The Portland Trail Blazers find themselves in an awful spot after two games against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Blazers were swept on their home floor by the visiting Pels, and in a few more days, Portland could find itself swept entirely out of the NBA playoffs.
3 reasons the Blazers are on the precipice of doom
How the Pelicans grabbed a 2-0 lead in Portland.
Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
That would be the second straight first-round exit for Damian Lillard’s Blazers, and the third in four years. But more was expected of Portland this time around, given that they are the No. 3 seed and finally put together a strong defense to pair up with their guard-led attack. Many were shocked the Pelicans even made the playoffs after being unable to upgrade the roster much last offseason, and then losing DeMarcus Cousins to injury at midseason. Few expected New Orleans to advance in the postseason once they got there.
But here we are, with Portland heading down to the bayou with their season on the line. Here are the three major reasons the Blazers are on the precipice of doom:
When Dame is stifled, there is no Plan B
The Pelicans have a smart defensive gameplan: focus on slowing down Damian Lillard, the Blazers’ best player and one of the league’s top guards. If you can make life difficult for Dame or get the ball out of his hands, Portland’s offense will be less effective.
Portland’s offense has, in fact, crumbled without an effective Lillard.
New Orleans is trapping Dame on every high pick-and-roll. This is like 75 percent of the Blazers’ normal offense (or at least that’s what it feels like watching Portland). Lillard is rarely able to attack through the double — he has gotten free a couple of times in the series, and he made some clever passes to rolling big men other times. But, largely, the Blazers’ reaction to the defensive focus on Lillard has been for Dame to force up bad shots (more the case in Game 1, where he shot 6-23), lose control (seven turnovers in Game 2) or to let others, primarily C.J. McCollum, run the offense.
McCollum running the offense essentially means McCollum running isolation or draw-and-kick against Jrue Holiday or E’Twaun Moore, both strong defenders. McCollum did have six assists on Tuesday and finished with a fair 22 points on 22 shooting possessions. But the Blazers need production like that in addition to production from Lillard. If only one performs, Portland is in trouble.
This is a failure of coaching and team-building, straight up. Trapping a star point guard hard isn’t exactly some avant-garde defensive strategy. The Blazers should have an answer. They don’t.
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Portland’s defense is unreliable
The Blazers had a top-10 defense during the regular season. Al-Farouq Aminu is an excellent defender, and he did quite well against Anthony Davis in Game 2. The Brow put up numbers and had a few electric moments, per usual. But Aminu and, when assigned, newly healthy Mo Harkless did well on him.
But Jusuf Nurkic, a big part of Portland’s defensive rise this year, has been totally unreliable against the Pelicans. He suffered an injury in the second half of Game 2 and sat down the stretch, but even when he was in, Holiday and Rondo were slicing up the Blazers’ defense with ease. Nurkic’s defensive ineffectiveness helped allow Holiday to be basically unstoppable in the first half of Game 2. His absence in the second half allowed the Pelicans to dictate everything and regain control in the fourth quarter. This was particularly apparent when E’Twaun Moore got two offensive rebounds off of his own missed free throw in a critical possession in the closing minutes. Those boards led to an open Rajon Rondo corner three that essentially ended the game.
Of course, Nurkic isn’t the only or even primary defensive liability for the Blazers right now. The guards are. This has always been the knock on Portland: Lillard and McCollum are thrilling scorers, one of the best offensive backcourts in the league. But they are both minus defenders. In this guard-heavy league, that’s dangerous. And so it goes.
Holiday has absolutely shredded those two plus Evan Turner (also injured midway through Game 2). Rondo struggled in the first half of Game 2, but came alive late to hurt Portland. Holiday is really good and Rondo is among the smartest point guards we’ve ever seen. But the Blazers are getting beat like a piñata in the backcourt. That’s a huge problem when your backcourt is your strength!
The Pelicans know who they are
There will be plenty of time to wonder how this Pelicans’ season and series might have played out differently had DeMarcus Cousins remained healthy. But it’s clear that Boogie’s absence has done one thing since February: it has locked in the Pelicans’ identity. This is a team that runs (even off of made baskets), probes, and attacks relentlessly. New Orleans hasn’t played an actual center a single minute this series: other than Anthony Davis and Nikola Mirotic, both power forwards who start together up front, 6’9 Cheick Diallo is the only big man getting playing time for the Pelicans (and that’s minimal).
Rondo is unafraid to go for home runs — he has Alvin Gentry’s faith and a real connection with Davis, Mirotic, and, increasingly, Holiday. Davis runs the floor hard even though he hits the floor a lot. Mirotic is absolutely fearless pulling up from anywhere in the frontcourt. Even E’Twaun Moore, the Pelicans’ unsung hero on defense and a smart, low-usage offensive player, knows how to pick his spots and attack.
New Orleans knows what it wants to do every time down.
The Blazers don’t. Their identity is tied up so heavily in Lillard’s brilliance that when Lillard is prevented from playing brilliantly Portland is a mess. They don’t run, they don’t play small all the time, they don’t have credible playmakers beyond the two guards and Evan Turner. The Blazers shot better in Game 2 (owing largely to Aminu’s hot hand), but they have drawn incredibly few fouls (much to the chagrin of the Portland crowd). Easy points are nowhere to be found.
Who are the Pelicans? A fast team that attacks relentless and defends aggressively. Who are the Blazers? Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and some dudes of various skills and levels of reliability.
Having a clear identity isn’t going to make a marginal team beat a superior one. Talent matters more than anything. But when two teams of roughly equal talent face off — like the Pelicans and Blazers — the squad that knows exactly what it wants to do at all times sure has an advantage. We’re seeing that manifest.
