In free fall, the Blazers don’t have to worry
Damian Lillard may have scored 50 points, but the Blazers lost at home against the Cavaliers, who relied on the trio of Darius Garland – Donovan Mitchell – Jarrett Allen for over 20 points.
It was Portland’s fifth straight loss, and 9th overall in the last 11 games. A month ago, the Oregon club was still firmly in the Top 6 of the Western Conference (17 wins – 13 losses). He is now out of the Top 10, and the current team dynamic is troubling.
“It’s hard for those who aren’t in the locker room to say it’s okay” Damian Lillard explained after the meeting. “But we are in the position. And that’s how we should see things. »
Chauncey Billups is on the same wavelength as his “franchise player”, believing his team is “so close”. Very close to rediscovering the taste of success and generally a positive dynamic.
“We’re trying to reach the playoffs and be dangerous”
“We hope we are doing better”the leader admitted all the same. “I look at the situation and I think to myself that we’re not playing our best basketball and we’re letting games slip away. But the positive is that a lot of teams let games slip away. A win, a loss, two losses. We’re still in the race. It’s frustrating to miss opportunities, when we could be 24-17 if we take advantage of some of those opportunities, and we’re going to look at these teams and say we’re losing. In the middle , we had positive experiences, and now we are in poverty. »
True with a record of 19 wins for 22 losses, the Blazers are not far from the Top 6, where the Clippers are almost unbalanced (22 wins – 21 losses).
For Damian Lillard, it’s time for the team to show what’s in its stomach.
“The tough times in the season, the tough times on a team, are where you honestly see who you really are and what you are. Who will dig? Who will stay with the same energy? This is the time of the season for us. Half way means there’s still plenty of time left. An opportunity for us to grow, and we have many games to play at home. We played a tough part of the schedule. Looking closer, I think we could be in a better position, but we have some opportunities ahead of us. I am optimistic about how we can move forward. »
It’s the Blazers rebuilding, and when you ask Chauncey Billups what his team’s goal is, it’s clear the coach isn’t talking about the title.
“We’re trying to reach the playoffs and be dangerous” he concluded.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | p.d | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Damian Lillard | 28 | 35.7 | 43.6 | 35.8 | 88.0 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 27.4 |
| Anfernee Simons | 38 | 36.2 | 43.8 | 37.5 | 89.7 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 22.2 |
| Jeremy Grant | 38 | 36.0 | 48.6 | 42.3 | 79.7 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 21.9 |
| Jusuf Nurkic | 35 | 28.7 | 52.8 | 40.0 | 67.5 | 2.6 | 7.5 | 10.1 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 14.5 |
| Josh Hart | 38 | 34.6 | 51.5 | 35.1 | 75.6 | 2.1 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 9.8 |
| Shaedon Sharpe | 39 | 19.4 | 47.5 | 35.8 | 61.1 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.6 |
| Justice Winslow | 29 | 26.8 | 40.9 | 31.1 | 71.4 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 5.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 6.8 |
| Drew Eubanks | 38 | 18.3 | 74.0 | 66.7 | 66.7 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 5.7 |
| Nassir Little | 21 | 15.3 | 47.3 | 37.2 | 66.7 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 5.5 |
| Trendon Watford | 28 | 16.6 | 54.8 | 34.8 | 77.3 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 5.1 |
| Keon Johnson | 20 | 12.2 | 36.8 | 33.3 | 38.5 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
| Gary Payton II | 2 | 14.4 | 80.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 4.5 |
| Jabari Walker | 24 | 8.9 | 42.9 | 25.0 | 64.3 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 2.3 |
| Greg Brown III | 11 | 6.6 | 42.9 | 16.7 | 41.7 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| John Butler | 4 | 3.9 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
