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