Another week, another win coming from NBA Cup Group Play. This Blazers team is clearly better than last season. Although it might not seem like it, they are doing more with less star power. Clingan (when healthy) is proving his worth as the #7 overall pick, Anfernee and Shaedon are back making plays, and our role players are playing their roles to a T. One can only assume we won’t have this squad come the All-Star Break, but seeing them compete and contend for a spot in the NBA Cup Quarterfinals is fun.
Game 18 - 11/25 @ Memphis (123-98 L)
Ja was back for the Grizzlies, and that showed in a dominant outing. A poor shooting performance (34/102) isn’t gonna get it done. With Clingan and Ayton both out, we had to resort to Time Lord down low, and it didn’t prove to be too threatening. Essentially, playing small-ball the whole game is tough when you’re going against JJJ and the ferocity of Ja Morant. This game was a bit of a taste of how we’d stack up against the more elite Western Conference teams, and it clearly went as we’d expect – a spanking. Definitely a “move onto the next one” kind of mentality.
Game 19 - 11/27 @ Indiana (121-114 L)
Another close loss is in the books. This team is clearly better than last season. This time last year, we were competitive, but there seemed to be games where there was nothing but crying and a massive performance gap. But this season is different. Is it the rag-tag-ness of this team? Is it the fact we aren’t in the shadow of the Dame trade? Maybe we are just playing basketball, and the guys are having… fun? At this point, the reason doesn’t matter. All that matters is we’re showing genuine progress. This Pacers team hopes to defend their Eastern Conference Finals appearance from last season, so staying within firing distance throughout the game is excellent.
Game 20 - 11/29 @ Sacramento (1115-106 W) NBA Cup
We ain’t done yet! How we keep winning these NBA Cup games befuddles me, but I’m not complaining. Dominayton was back in Sac-Town and gave us 26/9 on our way to a 2-1 record in West Group A. Sadly, we need some help to make it into bracket play because of the tie-breaker. The long and short of it is that we need to beat the Clippers and then hope OKC and Dallas lose so that we can get in based on a 3-1 record and not lose the tie-breaker. Or, we beat the pants off the Clippers and win by about 50 to secure a spot. It would be a massive W for this young squad if we could get into the quarterfinals and feel competitive. Like the Summer League Championship from two years ago, it might not be the most significant trophy, but it is a trophy.
Game 21 - 12/1 @ Dallas (137-131 L)
Sadly, Luka is too much to contain for the Blazers and the whole NBA. The League is always better when their stars are healthy, and it took an insurmountable effort from Anfernee only to lose by 6. The Mavericks got Luka back but were without Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and a few others in their win. As painful as it is to watch a team lose to another down all their stars, we did get this season’s first Anferno. With 24 of his 27 points in the 3rd quarter, watching him set the court ablaze is always a pleasure. One of these days, we’ll get a complete performance out of this team. Even though we saw 6 players score over 14 points, we didn’t have much production outside of that. It was encouraging to see Deni come through late on both sides of the ball, but overall, our defense is still trash, and any progress we see will only come if we step it up on that side of the ball.
Record: 1-3 (8-13)
Next Week’s Games: 12/3 @ LA Clippers (NBA Cup), 12/6 vs Utah, 12/8 @ LA Lakers