The Portland Trail Blazers struggled this week at the beginning of a long road trip. After a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at home, Portland headed East and fell to the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks. They also beat the Chicago Bulls during the week so it wasn’t a total loss.
As tends to happen with a 1-3 record, no Blazer this week was the model of consistency. Visible improvement is what earns Vit Krejci this week’s Blazer of the Week.
Krejci came over in a trade from the Hawks before the trade deadline
to help Portland’s league-worst three-point percentage. After getting to town, he has been unable to find the bottom of the basket anywhere near as consistently as he did in Atlanta. This week he began to show signs of being able to be the floor spacer he was tabbed as. He shot 40% from outside on 20 attempts in the four games. He did that while averaging 10.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
Krejci’s ability as a spot-up shooter opens up the floor more for Portland’s drivers, as well as the pick-and-roll game. This week of hot shooting came during a stretch where Deni Avdija was out injured, limiting Krejci’s impact spacing for Avdija’s drives. However, when the two share the court again Krejci will have lifted himself out of his earlier slump and should become a complementary piece for Avdija.
This week’s honorable mention is Matisse Thybulle.
Thybulle hasn’t missed a step since returning from injury. This week he averaged 6.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game in just 13.5 minutes per game. His impact in limited minutes has been huge on the defensive end. On the offensive side, he also shot 52.9% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc to prove he’s not someone who can be ignored.
Which Blazer impressed you the most this week? Share in the comments below.
