Week 7: Not-So Road Warriors

Another underwhelming week with a statement win. The fact that we can beat teams like Cleveland and then get blown out by Memphis is mind-numbing. This team needs to find some identity because it’s currently the “they should be good on defense, but they’re hurt, so we’re unsure what their ceiling really is” team. It’s not where you want to be. Yes, we’re getting Jrue back in the next week or two, and Scoot is hopefully coming back in January, but you can’t bank on that. When it comes to injuries these days, players are both taking longer to recover and coming back too soon. So anything you hear from reporters is genuinely just a guess. You and I have a potentially better chance of knowing when they’ll be back on the court. So until we start to get healthier, this team’s ceiling is competing for the 9/10-seed.

Game #21 - 12/2 @ Toronto (118-121 L)

Being down 15 to start the 4th quarter, only to lose by 3 points, is a good sign. Toronto being successful wasn’t on a ton of people’s lists, especially mine. They have pieces, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this cohesive. Scottie Barnes is looking like the All-Star we expected when he was drafted out of Florida State, and Brandon Ingram and Immanuel Quickley both show up; this team is a flamethrower offensively. Deni is continuing his career year in every capacity, especially on a team in need of an offensive identity. He’s leading the team in scoring, assists, and free throws attempted, and it’s not really close. He’s the focal point of this team, whether we win or lose. Toumani had a nice game too, making 6/10 from deep and scoring 21 points. He is still taking the brunt of the defensive responsibility, which is good, but I think if he loosens up a little, things will look more like tonight. It was great to have Shaedon back, playing 30 minutes. I know he’s still figuring out how to get back into the lineup, but coming off the bench helped him get back into a groove last season. Hopefully, this will do it again. This was definitely a bummer of a game to lose, but based on Toronto being a darling of this season and the Blazers being injury-plagued on the guard front, this wasn’t going to be an expected win.

Game #22 - 12/3 @ Cleveland (122-110 W)

An away win on the second of a back-to-back? This was definitely not the result I was expecting, but taking the lead midway through Q2 and holding on until the final buzzer against this good defensive Cleveland team is a BIG win. Getting a regular showing from Deni with 27 points, a repeat performance from Shaedon scoring 20, and Caleb Love stepping up with another 20 points. If we’re going to make it through the middle part of the season with limited losses, we’re going to need the likes of Caleb and Sidy Cissoko to step it up. I’m still surprised Sidy is starting, but maybe this is the motivation both Shaedon and Caleb need. It wasn’t like we held Donovan Mitchell in check, but defending them well and limiting their three-point shooting to 25% helps a lot. On the offense end, being able to create 39 free throws helps a lot. Even if we had kept our trend of missing 8-12 free throws this game, we would’ve won. But only missing five is quite exceptional for this group. Ultimately, this was an excellent game for us given our current injury luck and how it’s affected our defensive identity. Ideally, we can use this as a rallying point for the rest of this road trip and to close out 2025.

Game #23 - 12/5 @ Detroit (116-122 L)

A loss to the best team in the Eastern Conference is never upsetting, especially when two of your starters are out with no confirmed return date. Detroit’s balanced scoring and top-5 defense are no joke this season, meaning it’s going to take an extraordinary effort to get a win. Tonight was not one of those nights for Portland. Detroit had six players score in double figures, with Cade Cunningham leading the way with 29 points. Portland, on the other hand, had three players score 28 points or more and seven total players scoring points. That is not a recipe for success. Deni, Jerami, and Shaedon made up 79% of Portland’s points. The takeaways from this game were that we got to the foul line 35 times, which is great, but we allowed Detroit to shoot 48 free throws. We committed as many fouls as free throws taken. That’s, again, not a recipe for success. Overall, injuries are plaguing this team, but we did hold the lead with less than three minutes left in the game. Just looking at the box score wouldn’t suggest it was that close. And, honestly, it wasn’t. But we’re committing more turnovers than we’re forcing, which is becoming the trend and the opposite of the identity this team is attempting to foster. This is a “move onto the next one” kinda game, which is ok, as the expectations of this team have dwindled from shooting for a home game in the first round of the Play-In to maybe we consider packing it in if we stay this injured.

