The Portland Trail Blazers showed up in New Orleans tonight to play the Pelicans like the kids from South Park showing up to Sesame Street. You’re cute, Elmo, but Cartman is going to eat your lunch and feed you some Snuffleupagus Sandwiches. That’s just what the Blazers did. In a rare blowout in their favor, the Blazers took a 75-42 halftime lead and cruised to a 119-100 victory.
A Tale of Two Defenses
Even though this game scans like a score-fest statistically, defense was at the root of success tonight.
The Trail Blazers played their usual switching defense, taken to the extreme. They switched everything, a luxury afforded by Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara in the starting lineup. The Pelicans did not get open shots. They couldn’t penetrate effectively and they seldom caught the ball at the arc without a man shadowing. The only approach that worked well for them was one-on-one isolation pull-ups from the midrange. Several of these came at the hands of midrange specialist CJ McCollum. He headhunted Deandre Ayton off of the aforementioned switches, then barbequed him repeatedly. But that scoring production wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with Portland’s.
The New Orleans defense was darn near unmentionable. It wasn’t a matter of whether it would break down but how. The Blazers aren’t the most intimidating screening team in the world, but the Pelicans couldn’t deal with even simple screen action. Portland drivers got so free off of screen action that they were practically looking back over their shoulders to find the defense. (And no doubt to check to see if they were getting Punk’d or something. Seriously, this is too easy. Where are the hidden cameras?)
When the Pelicans moved extra men to help, the Blazers executed smart passes. Frankly, they only ever had to make one. New Orleans didn’t rotate at all after the initial stab. Their passing-lane defense was non-existent. Three-pointers were ludicrously open for Portland and the Blazers cashed in.
Oh, and just in case that CJ-vs-Ayton action on the other end hurt, the Blazers returned the favor by driving hard on McCollum. CJ couldn’t keep anybody in front of him and ended up giving back everything he took.
How bad was it? Up to the 3:00 mark in the third, when the Blazers went heavy bench up 30, Portland was shooting 70% from the field. 7 of every 10 shots made. Wow.
Pull-Ups
The Blazers guards had their way at the rim and the arc, but they also made good use of an under-played aspect of the game: pull-up jumpers. Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson both have that move in their arsenal. An 8-10 foot shot is almost as good as a layup when they get separation. Both of them made good on those opportunities. It’s a move they should dust off more.
Size
The Blazers are one of the tallest teams in the league. It was visible tonight. They had a size advantage at every position. It showed up on rebounding, defense, and the separation on shots we just talked about. It almost looked like New Orleans belonged in a different league. A lot of that was effort; the Pelicans gave none. But Portland’s height advantage contributed.
Turnovers
As if scoring wasn’t easy enough, the Blazers converted 15 points off of 19 New Orleans turnovers. Usually Portland approaches 20 turnovers per game. It was nice to see the other team do it for a change.
Sharpe Scoring
Speaking of scoring, Shaedon Sharpe sure made it look easy, converting 13 shots into 21 total points. Every once in a while you get a glimpse of what makes him special. The permissive New Orleans defense raised the curtain on his potential.
The only guy to outdo Shaedon was Deni Avdija, who feasted on layups and threes, scoring 26 on 15 shots.
Paint Points
The Blazers beat New Orleans 62-44 in the paint. Smashy Smashy.
Always One Thing
The Blazers were up big throughout the second half and New Orleans barely threatened, but their starters came back for the fourth-quarter shift and remained in pretty late considering they have another game tomorrow night. That’s a curious choice in an otherwise sterling night. Learn to take yes for an answer.
Up Next
The Blazers get the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow night in a 5:30 PM, Pacific start.
