the first half and could never quite reel it back in.
Defense, Anyone?
Are the Blazers any good on defense? Two answers: 1) not especially, and 2) not according
to the league’s defensive rankings, but those were compiled for a team missing key players at almost all times. Tonight, the Blazers were close to whole, and the eye test for the defense was mixed: flashes of concerted effort leading to effective results, interspersed with stretches of open threes and straight-line attacks allowed. The numbers: Indiana shot 41 of 95 (43%) from the field, 14 of 42 from the concourse (33%) and got buried on the boards 53 to 38. Is that good? Let me know in the comments.
Undeniably Deni
Deni Avdija was back in action tonight after missing the last six games, and “back in action” is no exaggeration. He looked like the guy nicknamed “Turbo” prior to his back becoming a thing. He played 25 blazing minutes, scored 18 points and chipped in 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks and a single turnover. The only bad news: the three-point shot is still on the injury list. He was 0 for 4 in that department, but went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line. Overall, this was a sight for sore eyes all over Rip City, even though he seemed to visibly wince at times and his halftime warmup included a large wrap around his midsection.
Latest Scoop on Scoot
Some Blazers fans may be ready to run Scoot Henderson out of town, but tonight Scoot was directing all of the comings and goings on display. He was effective on the ball, off the ball, with the vets, with the other youngsters, you name it. His total of 28 points is only part of the story, because when is sometimes just as important as what. In this case, his 19-point outburst in the first half took the heart out of the Pacers. Beyond the box score, his timing and patience looked – dare we say – elite at times. There was a particular fast break where he had Toumani Camara ahead and a defender between. Instead of hitting the gas, Scoot went up at about 85%, and seemingly timed his dribbles for the exact moment that he could get the pass to Camara without being bothered. Games like this are what give those living on Henderson Island sustenance, and tonight they were rewarded with several fish and a huge bag of rice.
Jrue Will Do
Meanwhile, Jrue Holiday continues to roll along like it’s possible to play this game forever. Tonight he logged 25 minutes and scored 21 points on 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 8 from the three-point line. This would be notable except for the fact that something very similar seems to be happening every time he hits the court. Combined with Scoot and Deni, Jrue makes his team suddenly look unusually deep in available lead guards. And don’t even get me started on talking about what this looks like when that other guy gets back in the mix. You know, the one who just won the NBA’s 3-point shooting contest for the second time.
Up Next
The Trail Blazers host the Charlotte Hornets Tuesday, with the buzzing starting at 7pm Pacific.
