The NBA LOVES What the Portland Trail Blazers Are Doing…

The NBA LOVES What the Portland Trail Blazers Are Doing…

After a tough 48 hours, which saw Chanty Bilips get arrested, the Portland Trailblazers came out and got their first win of the season under Thiago Splitter, and they are currently playing a brand of basketball that has their opponents raving about them. Could this Portland Trailblazer team be for real? Could they be competitive? Could they be a playoff team? They looked like one last night as they destroyed the Golden State Warriors 139 to 119. While the Warriors built an eight-point first quarter lead, the Blazers hung tough and pulled away a little bit in the second quarter. The Blazers continued this in the second half as they went on to score 41, 34, and 36 points in their final three quarters. For a Blazers offense with a lot of questions, it looked great under Thiago Splitter in his first NBA head coaching game. And while Splitter was thrust into a tough situation, I’ve already been impressed with how he’s handled things with poise and grace. Here’s what he had to say after his first head coaching win last night. Yeah, I think the guys play um extremely hard the way we want to play against a great team like the Warriors. Uh of course they coming from a backto back which we knew and we try to even you know exaggerate our pace and play fast even after their makes. um just trying to push the whole game uh with um short rotations and and and play the one we want to play. Getting to the basket. Part of that p was the pace part of that ability to get to the basket. Yeah. I mean, our goal is to get, you know, easy baskets, you know, driving layups, cutting layups, and we got that. How does it feel for you to just lead this team to this victory, especially in context of everything that happened in the last 36 hours and being able to overcome that? I’m still trying to understand what’s going on, but I’m super proud of of them, you know, uh going through all this stuff and and go there and perform, you know, in that of the day, they are the guys that running and shooting the ball, not us. So, so I’m impressed. Were there any any guys that had anything to say before the game or at halftime or anything like that with um some leadership or wisdom with the rest of the team? Uh not yet. I think, you know, I addressed addressed the team after the game and just congratulate them and they got me all wet. So, you got Yeah. Um, so, you know, just to see their smile, it was it was very a good sensation. Putting 139 points on the board is really impressive for this Blazers offense, but a lot of it was spurned from their defense as they forced Golden State into 25 turnovers. And while the Blazers only scored 22 points off those turnovers, it helped contribute to a frenetic pace that worked in the Blazers favor as they scored 30 fast break points against an older Warriors team that was on the second night of a backto back. Last season, Portland established their identity as a team that would get after you on the defensive side of the floor, picking up full court, pounding opposing ball handlers, and when they traded Anthony Simons for Drew Holiday, they leaned into this identity even more. and people across the NBA have been taking notice. Um, if you come to play Portland, there ain’t no more nights off. It ain’t no more give me wins versus Portland, man. Uh, John, you got those guys picking up full court 94 ft every play. And they rotating bodies like five in, five out. Somebody else picking you up full. Somebody else picking you up full. Hey, I’m not going to lie, it’s crazy. Then they go five five smalls of everybody’s 66, 69 through 66. Um, I’m not going to lie, I love it. I love it. You don’t often hear opposing players have that to say about another team. That just shows you that what Portland is building on the defensive side of the ball is real. And after last night’s game, Steve Kerr had this to say. But tonight was not about that. It was about Portland um and what they’ve built and the the length and athleticism and the style of play. And uh they were brilliant. And so I would be embarrassed to sit here and blame fatigue when a team just came out and just took it to us. So it was about them and their their great play and uh this this city’s going to really enjoy watching the Blazers because they play hard and they’ve got uh they got a real identity and they’re doing a really good job of kind of you know rebuilding the franchise after the long run with Terry and Dame and and CJ. I mean, it’s been been a rough couple of years and but they’ve used that that time wisely and built a really good roster. So, while the Blazers are 1 and one on the season, it is an impressive 1-1 record. They probably should have beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night. They probably should be 2-0. They lost that game late after controlling the entirety of that game. But the brand of basketball in which they’ve been playing is what’s truly impressive and gives me hope that they might be able to make a run at a playoff spot in a deep Western Conference this season. Last night, I was really impressed with the pace that the Blazers played at getting into early offense, getting good looks in transition. And even when Golden State stopped the initial fast break from the Blazers, they didn’t just stop and slowly back the ball out. They would whip the ball across the court, set drag screens. Drew Holiday had this fantastic pass to Denny Odia. Really creative, by the way. Drew Holiday finished with 11 assists last night and did a great job setting the table for the Portland Trailblazers. It was fun to see a lot of different guys get in on the action and make big impacts on this game. Matis Thyel off the bench had 10 points, two for two from three. Chris Murray had maybe the best game of his career. Six for seven from the field, knocked down his only three, had 13 points and some terrific defensive plays. And although the defense took a major step forward last year, this year has been ramped up to another notch. The way the Blazers are flying around defensively is truly impressive to watch. And that’s why other people and other teams are taking notice. Denny Odia had himself a great game. He’s averaging 23 points per game his first two games. 