Game #24 - 12/7 @ Memphis (96-119 L)

A definite bummer to lose by 23 to a Ja Morant-less Grizzlies team. But maybe Memphis is like Atlanta, where the absence of their star guard is better for the team? Who knows. Similarly, Yang Hansen’s first start with the Portland Trail Blazers was underwhelming, and he is still very much a “project.” As much as the world of sports has changed to where teams give up quicker on players and don’t develop them over the span of 2-4 years, it would be nice to see an investment in Portland in the 16th overall pick from this past draft. In the few games he’s played with the Rip City Remix, he’s posted some good numbers in the three games he’s played: 16.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2 blocks per game. Although he didn’t play well, he did have the second-best +/- of the team at +2. That’s not saying much in a blowout loss, but that’s definitely a positive stat in his favor! Outside of that, this was a typical game for Portland, where Jerami, Deni, and Shaedon led the way in scoring, and we lost while losing the turnover battle. Hopefully, we can rebound with a few days off before facing the lowly New Orleans Pelicans.

Pinwheel of the Week
Deni is continuing his push for not just an All-Star but an All-NBA team. He’s one of the few bright spots on this roster, and it’s not really close that he’s the best player on the team. He’s consistently performing at a high level every single night, and when it comes down to calling plays, he’s the one taking the shot. I’m unsure what is really different about the Blazers and the Wizards and his mentality. Maybe it just finally clicked. Maybe he just needed some new scenery. Regardless of the answer, he’s the biggest reason to root for Portland this season.

Record: 1-3 (9-15)

Week 8 Games: Thu 12/11 @ New Orleans, Sun 12/14 vs Golden State

Week 6: It’s the Hope That Kills You

A week that started on a high note and ended with a guessable loss to the defending champs. Such a bummer not to have gotten the win against the Spurs to lock down the NBA Cup West Group C win, but it’s a significant step in the right direction. You have to think we win that game if Jrue is out there and healthy. But the bigger picture is that we are not making our free throws. We missed 27 of them this week. You shouldn’t miss that many over the course of 10 games, let alone three games. Tiago needs to have a heart-to-heart with the team on this because it’s going to bite us in the ass when games get tight later in the season. Next week we’re away from Portland and need to pick up some wins as we’ll be back home for the back end of December. This team is not healthy, and it’s showing. Hopefully, once Jrue is back, it’ll help re-identify our defense. Then, when Scoot returns, the offense will click.

Game #18 - 11/24 @ Milwaukee (115-103 W)

No Giannis, no problem. Taking care of Milwaukee seems to be a trend as of late. Since the jaw-dropping Dame trade, Portland is 4-1 against the Bucks. Giannis and Dame played in four of those games, losing three to Portland, so it wasn’t a “getting them on an off-night”. But tonight we didn’t see Giannis, but we did get a season-high from Jerami, scoring 35 points while going 16/19 from the free-throw line. He has started to make the most of his starts by getting up more shots and taking a bit more of the offensive load with Deni, especially with Shaedon still injured. This was one of our better 3-point shooting efforts, making 18/43 from deep. Seeing Deni, Jerami, and Toumani making multiple threes is big. We need all of them to be making 3+ from three-point. Since we’re (supposedly) so focused on the defensive end, if we’re able to limit the number of possessions from the other team and shoot well from three, it’ll give us a much greater chance to win games. But we do need to step it up from the free-throw line. Missing eight shots is unacceptable. It’s a free shot. It’s even in the name! All that to say, this was an excellent performance from an understaffed squad against a team missing its best player. This is precisely the result that should have happened, and hopefully it’s a good omen for a big game against San Antonio.

Game #19 - 11/26 vs San Antonio (115-102 L) NBA Cup Game

A very competitive game turned sour at the end with De’Aaron Fox scoring 37 points and eliminating us from the NBA Cup playoffs. Deni matched Fox, but we didn’t get enough from the rest of the team to compete late. You have an incredibly low chance of winning games when your last shot from the floor is made with 4 minutes left in the game. That is absolutely brutal to watch. The Spurs took the lead early in the second half and figured out how not to give it up for the rest of the game. We have not been the same on defense as we were in the first few weeks of the season. Tonight we forced nine turnovers. That is the opposite of this team's identity. Yes, we’re missing people like Jrue and Matisse, but that shouldn't be an excuse for guys like Toumani and Clingan not to be still relevant on the defensive end. On top of that, we missed 11 free throws. That’s 19 free throws over the last two games. Something needs to change. We cannot have guys missing this many uncontested shots that you can practice every day, especially someone like Deni, who takes 9+ free throws a game. As much as it would’ve been incredible to win this game and secure a spot on the NBA Cup playoffs, it was definitely a bit of a fever dream with the state of the roster. It would have naturally figured itself out with Jrue and Shaedon coming back to full health soon, but overall, it's the same as the last two seasons: winning game one and flaming out fast.

