The Portland Trail Blazers were all ready to continue their triumphant homestand against lottery-bound teams on Friday night, taking on the Dallas Mavericks in the friendly confines of the Moda Center. As it turned out, Dallas had other plans. The Mavs hustled as hard as the Blazers, shot more accurately, and took way better care of the ball. Lump all that together and you end up with a 100-93 Dallas victory in a game Portland could not afford to lose.<\/p>\n
Here are some analytical observations from the contest.<\/p>\n
Dallas had a clear game plan from the opening tip: make Blazers center Donovan Clingan cover the entire floor on defense. They\u2019re not the first opponent to employ this strategy, but man did they seem dedicated to it, especially early in the game. Part of the reasoning\u2014besides nerfing Clingan\u2019s considerable defensive prowess in the lane\u2014was to wear him out early and eat into his effectiveness. It appeared to work a little bit. Shots and layups came up short for Clingan tonight. He finished with only 6 points on 2-9 shooting. He did manage 17 rebounds, but only 1 blocked shot. He also had 5 turnovers and 4 personal fouls.<\/p>\n
This game will not be on Kris Murray\u2019s highlight tape of \u201cWhy I Should Be an NBA Player\u201d. Granted, Murray got the unenviable task of guarding Cooper Flagg on multiple occasions. He got slow-roasted in that assignment and that\u2019s fair. But Murray couldn\u2019t hold onto the ball, couldn\u2019t shoot or score, and at times looked to be staring off into the distance in shell shock. Whatever was up with him, this was not his night. His final line was 0 points, 0 shots, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 2 turnovers, and 3 personal fouls in 12 minutes.<\/p>\n
This is like standing in the middle of a WWE ring, trying to convince the audience how good you are and how decisively you\u2019re going to win your next match, then the lights go off and you hear, BONNNNGGGGG\u2026<\/p>\n
Dallas had a simple, efficient defensive approach: go hard against whomever was handling the ball for Portland and live with the consequences following. The point-of-attack defender would try to sit on the dribbler\u2019s dominant hand while Dallas\u2019 mobile bigs closed at the rim after penetration. They didn\u2019t care who the attacker passed to (or where) as long as Portland didn\u2019t score easily off the drive.<\/p>\n
Deni Avdija broke the Mavs when the Blazers got into their offense early, but even he struggled when the game ground into the halfcourt.<\/p>\n
In recompense, Dallas seemed ok leaving Portland open at the arc. When shots fell the Blazers looked brilliant! They were hit and miss, though, ending the night 8-30, 27% from distance. As a result, the Mavericks never abandoned their initial scheme. Watching the Blazers try to handle and pass the ball in heavy traffic was\u2026not fun.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s somewhat certain that Portland\u2019s opponent(s) in the Play-In Tournament are going to employ this strategy as well. It won\u2019t work if they have a huge, slow center, but everyone else is going to play the odds and make the Blazers beat them from the arc instead of in the lane. Watch out.<\/p>\n
A couple games ago we offered that the Blazers are not great at using screens, as they don\u2019t time and space them precisely, often rendering them useless. Here\u2019s a dirty little secret: Portland isn\u2019t good at dealing with opposing screens either.<\/p>\n
Donovan Clingan is a massive hawk. When he\u2019s in position, he\u2019ll deny post-screen shots before they ever go up. But often he\u2019s out of sync with his partner because Portland\u2019s smaller players aren\u2019t where they\u2019re supposed to be.<\/p>\n
Tonight Dallas set great picks, prospering by getting into the paint relatively Clingan-free. They ended up with 52 in the lane. Granted, they\u2019re Top 5 in the league in that category, but the Blazers didn\u2019t hold them back at all.<\/p>\n
Exhibit A was Marvin Bagley III, who scored a season-high 26 points on 11-14 shooting, most of it off of screen action.<\/p>\n
Pick plays are one of the NBA\u2019s bedrock attributes. If you\u2019re neither using nor defending them well, what, exactly, is your plan? Inquiring minds want to know.<\/p>\n
In semi-concerning news, Robert Williams III left the game late in the second period with a lower back injury and did not return. Williams has appeared in 52 games this season and has been charging hard lately. His spotty health history is well-documented. If the Blazers don\u2019t have Williams down the stretch, that\u2019s a serious blow.<\/p>\n