If the Portland Trail Blazers hoped to leave the pre-season 2020 program with a positive note against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, they did not fulfill their wish. The play was a less masterful orchestration than the symphony of the sad trombone. Damian Lillard participated in the game, eliminating one of the main scorers in Portland. But the lack of defense – not offense – was the disabling fall. The Blazers descended early, dug the hole even deeper, then made their way to the end of a disastrous 129-96 loss.
If the Blazers are on the defensive improvement this year, they certainly didn’t show it during the pre-season game. The poor defense against Denver on Tuesday night turned into a downright helpless defense tonight.
Portland was bad at closing on the three-point arc from the start. They collapsed on the tape, but did not recover against the shooters in any position or angle. Denver shot 41% from a distance tonight. Most of their failures were unforced.
Just when you hoped it would get better, it got worse. The second unit could not close the interior either. As Denver started to score in the cup as well as in the arc, a decent advantage grew to indomitable.
Even when you thought it couldn’t get worse again, he did. Portland’s defensive return came in handy. When Denver began to receive more attempts after misses, the margin went from indomitable to laughable.
At that moment, the look in the eyes of the Blazers players told the story more clearly than Triple H when John Cena appeared for Royal Rumble. It was a combination of “What the hell?” and, “It’s just pre-season.” The problem was that the clock read at the beginning of the second quarter at that time, far too early to be blown out of any game, even an exhibition one.
At no point did the Nuggets bother with something the Blazers did defensively. When an individual player made a good position (rarely), he simply passed it wherever there was no defense. This is the most annoying decision of all. Between the pre-season motivation and the lack of experience together, the Blazers could be excused for a lack of defensive cohesion and therefore efficiency. The Nuggets behaved as if Portland’s defense didn’t there is. The Blazers did nothing about it. It is not OK. It would be better to check the bowel for Portland in the locker room and on that plane.
I hesitate to blame any player for a performance; it’s pre-season and the sickness has been at the level of the whole team. However, we cannot ignore how weak Jusuf Nurkic performed tonight and for most of the exhibition program. A few weeks ago, on the podcast Dave and Dia (Shameless Plow), I identified Nurkic as a key point of connection for defense. So far it has been nothing but. Although he returned from injury during the Orlando Bubble restart this summer, Nurk has spent most of the last two years on the shelf. It can be shown. It seems slow, heavy, almost appearanceless. He trots on the floor, walking through defensive goods. Not only does it lack rotations, but it fails to do so. Its perimeter coverage, closed or on screens, is Whiteside-esque.
Portland still has problems with opposing dribbles passing the guard. If the middle is not safe, disaster strikes. Enes Kanter is not very helpful in this department. Harry Giles is not ready to take on this kind of responsibility. If Nurkic is not activated, the Blazers have problems.
Nurkic also suffered an offense tonight. The screens between him and the guards were poorly executed. The possessions with Nurk up, the initiation of the games, ended in turnovers.
CJ McCollum tried to fill the gap, lifting the team in the absence of Lillard. He made some beautiful individual pieces, but few of which provoked teams. His isolation movements were the equivalent of paddling the dog in an ocean storm. There was no way the Blazers would land on these conditions.
The good news: Portland highlighted offensive threats in every position when they got tired of using them. Robert Covington hit three and Derrick Jones, Jr. attacked the rim with authority before leaving the game after a nasty fall in the third. Kanter didn’t help much other than the offensive rebound, but at least he did.
Carmelo Anthony had a frustrating night, rarely looked clean, was sent off for arguing calls in the third period. If it was less of a protest than abandoning the ship at the time, well, it would have been appropriate. ‘Melo shot 0-7 for 3 points in the evening.
McCollum scored 26 points and Gary Trent, Jr. 18, to lead the blazers. Kanter was 10, scoring the only three double-digit blazers.
In most conditions, plus-minus is a state of garbage for individual output. This game offers the exception. 8 of the 11 Portland players who checked on the floor came out with double-digit plus-minus negatives. Over the bench, only Keljin Blevins, who played 12 minutes, finished with more than a -15. It is not OK.
The Blazers will come home to regroup before the regular season begins next Wednesday against the Utah Jazz. The pre-season record of 1-3 means nothing. The lack of vital signs for the last week may. Head coach Terry Stotts and Damian Lillard will have to grease some palettes, shout “Clear!” And to shake this team in rhythm from now until then, otherwise the beginning of the regular season 2020-21 will be painful to watch.
Stay with Blazer’s Edge this weekend and early next week as we preview the season and get ready for the games that matter!
Boxscore (NSFW)
Lots of crying gifs
Kleenex bulk purchase
An uplifting item to distract you
Cute cat dance:
The Blazers will host Jazz on Wednesday, December 23 at the Fashion Center at 7:00 p.m., Pacific.