Game #20 - 11/30 vs Oklahoma City (123-115 L)

In a shocking turn of events, this game was actually close from start to finish. Deni, once again, led the way with 31 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists, notching his second triple-double of the season. He is only out-triple-doubled by Jokić, which one can assume he’ll lead that category this season. But the Thunder finally have a fully healthy roster and look like they really won’t lose another game the rest of the season. They are so locked in on both ends of the court. If Chet Holmgren can start to figure out his offense a little bit more, then he and the Thunder will truly be unstoppable. Now they have Jalen Williams back, their perimeter defense will be even better, even though this game was much closer than it was 11 days ago. But, once again, we missed too many free throws. Deni getting to the line 23 times is a bit insane. SGA is one of the guys who has led the league in free-throw attempts over the last few seasons, and Deni is now 4th with an average of 9.3/game. But if we can start knocking more of them down, we should have a better chance in these close games, even if we had no business keeping it close against Oklahoma City.

Pinwheel of the Week
Deni’s back, back again. Deni’s back, tell a friend. This man is absolutely insane. I still cannot believe he gets to don the red-and-black pinwheel. His second triple-double, two 30-point performances, and a massive amount of free throws; this man is quickly becoming a one-person wrecking crew. He needs some support from the soon-to-be-back-injured guys, but he is on a crazy pace right now, and hopefully it continues throughout the rest of the season.

Record: 1-2 (8-12)

Week 7 Games: Tue 12/2 @ Toronto, Wed 12/3 @ Cleveland, Fri 12/5 @ Detroit, Sun 12/7 @ Memphis

Week 5: All You Need Is a Little Love

Another week to forget, sadly. But the lone bright spot was the NBA Cup dub over the Dubs. We did not bottle up Steph Curry, but that didn’t matter. Collectively, the Blazers are a better team than Golden State. They are living off the dynasty that is Steph, Draymond, and the addition of Jimmy Butler. But the Blazers have now beaten them twice and lead West Group C in a “win, and you’re in” game on Wednesday. Hopefully, we can get Shaedon back in time for that game so we have more depth, but we have a chance to show why this team is special in Vegas.

Game #14 - 11/18 vs Phoenix (127-110 L)

A loss that sadly extends our losing streak to three. The longest of the season. This Suns team is tricky to figure out because, on paper, they are not supposed to be that great. Yet, here they are at 9-6. Jrue’s absence is becoming apparent, now that he’s missed his second straight game with no timetable for his return, with the lack of consistent ball handling and guard defensive presence. Shaedon is still showcasing his offensive prowess, scoring 29 on 24 shots, but we need more people to step up than just him. Not having Jerami was another significant loss for the offense, as he’s been the leading bench scorer. But finally, Caleb Love is feeling comfortable on an NBA floor. His 17 points are not only a career high, but triple his previous record for points scored in a game. This is the kind of performance we want from someone like him, even if he’s on a two-way contract. My hope for him is to get a guaranteed contract and make his way to be the leading point guard of the bench, especially with Scoot out for a few more months (I’m assuming) and Blake being out for a while, too. But this is a good sign of things to come from him and the eventual depth of the Blazers' roster when we’re collectively healthier. Ultimately, this loss is a bummer, but with the number of guys we’re missing, it’s not entirely unexpected.

Game #15 - 11/19 vs Chicago (122-121 L)

You know what would be great? Not to be the first team in NBA history to lose three games on a buzzer-beater in a calendar year, let alone twice in the last 10 days. Coby White had an incredible drive and pass back out to Vucevic, but it was Toumani who left him wide open behind the three-point line. This is a massive miss by our best defender. Obviously, it’s incredibly frustrating when you’re up two and are ok to allow anything but a three, and you allow a three. But we were down 21 with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter, and then we went on a 33-13 run to end the game. That is incredible resilience in a team that’s down Jrue, Shaedon, and Robert Williams. I know Splitter has been up and down with some of his calls. But you cannot say he isn’t inspiring these guys to finish games strong. Deni and Jerami both scored 30+ points. Clingan had 21 rebounds, with the team out offensive rebounding Chicago 26-7. That is how you get back into games. But again, the third quarter killed us. I don’t know what it is about coming out of the half, but we probably have one of the worst Q3 differentials. In a competitive game where your team struggles offensively, your defense needs to be nails. You can’t wait until the fourth quarter to “turn it on” or only be good for three out of four quarters. It’s becoming a trend that needs to end.

