Blazer Beef
It’s hard to get on this team too much in a week where they didn’t have their starting point guard and only All-Star Damian Lillard. They put forth plenty of effort in losses on the road to Atlanta and New Orleans, but just looked out of their depth.
The Hawks survived an early run from the Blazers and the Pelicans did the same, ending with a five-game losing streak and an 0-5 road trip. The Blazers didn’t have any easy dates and losing Lillard to plantar fasciitis for an unknown period of time didn’t help their cause.
Blazer Bravo
While it ended in a loss, props to Blazers back-up point guard Tim Frazier for putting in nearly 48 minutes of work in Monday’s loss against the Hawks. He missed only 25 seconds that game and while it ended in a loss, it was commendable for the rarely used Frazier to put in that effort without holding back.
But of course, we’ve buried the lead. Portland’s week changed with a Saturday night’s surprising 29-point blowout of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Allen Crabbe scored a career-high 26 points, 21 of which came in Portland’s perfect first half where they shot 50 percent from the 3-point line, 53 percent from the field and didn’t commit a turnover. It was the first half of turnover-less basketball in the NBA this season.
The Blazers had 29 assists in the win.
By The Numbers
3 — There are three pairs of teammates in the NBA that average 20 points per game or more, including Portland’s CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard. They’re joined in that respect by Oklahoma City’s duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
7 — After Saturday’s blowout of the Cavaliers, the Blazers have the seventh-highest rated offense in the NBA.
The Week Ahead
Wednesday vs. Denver Nuggets (7 p.m., CSN, NBATV): Former Blazer Will Barton has played his way into the Sixth Man of the Year conversation, averaging 15.7 points, six rebounds and 2.4 assists off the bench for the Nuggets.
Thursday at Utah Jazz (6 p.m., CSN): With stifling starting center Rudy Gobert out indefinitely and Alec Burks suffering an ankle fracture, the Jazz will have plenty of trouble holding on to a playoff spot.
Sunday at Denver Nuggets (6 p.m., CSN): The Blazers start a back-to-back with their third meeting of the season against the Nuggets. The Blazers lost in Denver 108-104 on Nov. 9.
