Game Thread GAME# 41: BLAZERS @ ROCKETS - JANUARY 10, 2018 - WEDNESDAY, 5:00 PM (PST), NBCSNW

[Blazers Roy]

CP3 had like 15 pts because our bigs switched onto him. And that our bigs covered the pick n roll horribly against him. And our defense is horribly designed against him, and lets him get to his spots. It's no fault of our backcourt.

Stotts' "we're ok with giving the opponent mid-range shots" philosophy is always falling apart against Chris Paul.

 

[BonesJones]

I knew it was bad, but not this bad. CP has faced Dame 17 times in the regular season. And won 14 of them.

In their matchups, Paul averaged 24/11/4 on 49% FG with only 2 turnovers a game. Dame put up 19/6/5 on 40% FG and nearly 4 turnovers a game.

But a 3-14 matchup head to head is brutal. Glad we got them in the playoffs.

Dame is 3-13 against Curry, 9-8 against Westbrook, 4-5 against Wall, and 4-3 against Kyrie.

It's a product of Paul vs. Dame as it's more of a product of Paul vs. Stotts' defense.

 

[BonesJones]

I wasn't around to watch the game......how was the pace? Did we try to match the Rockets at their own game?
If we did then it was a mistake. When you play the Rockets and Warrior IMO you have to slow it down and at least try to take them out of their rhythm. Especially on the road. Hard to match them shot for shot for 4 quarters.

Basically, we played a stupid all around game and so did they, but us moreso.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Stotts' "we're ok with giving the opponent mid-range shots" philosophy is always falling apart against Chris Paul.

OK, ok...let's cool down a bit...

CP3 shoots 41% on jumpers. 44% (42-96) from 3 to 16 feet. (Interestingly enough, he's 16-30...55%...on 16-23'). He normally makes 6 shots a game, 2.6 of which are 3s. He shot 44% yesterday...the mid-range isn't what killed us.
He also put up some cloud-piercing rainbow over (Chief, I think?) a big defenders as a fallaway at the end of the 3rd that snapped the net. Ridiculous shot. But yesterday, it went in, as did 9 of his 17 other non-3s.

Even in the best of scenarios, we're losing 30 games this season. On the road against the #2 seed where one of their stars catches ridiculous fire is one I'm ok with. Yeah, Harden being out sucked, but I submit that Black going ham in his 14 minutes and the 3pt shooting of Green and Gordon hurt us way more than CP3 getting a few more J's than usual. Chalk it up as a likely L and move on. With all we were saddled with, it happens.

 

[jlprk]

On the road against the #2 seed where one of their stars catches ridiculous fire is one I'm ok with. Yeah, Harden being out sucked, but I submit that Black going ham in his 14 minutes and the 3pt shooting of Green and Gordon hurt us way more than CP3 getting a few more J's than usual.

Paul doesn't just randomly make shots against us. They are all strategically-chosen, and have been for years. McCollum, who is 80% wasted motion like bird feathers in a flurry, is the opposite of the economical, selective Chris Paul.