It was a win that took some time to reveal, but the snowball quickly turned into an avalanche. portland trailblazers away from Indiana Pacers The second half was won 116-100 on Sunday night. Jerami Grant led all scorers with his 28 points. In a game where all five of his Blazers’ starters scored in double figures and three scored his 20-plus points, Portland told fans that if perfectly healthy, Western reminded him of being a conference threat.
Indiana hung around bravely for half a minute. Myles Turner and Buddy Hield claimed veteran presence, scoring timely buckets and playing well in both ends. Five he scored in double figures for the Pacers as well, but Indiana trailed him by 12% from distance. That was enough to sink the Pacers into an impenetrable pit, but gave them a moment of terror early in the fourth before they bowed.
be sure to catch A quick summary from Dave Deckardbrilliantly smashed the most important moments of tonight’s match.
Well, here are eight observations from Victory.
thank you gentleman
Both the Blazers and Pacers were 3 early courtesy of Hield and Lillard. But it was the internal strategy that prevailed from the beginning. Both teams were adept at misdirecting, smoke screens and cuts. The jump into the basket serves as an easy ticket from Indiana’s Jaron Smith to point blank point, and Yusuf his Nurkic also shoots 7-12 and he’s within 5 feet on his way to 19 points. proceeded to Backdoor his cut and movement along the baseline created opportunities for both teams, allowing Lillard and Hield to utilize long balls to duel.
traditional defense
With Lillard back in the lineup, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle opted not to roll the star guard trapped in a high screen and deploy a full-court press to ball handlers coming onto the court. A few times Dame found himself in a shadowed corner on the baseline. Otherwise, Carlyle wouldn’t feel uncomfortable in a situation where he would want to come back when he was watching the movie. Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups didn’t have any particular tricks on defense either. He chose to show the big stuff to Andrew Nemhardt for his own reasons, which led to eight assists from backup point guards, seven of which came in the first half. 4, made the Blazers pay for giving him too much attention when he was 2-5 off the field.
Hands, hands, hands!
Oh, the good old hands chant. Anyone who has played basketball at any level has heard it from coaches when doing a defensive slide. The Blazers’ defense went back to basics, showing their hand and reading the passing lane like a suspense novel, and made eight steals in the first half. They were especially good at jumping to intercept passes in the air. Deflection after deflection resulted in 14 fastbreaks for his points.
No answer to Myles Turner
As usual, the Blazers’ line, which had lost its intensity when contesting 3-pointers, led to Myles Turner comfortably ejecting two shots from the outside. Nurkic was in a different zip code whenever Turner looked from the outside. Same goes for Drew Eubanks. Turner enjoyed playing indoors as well from the age of five when he was seven. Whether he caught it on a block or a defender catching it from an invisible bullet pass, Turner was the main reason Indiana was within five points at the half.
Q3 is ours
Starting the third at 15-4 at 3:06 sent a message to an Indiana team without their best player, Tyrese Halliburton — We, the Blazers, don’t lose games we regret losingGrant has been solid all season, scoring 7 points to lead that run. Rip City took shape as the quarter progressed and looked like a familiar team in his first 15 games. The ball worked well and the wealth was shared.
There’s That Zone
You can read with your favorite tone of voice and tone. They all fit the bill. The tide turned when Coach Billups plucked his favorite trap card from his deck. The Blazers didn’t make every possession, but they sprinkled it into their gameplay, rocking Portland into a successful quarter where defense led to offense.
16 in 1 minute?
Will they even do that brutal conditioning drill at NBA practice? Billups may start using it after the Blazers debacle with eight minutes left tonight. Tied 100-87, Buddy Hield missed his throw and scored his own rebound during his rally in Indiana’s mini 4th quarter. The play allowed Hield to score two more of his free throws and cut Portland’s maximum lead of 22 to 11. It’s at that stage to rebound and point out missed free throws. Thankfully, Lillard’s logo bomb dropped, keeping Indiana at bay.
Overwhelming rookie battle
Benedict Maturin and Shadon Sharp were the best rookies of the year. Unfortunately, the supporters weren’t able to see his two talented newcomers play up to the standards. Maturin struggled early on and Sharpe made only a faint mark as he played only 17 minutes. He made only three shot attempts all night.
next
It was an important win for a Blazers team that had overcome a 2-5 slump without Lillard in the lineup. With two consecutive wins and Lillard’s return, they’re ready to start at home. Denver Nuggets — a team they’ve already beaten this season — Thursday night at 7 p.m. Pacific time. Meanwhile, they enjoy his three-day layoff.