Game #16 - 11/21 @ Golden State (127-123 W) NBA Cup Game

Who would’ve thunk the Portland Trail Blazers would control their own destiny in the NBA Cup Group C with one game left? The Caleb Love hype is real, and I’m happy to say that I called it. He needed to step up, and boy, did he. 26 points on 9/20 shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 turnover in 38 minutes. The only person who played more minutes was Deni (unsurprisingly). But he’s making good decisions and showing he was successful on the offensive end in both North Carolina and Arizona. Obviously, this was just one game, and he’s not consistent like Deni, but this is why you give a two-way contract to a guy like this. But Deni was in classic form, scoring 26 of his own with 13 assists while shooting 12/13 from the free throw line. This man is nasty. He drives to the basket like prime Russell Westbrook. He knows how to get fouled in a shooting motion and does it a lot. He is the heart and soul of this team and is making a strong case for his first All-Star selection and, hopefully, an All-NBA selection. He is precisely who we thought he was when we traded for him two years ago, right before the draft. If he is the best player on our team, I’m not going to be upset about it. Paired with Clingan and the ideal jump from Scoot and continued success of Shaedon, this team could genuinely be something in a year or two.

Game #17 - 11/23 @ Oklahoma City (95-122 L)

We’re back, baby. It was over before it even began. The Thunder played 13 guys tonight, and all but one of them scored. SGA scored 17 of his 37 points in the first quarter, setting the tone of a dominant performance from the best team in The Association by a wide margin. Jerami led the Blazers in scoring with an uber-efficient 21 points on 6/8 shooting in 24 minutes. There really isn’t much to say about this game other than us beating OKC a few weeks ago is starting to seem like a fluke. Yes, they’re missing Jalen Williams, but they are so deep at every position that it doesn’t matter. But once they do get him back, it’s truly over for the rest of the NBA. This was an "ok, we can move on to the next game” kinda game after being down 21 in Q1. The Thunder are top-to-bottom a better team than the Blazers, and that’s honestly ok with me. This is not a season in which we’re competing for a title, let alone the top of anything in the West. So this loss isn’t all that surprising, but based on the result of the 11/5 game when we were healthy, we can compete with these powerhouses. But when we’re not fully healthy, we absolutely cannot.

Pinwheel of the Week
It’s Deni Avdija, and no one should be surprised. He had a triple-double against the heartbreaking loss to Chicago. Although he didn’t post insane numbers, he was the core of this team and what it was during the victory over the Warriors on 11/21. He continued his case for one of the league's best players, and others are starting to take notice, especially the pundits who love to talk about the same seven players all season long.

Record: 1-3 (7-10)

Week 6 Games: Mon 11/24 @ Milwaukee, Wed 11/26 vs San Antonio (NBA Cup Game), Sun 11/30 vs Oklahoma City

Week 4: A Road Trip to Forget

It’s safe to say we’re happy to be back playing basketball in Portland. Getting swept by the state of Florida and Texas (sans playing the Spurs) is not what you want to see. The loss to Houston isn’t surprising, as they’re an excellent team, but the way in which we lost was frustrating. Yes, the Rockets are an offensive explosion, but when you need to limit the deficit and score some late-game points, you need to figure out how to do that. It didn’t help that we lost Jrue and Jerami during this trip, adding to Matisse and Blake’s injuries. Hopefully, we can get these guys healthy and back on the court sooner rather than later, because the offense is lacking because of it. Plus, our top-10 defensive rating is absolutely toast. We out-turnovered our opponents in four of our last six games. This is not the team we built over the previous two seasons. We need to get back to our defense-first mindset and worry about the offense later, because it will come.

Game #10 - 11/10 @ Orlando (112-115 L)

You absolutely hate to see it. But I guess that’s why you go out and trade a bunch of draft picks for Desmond Bane, right? An awkward buzzer-beater ruins a hard-fought night for Portland. Apparently, it’s the first time two teams from the same state have had buzzer-beaters on the same night. That isn’t making Trail Blazers fans feel better, but it’s something of note. Shaedon finally showed up on the offensive front. This was his first time scoring over 30 points all season. This is the kind of production we’ve been waiting for. 12/18 from the floor and 3/5 from deep are both efficient, and it shows his decision-making is improving when to take shots. Yes, more of them fell. So you could say that he’s finding his shot, but I think it’s more of the case that he’s shooting better shots. It definitely helps him to have a few guys out of the lineup, meaning he’ll have to produce more on the offensive side, but this was the step we’ve been waiting for in his game this season. Overall, this was a game we should’ve won, especially when we won the turnover battle. We have to get more production from Clingan and our bigs. If our identity is defense, it needs to come through in everyone.

