At the start of the first trimester, when the Portland Trail Blazers With the Oklahoma City Thunder trailing 21-8, prognosticators had the Blazers as 19.5-point underdogs. That’s a lot of points for a local team. Portland could have packed everything up and prepared for the next game, but instead went on a run and cut the lead to 32-27 at the end of the quarter.
Portland fought hard the rest of the game, but ultimately lost to Oklahoma City 128-120. The Thunder, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, proved to have too much firepower for the plucky Blazers. Portland fans remember the loss in Oklahoma City earlier this season all too well, so it was good to see the team fight back and keep the game close. Portland was led in scoring by Anfernee Simons’ 29 points and was once again electric in the fourth quarter. He’s in tears right now and I’m excited to see that continue against good teams.
As an organization, the Thunder have the model that the Blazers would like to copy. An all-NBA point guard in SGA, a versatile shooter in Williams, and a dynamic big man in Holmgren. Tonight’s game showed the talent gap between the two teams. Every time Portland made a run, it seemed like one of those three OKC guys would step in and regain momentum. The Blazers have a long way to go, but the Thunder’s path to success is something Rip City can emulate.
If you missed the game, you can see the summary here. After reading that, here are the details that defined the competition.
Kris Murray Great start, then lack of problems
Kris Murray started tonight where he finished his last game against the Timberwolves. Murray made his first 3 shots in the first quarter and scored 8 points in the blink of an eye. Murray would finish the game with 12 points on 4-5 shooting in just 23 minutes of play. Why only 23 minutes? Murray was plagued by foul trouble all night and just couldn’t stay on the court.
Even if he wasn’t able to string together long sequences tonight, he showed us that his game is progressing and that it seems to be slowing down for him. He finishes on the perimeter and does not hesitate on this three balls. He connected on the only long-range shot he attempted tonight. Murray has become an important player for the coaching staff, and I’m happy to see that the confidence they have in him is paying off on the field.
No turnover figures yet
So it’s been a while since I’ve talked about turnovers, but I’m going to do it again. The Blazers committed 17 turnovers tonight, which isn’t the end of the world, but it was the manner in which those turnovers occurred that hurt the team.
Portland battled all night with one of the best teams in the NBA. This same OKC team beat the Blazers by 60 points earlier this season. So, committing 3 turnovers with the game down to less than 7 points in the fourth quarter is grueling. These turnovers happened because the Blazers were trying to make the perfect pass and sometimes it’s okay to take what the defense gives you.
Portland is third in the NBA in turnovers, just behind Utah Jazz And Detroit Pistons…not the company you want to keep. I know the team is young and the point guard position has been a revolving door, but turnovers in the fourth quarter, when the game is on the line, are different than turnovers in the first quarter, when the supporters are still finding their place. Clean up the mistakes at the end of games and the Blazers will be in more positions to win. This will come in handy when the games really start to count.
Return to a dream
This season is the year of development for the Portland Trail Blazers. Since Doup Reath took the field, he has been a bright spot for the team and a focal point of the youth movement. If you had to rate your top 5 players this season, I have no doubt he would be on that list.
What you may not know is that Reath is living out his creation; development within development. Tonight was the best example of that growth. Reath started this year with a stretch 5. His main skill is that he can hit the open three. But tonight highlighted the growth in Reath’s game. He went 0-5 from the three-point arc, but still managed to find other ways to contribute. Reath sent the ball straight into the teeth of the Thunder defense, which is not a great defense. Reath understood this and took advantage of it. If he was just a stationary three-point shooter, he never would have tried anything new.
Since this is the year of development, I’m happy to see Reath expanding into other areas. The Blazers have 21 games left in the season, and it will be interesting to see what other parts of Reath’s game develop.
Ball movement and more ball movement
The Blazers recorded 27 assists tonight against the Thunder. This is 5 more than their season average. The number of assists recorded is interesting, but the eye test gives you an even better look at how the Blazers share the ball. It starts at the top with Simons. He’s Portland’s deadliest scorer, yet his assist numbers continue to climb. He didn’t set a new career high in assists like he did last game, but he’s looking for his teammates more often now. In the past, Simons was primarily a catch-and-shoot guy, but now he’s able to create for others.
The rest of the team feeds off Simons. It feels like every player is trying to get a better shot for another guy. In transition, this is where the passage begins to shine. 3-on-2 fast breaks usually end with a wide-open three. Tonight, Matisse Thybulle benefited from a few of these unselfish passes. Teams heading into the lottery don’t pass like that. Time will tell if these fleeting traits become a habit.
What to remember from thunder
Players on this young Portland team should pay close attention to how the Oklahoma City Thunder control their movement and body at the rim. It seems like every Thunder guard knows how to accelerate and then be able to stop on a dime, stay in the air for an eternity, and then finish with a basket or make contact.
SGA and Jalen Williams have perfected this move and it’s almost uncontrollable. Late in the third quarter, SGA put Simons through the spin cycle not once but twice. Drawing fouls twice after connecting on the jumper. Simons was frustrated, but it was the way SGA could control his body and hang in the air that threw Simons off balance. If Scoot, Simons, Sharpe and any other Blazer can master this type of control at the rim, they will be a handful on the offensive end.
The Blazers take a day off, then a visit from Houston Rockets Friday night.
