What a start to a seven-game road trip. A week that should have come without a loss, they beat the teams they were supposed to and lost to a team they should have, albeit they should’ve beaten the Cavs. Chauncey, you have officially won me over for an extension. This is by far the most competent he has looked as a head coach in the NBA. He has these guys playing with a ton of heart and drive not to give up. This team feels like the season's surprise; if things keep going the way they are, we might have a chance at the play-in.
Game #58 - 2/24 @ Utah (114-112 W)
Once again, this team is showing their resilience. If this game happened last year, we would’ve ended up losing by two vs winning by two. Keyonte George had our number in the fourth quarter, but his three at the buzzer allowed Rip City to exhale a sigh of relief. Five Blazers scored in double digits, with Anfernee leading the way with 28. Although not boasting big numbers offensively, Clingan fills in wonderfully for Ayton. He had the second-best +/-, only behind Deni (unsurprisingly). He is the future of our frontcourt, and he’s starting to show why he anchored UConn to two straight NCAA titles. There is still a long way to go for him, but the fact that he’s fitting in is a great sign. He will be a force alongside Scoot, Shaedon, and Deni in the coming years. And if Chauncey is coaching them like this, we might have something brewing in Portland.
Game #59 - 2/26 @ Washington (129-121 W)
Lordy lord lord… Shaedon Sharpe is a bad, bad man. On top of a win and a Deni reunion in DC, Shaedon might’ve just produced the best dunk of the season. I want to apologize to Justin Champagnie for all the air time he will get because of this dunk. He is quickly answering all the questions people had about him during the 2022 NBA Draft. He’s long, speedy, makes good decisions, and has a flair for the dramatic. It would be hard to believe he isn’t part of the long-term future of this franchise, especially when he sets a career high in points (36) and the most for a Blazer off the bench since Travis Outlaw in 2007. This team is doing what I discussed last week - beating the bad teams. You can’t progress in this league if you lose to teams you're supposed to beat. Chauncey has this team in the right spot - beating those teams.
Game #60 - 2/28 @ Brooklyn (121-102 W)
Last season didn’t produce many comfortable wins, but tonight’s victory surprised a well-rounded team effort. Every starter, plus Dalano and Scoot, all scored double digits. Accumulating 31 assists is a monster night for us. We are in the bottom half of average assists/game, so seeing this kind of output is phenomenal. Brooklyn is a disaster, and there is no reason we shouldn’t have come away with a result like this and feasting on them from the statistical perspective. We shot 57% from the floor and 41% from 3-point. Somehow, we shot 59% from the free-throw line. That is so bad. It is a free, uncontested shot at the basket. How can we shoot so poorly from there? If we get into tight games and it comes down to making free throws, we might lose. This is a young team, but if we want to grow in the future, we must shoot in the 80-90% range during games. Even Brooklyn shot 85% from the line with the same number of attempts. I guess we have something to work on at practice as we gear up for a tough slate of games next week.
Game #61 - 3/2 @ Cleveland (133-129 OT L)
You can’t win ‘em all, especially when you have an 18-point lead late in the 3rd quarter. Cleveland is one of the favorites this season, and we pushed them to OT on their home court. That says a lot about this team. We don’t care who you are because everyone can be beat, and that lack of fear is probably what Chauncey is saying to these guys. Unfortunately, we got beat by the old UVA teammates in Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter. Jerome has been on a heater as of late, having scored 19+ points in 5 of his last 6 games. Hunter has maybe been the best trade-deadline acquisition of any team (outside of Luka) and has helped propel the Cavs to an 8-game win streak. There wasn’t anything substantial the Blazers could have improved upon in this game, as the stats were pretty neck and neck. The Cavs did make a few timely threes, but otherwise, they played tough, aggressive, and unrelenting. This is a good loss for this team because it wouldn't be a sweep if you were to play them in a series in the playoffs.
Record: 3-1 (27-34)
Next Week’s Games: 3/3 @ Philadelphia, 3/5 @ Boston, 3/7 @ Oklahoma City, 3/9 vs Detroit