Game #11 - 11/12 @ New Orleans (125-117 W)

A “get right” game that, honestly, was closer than it should’ve been. It definitely doesn’t help when Jerami Grant, the team’s best bench player, gets ejected midway through the second quarter, but a win is a win at this point. We never truly took control of the game. Derrick Queen played a significant role in that, scoring 26 points on 12/18 shooting, bullying guys in the post, and really taking advantage of some second-chance points. Saddiq Bey and Trey Murphy also scored 25 and 22, respectively, to keep things close. But it wasn’t enough for Shaedon to finally come alive in back-to-back games. Maybe it was the shots he took from Jerami’s absence. Maybe it was the Pelicans. Either way, there seemed to be an elevated confidence in his game. He was making those mid-range shots I was talking about. He made some great passing decisions that led to points. He even had a dunk that made Jose Alvarado make a business decision — a smart one, at that. This is the play the team and fans have been waiting for all season. He’s finally converting on his shots — taking 17 shots a game, and the last two he made 12 and 13. If he’s turned a corner, then we’re going to get some serious offensive help, and once we’re healthy, we’re going to be ferocious on both ends of the court.

Game #12 - 11/14 @ Houston (116-140 L) NBA Cup Game

The final two minutes of the first half could summarize this game. Getting the score to within one, then playing the sloppiest basketball I’ve seen in a while. This game was the definition of “yuck”. We committed 20 turnovers and allowed 16 steals. This was the single worst game we’ve played all season by a long shot. Deni looked horrible, committing seven turnovers while being in a haze all game. We got out-defended by a team that’s a medium defensive team. The Rockets’ identity is their offense, but this game showed they can succeed on defense, too. Sadly, the Trail Blazers’ offense is middle of the pack in the NBA, so if they can’t get it going, then they aren’t going to win many, if any, games. Once the third quarter started, it felt like nothing had changed during halftime, with Houston opening on an 8-0 run. It’s hard to say what Tiago told the team, but it wasn’t motivating enough to make this game competitive. We had a late burst in Q3, but it was all for naught because of the turnovers. The only positive to come from this game was that we are still in the hunt for the NBA Cup playoffs. All five teams are tied at 1-1. It would’ve helped more if we outscored the Rockets after the benches were cleared, with the tiebreaker being point differential, but if we can beat both of the Warriors and Spurs, it’s not over for us.

Game #13 - 11/16 @ Dallas (133-138 OT L)

A depleted Dallas team should not have beaten this Portland team. It didn’t help that Jrue got hurt during the Rockets game and was unable to play, which, in my opinion, was a significant factor in the outcome of this game. We were able to clean up the turnovers, but committed 32 fouls. That’s an obscene amount of fouls. You cannot win games when you’re giving your opponent 40 free throws. Yes, it helped that they missed 13 of them, but you can’t let a team back into a close game with free points. Shaedon, Deni, and Jerami all stepped up in Jrue’s absence, but we need more from our bench. We can’t score 133 points and only have 15 of them come from the bench. A team that was already assumed to struggle offensively needs contributions from every player. Guys like Caleb Love and Kris Murray should love these kinds of opportunities to score some points. Caleb thrived in both UNC and Arizona’s offense as a primary scorer. When the going gets tough, these guys and the Blazers need to think “score first, pass second”. Another game on this 1-4 road trip we’d want back in retrospect, with the Orlando game being included too. A lot to learn from this game and from games against most of the Southeast teams.

Pinwheel of the Week
The offense we were promised from Sheadon Sharpe has arrived. He averaged 30.25pts/gm on 44/84 shooting, and it’s hard to believe it isn’t going to continue moving forward. With the injuries to Jrue and Jerami, and even Blake Wesley, he’s going to be the primary scorer with Deni until noted otherwise. This was the year he had to make a jump, and he is. He’s young and hungry, and hopefully, this is what we’ll see the rest of the season.

