The Portland Trail Blazers were without Damian Lillard during Friday night’s loss to Denver at 129-96.
You have nothing to fear. Lillard simply took his night off, according to coach Terry Stotts. So winning in Denver in the last preseason game for both was best a long shot.
But for the Blazers to play as badly on defense as they did during Wednesday’s 126-95 loss to the Nuggets after spending Thursday’s training and filming session working to improve in that area, it certainly creates a reason to alarm.
Yes, it was just a pre-season game. Yes, this team with a few new additions is a work in progress. But the Blazers defense has dropped dramatically despite the additions of Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr., and the results have been bad.
Stotts said he has seen subtle improvements in the area to be more aggressive and rotate better, but not enough.
“My general move is that we’re trying to implement new things defensively, which involves more pressure, more rotation,” Stotts said. “And the fact that we play an excellent offensive team that goes well, I think it was a bad combination. So I’m definitely not happy with the two results I’ve played here. “
WHAT DOES IT MEAN
Hard to say. Portland has worked to improve the defense, and evidence is lacking. After dropping 41 points in the first quarter of Wednesday’s loss, the Blazers lost 41 again in the first quarter on Friday.
Lillard’s absence cannot be blamed for such a weak presentation in defense, unless the team simply didn’t care, because he knew he had no chance of winning without him. But that wouldn’t make sense, because winning wasn’t exactly the goal. Improving the defense was.
Denver shot 47.4% from the field and scored 44 three-point shots, making 18 for 40.9%.
IT WAS PASSED WHEN …
Portland trailed 41-23 at the end of the first quarter, then allowed Denver to start the second quarter with a 14-2 run to extend its lead to 55-25. Not Lillard. Defenseless. By no means did Portland return from 30 down in the second.
SHOWED AND DISPLAYED
CJ McCollum did his job, scoring 26 points in 30 minutes. Enes Kanter came off the bench for 10 points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes. Gary Trent Jr. scored 18 points in 33 minutes from the bench.
For Denver, Paul Millsap led the way with 24 points in 9 of 13 shots.
DISPLAYED AND FIZZLED
Carmelo Anthony missed all seven of his field attempts to finish with three points in 11 minutes.
Rodney Hood started in Lillard’s place, but scored just seven points in 17 minutes.
Offensively, Portland shot only 37.1% of the field and 10 of 33 in three-point attempts. Portland had 17 assists with 15 turnovers. Denver had 30 assists with 12 turnovers.
MOMENT HELD WITH NURKIC
Stotts’s Jusuf Nurkic saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 80 minutes. When asked about that moment after the game, Stotts said he was just “talking to him.”
The whole trip was a frustrating one for the Blazers.
NEXT
The regular season begins Wednesday at home against Utah, followed by another home game against Houston on December 26th.
– Aaron Fentress [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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