The Portland Trail Blazers did not have the luxury of a deep bench against the Washington Wizards, but in perfect irony they won by shooting deep. Using Damian Lillard’s gravity, the Blazers flowed in 21 3-pointers en route to a much-needed 132-121 victory.
The Blazers should have known there was something in the air when Robert Covington, amid probably the longest shooting slump in his career, opened a perfect 3-of-3 from deep in the first minutes. The accuracy was tainted over the turn, especially under the wings.
Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood linked aggression with efficiency, and they combined only 15 points in the first period. Even Carmelo Anthony rediscovered his touch by utilizing Davis Bertans to score eight quick points in that middle position.
Portland’s group effort picked up Damian Lillard’s score so he could focus on the table setting and even takes the task of protecting the NBA’s leading scorer in Bradley Beal for a few possessions. By the end of the quarter, Portland had a 17-point lead.
Long after his playing career came to an end, Gary Trent Jr. had to have a solid pack of tracks to show to the next generation (hopefully future Blazers legend Gary Trent III). He opened the second quarter with an exciting mini-duel with future Hall-of-Famer Russell Westbrook, who fit him point-by-point (8 each), in the first minutes before the Carmelo Anthony Show began.
Around this time, Trail Blazers fans probably remembered that the Wizards also had the Bradley Beal fella. He’s pretty good. On offense, he and Westbrook helped put the Wizards back in the game, making up 22 of the Wizards’ 40 second-quarter points.
League Pass viewers probably expected a fight between Lillard and Beal, but it could not meet the hype in the first half. Washington has mixed defense orders over Lillard. But in what he lacked from the field, he more than made up for it at the charity line and led the Blazers to an 18-or-18 end in the half.
If the task is to come up with one word to define this game, it should be ‘spacing’. Even if he had a suboptimal shooting game (by his standards), Damian Lillard remained the most feared man on the floor.
In the third quarter, the Blazers opened up a bunch of sets that could be strong reference points. They used double-drag screens to free Lillard, simple two-man sets he drove to one side, pull in a defense and pass the other, and even ‘Horns’ sets that freed him from the ball.
The end result? 100 points. A free six-piece Chicken McNugget dinner with a little more time in that third term.
We’ve probably said this internally, but it has the potential to be a building block for the Blazers going forward. They endured storm after storm and showed up with buckets to play away against a Wizards team that can never be said to be just two nights away from 136 points in 39 minutes. And since this was the second game of a rugby player, taking care of business was the key.
The victory of Portland is similar to a box office movie. Almost everyone under the Blazers’ rotation had their ‘moment’, where they left a mark on tonight’s game. Unfortunately for Washington, Damian Lillard played a spoiler and took over the game in the balance. The Wizards certainly made it a game, but Portland responded well to a mental challenge in tonight’s victory.
Other quick thoughts:
- They enabled the Blazers to dictate the terms, but even if they did not regularly lead to 17 points, their turmoil was key. They forced seven turnovers in the first quarter, collected 14 offensive rebounds, and they were ready to pick 23-of-23 from the free-throw line.
- Carmelo Anthony jumped another NBA legend and overtook Dominique Wilkins for the No. 13 spot on the NBA’s leaderboard. Next stop: Oscar Robertson. Perhaps even more important than the points he scored tonight, Anthony got creative in how he got it. He made cuts, sniffed out mismatches, and mixed catch-and-shoot opportunities with his trusted post-fadeaways.
- It was inspiring to see the Portland fans win the 4-on-3s when the Wizards would lightning Lillard. To his credit, Lillard has extended his dribble work to provide his teammates with more work space. But time and time again, people like Covington, Trent Jr., and Hood have made the right passions to put their teammates in the deep corners.
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What’s next:
The Blazers take on the Philadelphia 76ers Thursday at 5:00 in the Pacific.