[Post Game Thread] The Portland Trail Blazers (9-14) fall to The Detroit Pistons (18-5) 116-122

50 comments

  2. That was such a winnable game, but we were playing inexcusably sloppy basketball for the vast majority of it. These are the ones that really stick with you though.

  3. Deni Avidjia with 35/9/7 tonight. Guys, I expected him to be good this year, but I genuinely didnt expect this. At this point im actually going to be surprised if he doesnt make the Allstar team.

    Missing almost half of our regular roster, and we stayed competitive right to the end against the best team in the east. This team last year doesn’t do that.

    Also fuck those officials. I dont think either side was happy at all with the officating.

  8. A ton of bs this game but that stretch of Kris having back to back turnovers and then the foul is what lost us the game

  10. Kris Murray is horrible. I’ve tried to give the dude so many chances for me to like him but I can’t do it. Please cut him lol

  11. Pistons fan here, you guys have a lot of fight and upside. The refs were absolutely fucking horrible on both sides.

  12. All I want for Christmas is a fucking point guard. Scoot, Jrue, or even a slightly geriatric Chris Paul. Just a point guard. Please.

  17. I didn’t turn the game on until mid 3rd and Jesus that was rough to sit through, can’t imagine suffering through 4 full quarters of these refs

  18. Thoughts:

    * What a horribly reffed game on both ends. Calling all sorts of soft contact, then also guys getting hacked with no call. Also 81 combined FTs is so garbage. Just such a horribly ugly game to watch.

    * Shae with some huge plays in the fourth quarter including a sick dunk at Stewart, after kind of a lackluster first part of the game. Feels like getting his foul overturned and then Stewart talking trash at him woke him up.

    * RW3 saved about 10 points at the rim tonight just incredibly impactful defensively.

    * Toumani had a terrible night on offense but he largely did a good job on Cade.

    * Sidy hit two threes, some solid defense, a couple great passes, generally looked really solid and like an NBA player (does he remind anyone else of Justice Winslow?)

    * I hate those challenges on out-of-bounds 50/50 calls. Even if you win the impact is just so small and then if you lose you’re down a timeout and can’t challenge at the end of the game. Like being able to challenge some of those calls at the end of the game would have been nice. I would say not Splitter’s best game in terms of game management tonight (that lineup with Love Kris Grant RW and Cissoko in the early 2nd quarter was just really not it too. Not that Shae was playing suuuper well, but I think he should play every minute when Deni is off the court bc otherwise there just isn’t enough creation). Also trying to play zone against a team like detroit with Duop in the middle of the zone is just asking for disaster.

    * Deni with an incredibly gutty performance clearly playing through pain (can we please give him a rest next game? he is getting run into the ground). but the offense completely falls apart when he’s out of the game. I also wanted to highlight how he has such a good feel for cutting when defenses try to deny him up high – it gets him a free paint touch

    * did not love the way we played zone defense felt like they gave up a good look every time.

    *

    * I generally like Kris but that sequence in the fourth quarter with two airballs, then an moving screen, and then a foul while the pistons were in the bonus was BRUTAL. Also Love was also awful in the first half

  19. Kris Murray is better at basketball than me at anything. That said, he has the offense of an indecisive penguin.

  21. From a pistons fan, ggs. Deni is an absolute beast and should be an all star. Also, those refs sucked and that game was near unwatchable

  25. Tonight was a good example of why having a point guard to settle the team in crunch time will be very nice

  26. Watching Love chuck 3’s and Kris do everything but take open shots while the team keeps regressing on defense every night was not the vibe I expected from this team after the hot start..

  27. 3 players fouled out and we played about 40 minutes worth of players who probably won’t play half that if we’re fully healthy and we still almost beat the number team in the east on the road. Frustrating game but still light at the end of the tunnel.

  28. Piston fan, first time watching Avdija this season. Holy fuck he’s legit. You have a star

  31. FFS sit Deni for the next game and let him recover. There is no point in burning him out.

  32. I think I would take a colonoscopy over watching that egregious collapse near the end.

  33. Blazers need to hire Thibs since he’d never be tempted to play anyone off this bench. Get ready to learn 46 mpg, Deni!

  34. A little off topic from the game play, but did anyone else enjoy Demers’ chemistry with Lamar? Not a knock on Calabro *at all*, I just liked how it worked out.

  36. Robert Williams played 30 minutes! I hope 20-30 minutes per game eventually becomes a regular thing. He’s a perfect backup to Clingan.

  37. gg guys, ugly refball game but id love a rm with yall fully healthy. Deni is an all star high iq player, reminds me of cade somewhat. Future looks bright!

  39. Am I crazy to think Deni is better than Cade. He seems completely unguardable to me right now outside of double teaming.

  41. Those bums were hacking all night and they still crying like they were hard done by the refs lol. Wild stuff.

    I honestly think Kris Murray single handedly lost them this game.

  42. Good game until we literally gave it away at the end. The guys looked spent and done with 2:30 left.

  43. The whole team needs some rest, good thing we have a small break till Thursday after the Grizzlies.

  44. That was a terrible watch. This team stays competitive against the best of the best, if only the team was healthy. Sharpe recovered in the 2nd half actually doing things he should be doing.

    Deni though. Deni isn’t talked about enough in the NBA. He has done this night in and night out now and hes on a bum ankle the last two games. He is Luka lite and I think his ceiling is a bit higher honestly. I was expecting him to be a 20 a game player. He is an all star and could develop into an all NBA player if he has the right pieces around him. This team needs shooters. Surround him with shooters this offseason. The shit hes doing and carrying THIS team on top of it, needs to be talked about more.

  45. After tonight Sharpe is shooting 24.5% from 3. Unfathomable how awful he’s shooting the ball, my god. He’s shooting like the first 10 games of Scoot’s career, except on way more volume.

  46. Glad I turned the game off early, what a whistle fest, not even mad we lost lol

  48. So many fouls, but also SO MANY LATE CALLS

    Horrible game to watch

    The amount of unforced errors in this game by us (Timelord stepping out of bounds, Murray passing to Cade), Jerami Grant going for 2 when we need a 3

    Also, Deni scored two clutch buckets, but somehow he was left in the corner during the rest of the game. The ball should be in your franchise’s player hands to make the decisions.

    Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant, as great as basketball players they are, they don’t have the same BBIQ that Deni (or Jrue, who is injured) has

  50. Deni gives his heart, soul and body to this team. He gives everything he got every fu*king game, carrying this team on his back. 
    He is not just a terrific basketball player. 
    He is the driving force of this team.

    I really love this guy (in a straight way). Not just because of his skills, but also because of his grit, his personality and attitude. 

    Whenever he rests on the bench, the offense simply crumbles (especially now that Jrue is injured). Splitter has no choice but to play him 37+ minutes. 

    I hope he stays healthy because without him, this team is lost.  

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