The Portland Trail Blazers love making games exciting. That’s cool if you’re surfing games on League Pass or a thrillseeker, but not quite as much fun if you’re a Blazers fan who would enjoy a comfortable win every once in a while.
On Tuesday, the Blazers looked dead in the water against the Magic, only to stage a thrilling second half comeback… And ultimately come up short. Less than a week prior, in both of their games against the Sacramento Kings, the Blazers played the opposite role; they looked to be cruising to wins, only to nearly blow both games in historical fashion.
They held on to both, but a pattern is emerging. Whether the Blazers storm back in games or are trying to hold onto late leads, they struggle to finish the job. Is there a remedy for this, or should fans get used to a season full of stressful (and often disappointing) finishes?
Blazers look rattled in late-game situations
This is often the mark of a talented but young team. Enough will to get to clutch time, but not enough skill to put games away. Deni Avdija has come up clutch numerous times this year, but with Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant right now, it’s gotten a little obvious who the Blazers want to go to down the stretch. Teams sell out to shut down Deni, and no one else on the team has made them pay.
Holiday doesn’t have a clear timeline for his return, so in the meantime, it will take someone else stepping up as a late-game closer if the Blazers want to avoid these late-game meltdowns and finish the job when they’re the team coming back. Caleb Love has the confidence to be that guy — it’s just about making the late shots consistently. Shaedon being that guy would be the best outcome, and Sharpe has actually played well in fourth quarters, but his volume is surprisingly low. He’s not even in the top 50 in fourth quarter field goal attempts.
The promising part of this, of course, is that the Blazers care enough to make these comebacks in the first place. Thiago Splitter may not be the guy long-term, and he’s made some head-scratching decisions in recent games — but the effort level has been good the whole time. That counts for something, especially with so many important players sidelined.
It doesn’t, however, count for wins. And those remain the most important right now.