26 points for him. He didn’t even get to the free throw line, but he had a truly efficient night. Four for six from three. got going in the first half after getting into it a little bit with Draymond Green. He proceeded to knock down a three at the end of the second quarter and he definitely outplayed Green in this game. It’s really good to see Denny Havdia start the season hot and look like the star caliber player that he looked like to end last year. And I love how simple Denny is making his offensive game right now. If the posing defenders are giving him space, he’s shooting the three. Otherwise, he’s trying to turn the corner and get all the way downhill to the rim. He had six assists last night as well. And I love how he’s not somebody that’s out here settling for mid-range jumpers. It’s either at the rim or last night, he was knocking down those threes. Meanwhile, Jeremy Grant has been fantastic off the bench for the Portland Trailblazers. Right now, he’s an early candidate for sixman of the year. I really like Grant in this role, coming off the bench behind Tammani Kamar and Denny Odia, and he’s looked great in this role. Next up, the Blazers have the Clippers. We’ll preview that in a second, but first let’s go around the NBA. These were the scores from last night. I’ll touch on a couple of them. The Bucks are 2 and 0 without Damen Lillard. The Celtics fall to 0 and2. Anthony Simons coming off the bench there. He had 10 points last night in 27 minutes. It’s going to be interesting to watch him all season long. He hasn’t really made a huge impact in his first two games in Boston yet. The Rockets fall to 0 and2 despite Kevin Durant having a great game. I think they’ll turn it around. They had close losses against the Thunder and Pistons to start the season, but I think it’s always interesting this time of year to look at which Western Conference teams start slow, especially for the Portland Trailblazers if they can start kind of hot here. And for example, you look at the Mavericks losing by 10 to the Washington Wizards at home. They’ve been playing Cooper Flag at point guard. I don’t think that’s the right move for them, but they don’t really have any other options. They’re waiting on Kyrie to come back and they have not looked good to start the season. that could be one of those Western Conference teams that the Portland Trailblazers are able to surpass in their quest for a playoff spot. And also, here is my parlay picks for the day brought to you by Sleeper. If you use promo code Uprise, you’ll get a free $20 entry, no deposit required, and 100% match up to a $100 deposit. Let me know if you like my picks today. Tomorrow, we’ll go over if they hit or not. Actually, I’m doing two parlays. Here’s the second one. I’m feeling pretty confident. And if you’re confident in these, feel free to steal these picks. Next, the Blazers will play their first road game of the season against the Los Angeles Clippers, who have had a weird first two games this year. In game one, they got absolutely destroyed by the Utah Jazz, losing 129 to 108. Kawhi Leonard was only 3 for9 in this game, and the Jazz went offensively. They scored 78 points in the first half. The Jazz, of course, are the consensus last place pick in the Western Conference. The Clippers this off season have had allegations about making under the table payments to Kawhi Leonard. And opening night, they did not look ready against the Jazz, but in game number two, they blew out the Phoenix Suns, winning 129 to 102. Kicks it to DJ Grayson in his face, but he hits it anyways. That’s rough. Mona says, “Where was this energy against the Jazz?” you know, they probably took the Jazz lightly and then you combine that with the Jazz come out and they play well and then you let a game get away from you. James Harden had 30 points on 12 field goal attempts and Kawawaii had a vintage Kawawaii game, 27 points, five rebounds, five assists. The Clippers shot 55% from three, 16 for 29. For the Blazers to win this game, they have to figure out a way to slow down Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. And like Golden State, this is another older team. If the Blazers can impose their pace on the Clippers like they did against the Warriors, then I think the Blazers will have a good chance to win this game. But I like this matchup for Portland coming off the heels of a big 20point win as I do think this is going to be a true test. The Clippers are probably still a playoff caliber team in the Western Conference. But these are the types of games that the Portland Trailblazers need to start being competitive in and winning some of them if they want to be a true playoff team in the Western Conference. For the postgame show after the Clippers game, you’ll be able to call into the show through our Discord. So, make sure you join that by clicking the link in the description box below. And shout out to Sleeper. Remember, promo code Uprise. You’ll get a free $20 entry as well as the 100% promo. And with that said, I’m out of here. I’ll catch you next time. Until then, as always, peace out. Go Blazers.

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