Blazers Get Back On Track, Cruise to 20 Point Victory
VS.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Nets | 29 | 35 | 20 | 25 | 109 |
| Trail Blazers | 32 | 38 | 29 | 30 | 129 |
Blazers Shoot Lights Out and Defeat the Brooklyn Nets with Great Team Basketball.
Portland came into Brooklyn motivated and ready erase some games from recent memory. Coming off of three big losses, the Blazers scored better than they have all season. However, there were some positives on the defensive end as well that relaxes some of the tension of late. With a scorching C.J. McCollum and strong support from Evan Turner and the whole Portland bench, we coasted to a 129-109 victory.
The first half was a strong offensive effort by everyone, but Turner was the main highlight. He finally turned in his best minutes as a Blazer by acting as primary playmaker for most of the second quarter. Turner took advantage of the inexperienced Brooklyn guards and bullied his way to 14 points and four assists.
What kept Brooklyn in the game was our lack of interior defense. Brook Lopez shot lights out in the first half, and Trevor Booker seemed to drive past anyone he wanted. Not only did Brooklyn score more in the paint, they earned more free throws as well. It wasn’t until the third quarter that our defense began collapsing shifting like it was supposed to. By the end of the third quarter, the paint points were virtually even.
Third Quarter Adjustments
The third quarter of this game is exactly what Portland needed to get them out of this funk. McCollum couldn’t miss, Mason Plumlee acted as a playmaker, and before you could blink, Portland was up 20. The Blazers had a run where they forced Brooklyn scoreless on seven straight possessions. A huge improvement to the last three games.
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It seems Portland has their “answer” to the rebounding problem by inserting Ed Davis into the starting lineup. Meyers Leonard had a strong showing on the boards himself with a team high of 11. He will need to be a factor in hustle stats and focus on rebounding consistently going forward. Winning the rebounding battle usually means a victory, and Portland was +14 against an All-Star caliber center.
To be fair, Brooklyn isn’t a title contender, and Portland couldn’t have asked for a better opponent after their last three games. The Blazers needed a cake game like this recharge and figure out their problems. This was an overall team win, as every role player contributed on both ends of the ball. Most importantly, our second unit came to play and support our stars with 58 bench points.
Portland plays the New York Knicks on Tuesday at 4:30 PM.
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