What a week… ending a road trip with two losses to two good teams is what I expected, but was still hoping to win one of them. Especially, with some stars being sidelined. But the last month has proven Chauncey knows what he’s doing and that this team can compete. Espeically when Toumani wins Defensive Player of the Month. Have to believe the Suns are pounding sand for including him in the Ayton/Nurkic trade. But finally having a wing that can stop anyone is a blessing for the city of Portland. We haven’t had one is YEARS.
Game #62 - 3/3 @ Philadelphia (119-102 W)
Back to winning ways after a bummer of an OT loss against Cleveland. Philly’s only direction at this point is down, as they would owe OKC their 1st Round is top-6 protected. They currently sit at the 6th best odds for the #1 pick, so they’re trending the right direction, which means the Blazers coming to town and looking for a victory is good for both sides. Ant lead the way in scoring with 34 and Clingan and Shaedon both produced double-doubles. Overall, it was a solid team performance where we pushed the pedal to the metal in the second half, outscoring Philly 63-41. This was a great “warm up” for the very competitve game against Boston, up next. Although it seems unlikely we’ll win either of these games, it would be great to steal one from two teams who will be vying for a trip to the NBA Finals.
Game #63 - 3/5 @ Boston (128-118 L)
Honestly, lol. The fact we couldn’t stop the likes of Payton Pritchard and Derrick White is a bit sad, especially with our defense playing at a top-10 level. Yes, Pritchard might’ve had a bit of a “let me show up my home state’s team”, but no way did anyone predict an output of 41 points, 14/20 shooting 10/16 from 3-point, and 10 assists. The fact it was these two and not Tatum and Brown who are the first Celtics duo to score 40+ in the same game, is insane. Blazers put up a good fight with Ant scroing 30, Shaedon scoring 25, and Jabari scoring 22 on 8/8 shooting and 6/6 from 3-point. I love that he was able to get into a rhythm tonight and get it going. One of the things it seems Chauncey is improving on during his tenure is letting hot guys stay hot, even if they’re bench guys. Dalano was hot last week and Chauncey let it ride. Tonight, they kept feeding Bari and he kept making them. It’s giving young guys confidence and this team needs that since there are not a ton of vets present. Hopefully we can shake this off and put up a good performance against OKC.
Game #64 - 3/7 @ Oklahoma City (107-89 L)
Welp. Maybe the February magic ended last week. Or maybe, we just ran into a few good teams and it is what it is. We only had three guys (Scoot, Shaedon, and Ant) score double-digit points. While OKC had six guys score double-digits and Jaylin WIlliams recording a triple-double. This was tied for our lowest offensive total of the season, BUT we didn’t give up a ton to OKC which can happen with the way their offense is built. Sadly, this game didn’t feature Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, or Lou Dort. Another game against a top team resting some of their guys where we had a chance to upset them on an off night, and we faulter once again. This team is in the spot of “we can win this game even though we shouldn’t win this game,” and it’s been tough to see us put up great performances against good teams and lose. Tonight wasn’t one of those nights. If anything, our direction is much more clear and with a month left, we can still very much make the Play-In.
Game #65 - 3/9 vs Detroit (119-112 L)
What a frustrating game. I was fortunate to watch this one in person, and man it felt like we were out of sync the whole time. Scoot was losing the ball every fourth possesion for absolutely no reason. Jerami apparently only shoots 3s. And Doup seems more focused on making 3s than playing in the post. Fortunately Ant’s step-back and floater game is as strong as ever and we put up more than 110 against against a top-5 defense. Yeah ever game has some bad calls, but for a home team to not get a few in their favor late in a game, is a bit suspect even for a rigged officiating league like the NBA. It didn’t help Toumani and Clingan got into foul trouble with a decent amount of time left in the game, but this was a winnable game that we’d definitely love to get back. We were down the whole game and Chauncey got these guys back into it a handful of times, which is great to see. The hope is these kinds of game go our way next season. A small bright spot was Toumani obliterating Isaiah Stewart in the first half. Myself and everyone else in Moda was on their feet.
Record: 1-3 (28-37)
Next Week’s Games: 3/10 @ Golden State, 3/12 vs New York 3/16 vs Toronto