Record: 1-3 (6-7)

Week 5 Games: Tue 11/18 vs Phoenix, Wed 11/19 vs Chicago, Fri 11/21 @ Golden State, Sun 11/23 @ Oklahoma City

Week 3: When the Going Gets Tough, the Defense Gets Going

What an underwhelming week. A loss to the undermanned Lakers and to the medium Heat definitely weren’t in the cards after the first two weeks. Yes, the Lakers game was weird. And going to Miami and winning in South Beach is never easy. But the defense we have should set us apart. Losing Blake was tough, and his tenacity will be missed for the next few months. Overall, this week was a good mental test for us, even if it resulted in a losing week. Tiago keeps the team engaged every minute of every game, and we’re playing hard-nosed defense from tip to final buzzer. If we keep doing us, it’ll work itself out, and the tight losses will turn into tight wins.

Game #7 - 11/3 vs LA Lakers (123-115 L)

Incredibly tough seeing this team lose to a downtrodden Lakers squad. No Luka, no Reaves, no LeBron. Yet, we apparently weren’t ready for *checks box score* Nick Smith Jr. The third-year Arkansas grad decided to have his best-ever NBA game tonight, and it really couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Blazers. He scored 25 points in 27 minutes and shot 5/6 from deep. On top of that, Deandre Ayton had a double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds on 14/19 shooting. Especially after last week, this was a game that should have continued our defensive success with the supposed lack of offensive firepower from the Lakers. Clearly, that didn’t happen. Deni still did Deni things, but Blake Wesley's absence was very apparent. Anytime he would come into the game, it felt like a different kinda of energy was present — he was a spark to wake up the team from any slump. His 8-12 week absence cannot come soon enough. Overall, this game had a massive bummer vibe. Hopefully, we can bounce back against OKC and put up a fight against the defending champs.

Game #8 - 11/5 vs Oklahoma City (119-121 W)

We beat the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Not only is this a great win for the team at home, but it snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Thunder. Honestly, I didn’t know we had that kind of streak going against them. But it doesn’t matter anymore! Outside an abysmal Q1, the Blazers took it to the Thunder. After being outscored by 20 in Q1, we outscored the Thunder in the remaining three quarters. Yes, OKC was down Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and Lou Dort, but that doesn’t mean it’s an off night for them. They have the deepest roster in the NBA, and it’s not really that close. Aaron Wiggins was 7/10 from three-point range, Shai scored 35, and Ajay Mitchell added 21. But Deni put the team on his back when it mattered, out-SGA-ing SGA at the free-throw line. Deni was 15/16 from the line and one assist away from a triple-double, posting a 26/10/9 stat line. Jrue continued to contribute, especially from deep, scoring 22 and making six 3’s. Doup Reath stepped up MASSIVELY, going 4/5 from the three-point line, reacting the only way one can, hitting one of his threes over Isaiah Hartenstein. This is the kind of identity the Blazers have: gritty wins over teams that think they can run their regular scheme. Like Anthony Edwards said after Opening Night, the Blazers are going to play tough and be a hard out. Tonight proved once again that you can never count out Portland.

Game #9 - 11/8 vs Miami (131-136 L)

Another tight game late that doesn’t go in favor of Portland. As much as my mental state can’t continue this for 72 more games, it seems like we’re not really going to be blowing teams out if our offense is middling. Miami is the other super-fast-paced team, so the fact that it was 131-136 isn’t all that surprising. The biggest surprise was the number of fouls we committed. 32 is a lot considering our average is 22, but that resulted in 36 free-throw attempts for Miami. You’re not going to win tight games if you’re giving your opponent a lot of chances for free points. As much as we scored a lot against Miami, we need more of it. Hopefully, Scoot’s return in a few weeks can be that remedy. We’re 2nd in FGA, due to our league-leading pace, but 24th in FG%. The most significant part of the team’s shooting game we’re missing is the mid-range. Ironically, we need a CJ McCollum type. Someone who can shoot the outside shot, drive, but lives in the 12-18ft range. Deni, Jrue, Shae, and Jerami are providing the majority of the offense, but outside of them, it’s a crapshoot. Having him consistently score in the 15-18 range nightly will be the boost we need.

Pinwheel of the Week
It’s gotta be Deni, right? He’s far and away the best player on the team. He’s leading the team in basically every way you can think of, and he’s already the heart and soul in Portland after just one full season. His average splits during this week were 30/9/6. How is this man not going to be an All-Star this year? He’s our leader on offense and keeping guys in check on defense.

Record: 1-2 (5-4)

Week 4 Games: Mon 11/10 @ Orlando, Wed 11/12 @ New Orleans, Fri 11/14 @ Houston (NBA Cup), Sun 11/16 @ Dallas