How are we feeling after the first week of games? Honestly, better than expected. Although I’m on team #FailForFlagg, it’s tough to root against the team you care for so deeply. And as much as I’d love for the Blazers to have the best chance for the No. 1 pick in next season’s draft, I’d rather see a competitive team – precisely what we’re getting. Yes, we enter the second week with an expected losing record, but we somehow look less feeble than anticipated.
Game 4 - @ Sacramento 10/28 (111-98 L)
The first road game of the season is upon us, and it's against an assumed playoff-bound Kings team who've added DeMar DeRozan. As much as the Kings are a team that should be fighting for a top-6 spot in the West, this team is still very much a question mark. Once again, we kept it competitive until late into the 3rd quarter. Ayton is the first Blazer since Bill Walton to record four straight double-doubles to start a season. So that’s encouraging to see from him. The one thing I've noticed with this team is the disparity between the first and second rotations. They aren’t too different. Grant, Avdeji, and Simons are significantly better than the likes of Walker, Rupert, and Clingan, but the team's flow seems to take much less of a hit than one might think. They seem to be clicking more and are willing to believe that this lineup has the chance to succeed. That’s genuinely the only way to get these young guys to think they can impact the game. These close losses prove that the strategy Billups is employing is working.
Game 5 - @ LA Clippers 10/30 (106-105 W)
Would you look at that? The Clippers look like a medium-bad team without Kawhi Leonard. As much as one can discredit the Clippers for being a complete disaster of a team, the Blazers put together a solid win. They didn’t blink when the game got tight and collectively fought until the end. As the leader he is, Simons put the team on his back late in the game to ultimately get the W for the Blazers. On top of Simons helping the team pull away late, everyone contributed wonderfully: Avdeji, Henderson, and Camara recorded double-digit points. Avdeji is starting to showcase his defensive prowess with the late block on Norman Powell with 29 seconds left in regulation to seal the game, essentially. We hope to see these types of games throughout the season because they show their desire to fight and not give up.
Game 6 - vs Oklahoma City 11/1 (137-114 L)
Another blowout loss in the books. Oklahoma City is supposed to grow off the No. 1 West seed they received last year, so this result is, sadly, not unexpected. Over the previous eight-ish seasons, basketball has proved that no lead (unless it’s one of those 40-point leads) is too great to overcome. Down 17 points early in the 2nd quarter, the Blazers went on a nice run to end the first half to take a three-point lead just before Jalen Williams sunk one with five seconds left. Avdeji is proving to be a quality off-season pickup, as he played the most prominent role in the run. Ultimately, it came up short with OKC being OKC. The Thunder kept the Blazers close through the first few minutes but then hit the gas and entered the final quarter with a 21-point lead. These are the games where Billups can test the guys' resilience as they played hard only to get smoked. It’s still promising to see them come back from a large deficit.
Game 7 - @ Phoenix 11/2 (103-97 L)
Well, that was quite the roller coaster! Phoenix, a team expected to vie for the top spot in the West, kept this one surprisingly close. Although the Blazers had the halftime lead, they gave up 44 points in the 3rd quarter. As a lifelong fan, the 3rd quarter has never seemed the best for us. We tend to let a lead against a team we should demolish slip or fall even further behind a team with the upper hand. But the fact we didn’t let that deter our mentality from fighting back was incredible. Billups is doing a better job with this team than during his first three seasons because we haven’t rallied late normally, but he seemed to give up. One of the stats I’ve been disappointed to see with the Blazers over the last few years is the assist numbers. We just aren’t passing the ball around enough. 17 assists is not great, even though the team is focusing on the kick-out threes more this season. This game was still an excellent benchmark for competing, especially after the blowout against the Thunder, and we all hope to see it continue.
Record: 1-3 (2-5)
Next Week’s Games: 11/4 @ New Orleans, 11/7 @ San Antonio, 11/8 @ Minnesota, 11/10 vs Memphis