Trail Blazers Defense Keeps Winning Streak Alive

The Portland Trail Blazers faced the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night looking to extend a three-game winning streak into a season-high four. The Hornets appeared willing to oblige, winners of just 11 games this season prior.

It wasn’t pretty. Few things in Portland are this year. But the Blazers did manage to pull out a 102-97 victory in the Queen City, sending their record to 17-28. It was only the eighth win on the road for Portland this season. Three of them have come in the last four days.

Anfernee Simons was the main scorer of note, putting in 27. Deni Avdija scored 18, mostly from attempting a career-high 14 free throws. Nobody for the offensively-challenged Hornets scored more than 17.

Here are some of the factors that defined the game.

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The Lineup

The Blazers started their premier defensive lineup today, or close enough. That’s Donovan Clingan at center, Jerami Grant at forward, Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara at the wings, and Anfernee Simons at point. Simons might not be the strongest defender alongside those four, but Portland was able to hide him pretty well in the corners. Meanwhile Clingan started the game with three blocks in the first five minutes because his teammates were channeling Hornets players into him instead of letting them drive by freely. (Clingan would finish with 4 blocks in the game playing just 18 minutes.) Camara and Avdija got on the run. Grant hit a three. It was a really successful start.

As soon as that quintet returned in the second quarter, the story repeated. Charlotte committed turnovers and missed mid-range jumpers instead of getting passes to the rim and shooting open threes. The Blazers went on an instant run.

As if that wasn’t enough, a similar lineup did the same in the fourth quarter—this time with Sharpe standing in for Clingan—taking a tie game to a comfortable lead.

The Blazers held the Hornets to 37.6% field goal shooting. Charlotte ranks 30th in the league with a 43.1% average so this may be a case of “everybody skis good on the bunny slope,” but still.

This is the kind of development that provides excitement in an otherwise-predictable season. With a couple more years under their belts, maybe another high-level two-way player or two in the draft to provide offensive punch without losing the “D”, and oh boy. Either way, defense is the one thing we’re pretty sure will be transferable season to season. It’s good to see the Blazers play some.

Breaking

One of the nice byproducts of the defense mentioned above is that it’s making transition points easier for the Blazers. The defensive lineup doesn’t hesitate anymore. On any deflection or missed shot, they’re running, looking to outlet the ball wherever they can. This has been a consistent feature of the recent winning streak and it was true again tonight. The Blazers scored 21 on the run against 8 for Charlotte.

Jerami Grant Skills

Jerami Grant scored 22 in this game, second only to Simons. Opinions are mixed among Portland fans and Grant remains one of the most likely Blazers to be traded—behind only Robert Williams III—but you can’t ignore his two-way ability. He doesn’t look flashy on defense this year but he’s solid at the position. He’s also one of a handful of Blazers capable of scoring 20 at need, sometimes in a single quarter. He had 13 in the second period, keeping the Blazers afloat in a dry stretch. He’s a real, live NBA player among teammates still trying to find their way.

One wishes that Grant had more to play for this season. Then maybe we’d see some of the familiar fire from him. If he does get traded to a contender, I expect him to revive and provide an outsized spark.

Jabari Walker

Because of injuries and the need for Clingan to preserve energy, Jabari Walker got center minutes in this game. It wasn’t his best showing. He didn’t stop anything inside. He shot just 1-5. There’s been some low-level questioning about what has happened to Jabari this year. Maybe part of the answer is that he’s not a center and forward minutes behind Grant are getting eaten by Avdija and Camara, leaving him out of position and floundering.

Wishy-Washy Guards

The guard duo of Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe have been effective lately, sometimes even exciting. When they get rhythm and a head of steam, their athleticism and ability to get separation pay dividends.

That did not happen tonight. Their defense was unremarkable and their offense—both in shot selection and results—resembled the Value Over Replacement Player stat without the “Value Over” part. Sharpe shot 5-13, 1-6 from distance. Henderson attempted just 3 shots, making 1.

Anfernee Simons is almost always good for an offensive spark. He’s in the starting lineup for just that reason. But the Blazers need that high octane scoring off the bench too. Henderson and Sharpe are built to run and score. When they don’t, Portland suffers.

Simons Time?

Speaking of Simons, though…he took over in the fourth quarter of this game when the Blazers were stalled in tempo, laboring to score. When he gets hot, nobody else on the team comes close to his scoring ability. Clutch play is a vibe and a mindset. Simons has both.

For much of the fourth, Portland’s offense was literally a disaster unless the ball was in Simons’ hands. They owe him this game,

Free Throws

Blazers Broadcaster Bill Schonely used to say, “You’ve GOT to make your free throws.” Tonight the Blazers proved that it’s actually quite possible to miss them. Lots of them. Portland shot just 27-39 from the charity stripe, making their job that much harder.

Three-Second Rule

Speaking of fouls and whistles, a passing comment. The three-in-the-key rule seems to have gone the way of hanging on the rim when it comes to enforcement. It just isn’t whistled anymore. Big men for Charlotte and Portland appeared to camp under the rim for 5-6 seconds at a time with nary a tweet. I guess the lack of true post offense in the league renders the point less significant but it’s still odd to count to a half-dozen seconds or more while watching players stand in the restricted area.

Up Next

Boxscore

The Blazers get to go home now after this long Eastern road swing. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they have to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first game back. The game starts at 3:00, Pacific on Sunday. The Thunder can score just a little better than the Hornets. Stay tuned.