The Portland Trail Blazers held off a late charge by the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night to earn a 127-119 road win. The victory allowed Portland to climb into ninth place in the Western Conference.
The Blazers appeared to be cruising to a comfortable victory, leading by as many as 22 points early in the fourth quarter. The beleaguered Pacers, who were playing without Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard, made it a game. They cut the lead to three points in the final minute before their rally finally
fizzled out.
Deni Avdija had 32 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to lead the Blazers. Donovan Clingan added a career-high 28 points.
The Pacers (15-55) used a balanced scoring attack. Eight players reached double-digits, led by Ivica Zubac, who tallied 18 points in just his fifth game with the team.
With the win, the Blazers leapfrogged the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference standings. In the race for play-in positioning, they also gained ground on the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers, who blew a big lead in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans tonight.
Here are a few key observations from the game.
Late Game Struggles
The Blazers turned what appeared to be an easy win into a nail-biter. After a strong, fast-paced first half, they took their foot off the gas. Both the players and the coaching staff seemed to be caught off guard by the Pacers’ comeback.
Inexplicably, Avdija was on the bench during a key late-game possession with less than two minutes to play. With their best offensive player on the sidelines, the Blazers put the ball in the hands of Scoot Henderson, who dribbled the ball at the top of the key for nearly the entire length of the shot clock before committing an offensive foul. Coach Tiago Splitter challenged the call, but officials confirmed the ruling. Avdija returned to the game after the stoppage and helped seal the game with a pair of free throws.
Pressuring the Rim
The Blazers seemed determined to get to the basket to start the game. Seventeen of their 26 first quarter field goal attempts came in the paint. Avdija and Clingan set the tone immediately, scoring 14 first quarter points apiece. Portland would finish with a healthy 54 in the paint for the evening.
A Big Performance
Clingan was particularly dominant, especially in the first half. He finished with a career-high 28 points on 10-19 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 assists.
The second-year big man has had several strong offensive performances this season, but his offensive mindset against the Pacers was different. After setting screens, he rolled hard to the rim, made several good catches, and forced the defense to collapse. He was relentless in attacking the basket and backed down smaller defenders whenever he got the chance.
Earlier in the season, Clingan often was content to kick the ball back out to the perimeter after offensive rebounds, but against the Pacers, he was aggressive in seeking his own shot.
Clingan was good in just about every aspect of the game. He made 3-5 from behind the three-point arc, but it was great to see him do the bulk of his offensive damage inside.
Three Point Looks
The Blazers’ interior presence in the first quarter helped to loosen up a Pacers defense that works hard to take away the three-point shot. On the season, the Pacers allow their opponents the second fewest three-pointers per game in the NBA.
But with Avdija and Clingan getting to the basket at will, Indiana was forced to keep more defenders near the rim. In the second quarter, that opened the door for the Blazers to get hot from distance. They made 7-12 in the quarter and took a 17-point lead into halftime.
The looks were exactly the kind of three-pointers the Blazers want. Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson got open threes after offensive rebounds. Avdija knocked one down when a scrambling defense left him alone at the top of the key. There were fewer off-the-dribble and step-back attempts, more open catch-and-shoot looks.
Three-pointers propelled the Blazers to 79 first half points, tying their highest-scoring half of the season.
Unfortunately, the strong three-point shooting didn’t continue. The Blazers made just 7-26 (26.9%) from behind the arc in the second half, but got timely threes from Holiday and Camara in the fourth quarter to hold off the Pacers’ rally.
Avdija Free Throws
Avdija sealed the game with a pair of clutch free throws in the final minutes. He finished the game 13-16 from the line. That’s a great sign for the Blazers.
Before he injured his back against the New York Knicks on January 11th, Avdija was living at the foul line:
- In the 15 games before the injury, he had double-digit free throw attempts 11 times
- In his first 10 games after the injury, he had double-digit free throw attempts just one time (not counting the game in Phoenix where he played just :59 seconds)
- In the three games on this road trip, he has had double-digit free throw attempts in each game
Avdija looks healthy and his drives are starting to result in more baskets, more free throws, and more assists. If the trend continues, we might see more wins for the Blazers as they chase a better seed in next month’s play-in tournament.
Up Next
The Blazers continue their road trip Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tipoff is at 5:00 PM Pacific.
