Game Thread GAME# 41: MAVERICKS @ BLAZERS - MARCH 19, 2021 - FRIDAY, 7:00, NBATV & NBCSNW

[wizenheimer]

Remember Folks wanted to replace Cj with Gary Trent. Lol

Gary is a nice player but please nobody ever compare him to Cj. He’s nowhere near his level whatsoever

no, Trent is not the player that CJ is

but I think a lot of the talk was a little more nuanced that just Trent for CJ. The thinking was that Trent was more like Matthews, and Dame and Matthews had a better mesh than Dame and CJ have ever had. So if CJ could be the main part of a trade that brought in a high level forward, Trent might be able to fill in at SG and help Portland get a team that fit better around Dame while strengthening the Blazer front-court and balancing the roster

the problem was finding acceptable trade ideas. I'd be fine with CJ traded but I sure didn't see many good trade proposals floating around. At least not many that were realistic

 

[Haakzilla]

RELEASE THE KRAKEN (CJ) !

...or keep playing him around 28 minutes and preserve him (and continue development of others with those few extra minutes) he clearly doesnt need more minutes to score 30+ or for the team to win

 

[Darkwebs]

...or keep playing him around 28 minutes and preserve him (and continue development of others with those few extra minutes) he clearly doesnt need more minutes to score 30+ or for the team to win

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Notes – March 19, 2021
Portland 125, Dallas 119
Game No. 41, Home Game No. 21


TEAM
• Terry Stotts became the 35th coach in NBA history to reach 500 career wins. Stotts ranks eighth among active coaches in career wins. It was his 385th win as head coach of the Trail Blazers
• The Trail Blazers shot 22-of-47 (46.8%) from 3-PT range, while the Mavericks were 19-of-42 (45.2%) from deep. It was the fourth time in franchise history the Trail Blazers have made at least 22 three-pointers.
• The Trail Blazers 46.8% shooting from deep was the team’s third-highest mark of the season. Portland improved to 10-0 when they shoot at least 42.0% from the three-point line.
• Portland committed just six turnover while forcing Dallas into 12. Portland has recorded single-digit turnovers 14 times this season, tied for the most such games in the NBA (San Antonio).

PLAYER
• CJ McCollum led Portland in scoring with 32 points (11-23 FG, 7-13 3-PT, 3-3 FT), four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes. It was his fourth game with 30+ this season, and his third-highest scoring total of the season.
• Damian Lillard scored 31 points (10-19 FG, 4-10 3-PT, 7-7 FT) to go with three rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes. It was his league-leading 25th game with at least 30 points this season.
• Carmelo Anthony had 18 points (6-11 FG, 3-4 3-PT, 3-4 FT) and four boards in 28 minutes. With his fifth point of the night, Anthony became the 11th player in NBA history to record 27,000 career points.
• Robert Covington recorded 11 points (4-10 FG, 3-8 3-PT), seven rebounds and three steals in 36 minutes. It was his ninth game this season with at least three steals, tied for the fifth-most in the league. His first three-pointer of the night marked the 1,000th triple of his career.
• Enes Kanter added 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and pulled down nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
• Rodney Hood had six points (2-3 3-PT), a season-high eight rebounds, two assists and one steal in 22 minutes off the bench.
• Luka Doncic led Dallas with 38 points (15-27 FG, 4-13 3-PT, 4-5 FT), nine rebounds, nine assists and one steal. 38 is tied for his fifth-highest scoring game this season.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 25 points (9-14 FG, 7-11 3-PT), to go with five rebounds and five assists. It was his seventh career game with at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists, and first such game in a Mavericks uniform.
• Maxi Kleber tied a season-high with 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-7 3-PT), and had four rebounds, four assists and one block in 34 minutes.

 

[Chris Craig]

The 2011 Felton Blazers existed

 

[Labinot41]

Got two more months left!

Dame is a machine

 

[MickZagger]

We should’ve won by more. Hardaway Jr. was heaving up and hitting shots he never makes.

 

[Labinot41]

actually didn’t know that the Blazers were scheduled to play Dallas last night lmao. I came home from a friend around midnight and went to sleep. I woke up briefly at 4 a.m. and checked the live score on nba games on my phone and saw Blazers were leading the Mavs at halftime and i was like wtf how could i not know that the Blazers were playing this night xD

 

[royo]

I'm gonna say i hope not.
I hope this team plays really really well and Stotts gets them far enough into the post season there is no chance he would be fired.
.

It's not Stotts getting them. Stotts caring his sorry ass on Dames back. He can not coach, he can not even talk about coaching. At this point I prefer they go 0:4 in first round, so I don't watch this mascot next season.

 

[stampedehero]

Mavericks vs. Trail Blazers - Box Score - March 19, 2021 - ESPN<<<<<

 

[kjironman1]

100% That's why I kept saying "and". I think everyone who pays attention to what I have been posting knows that I don't want Terry fired by Neil. I want Neil fired and a real basketball person put in his place. If that basketball person holds a press conference and says, "We think Terry Stotts is a treasure and we're keeping him as head coach and getting him an associate head coach that helps support him in the areas he needs support." I will not be mad. There just has to be some accountability and for me it has to start with Olshey. He definitely shouldn't be able to just fire Stotts and keep his job after all of these years. If Stotts has been the problem that needs to be removed then it's a fireable offense that Olshey hasn't done that for 9 years.

Just FIRE SOMEBODY dangit!

 

[kjironman1]

We should’ve won by more. Hardaway Jr. was heaving up and hitting shots he never makes.

Yeah he was Making silly shots. He's good but not that good and the Blazers had a hand in his face on a number of them. His career number is lower but the last 2 seasons he is a 40% 3 pt shooter.
Last night he goes 7-11 for 63%. Crazy.

 

[stampedehero]

Mavericks vs. Trail Blazers - Box Score - March 19, 2021 - ESPN

 

[crandc]

Any updates on Dame's knee? For a few minutes I thought the world had ended.

 

[Scalma]

...or keep playing him around 28 minutes and preserve him (and continue development of others with those few extra minutes) he clearly doesnt need more minutes to score 30+ or for the team to win

nah too logical

 

[wizenheimer]

We should’ve won by more. Hardaway Jr. was heaving up and hitting shots he never makes.

both teams were crazy hot from three point range, Dallas a little hotter. There were some shot with a high degree of difficulty, and Hardaway hit a couple. But there sure seemed to be many more three's taken that were wide open, for both teams, last night. I don't know if the numbers confirm that; I'm not even sure where you'd find them. It just looked like both defenses were stuck in the mud on perimeter defensive rotations

there was definitely a Dame/Doncic factor at work. Both of those guys require so much defensive attention that there are open areas all over the floor. It's just a matter of guys getting to those spots and the ball finding them there. I love Dame, and Doncic has a really punchable face, but damn, he's good

 

[wizenheimer]

Any updates on Dame's knee? For a few minutes I thought the world had ended.

he played thru it so I doubt it's more serious than a 'bone bruise' (can bones actually get bruised?)

he wasn't moving with any speed or explosion in the 4thQ though. With CJ back, I wouldn't mind seeing Dame get a game off for load management

 

[Hoopguru]

both teams were crazy hot from three point range, Dallas a little hotter. There were some shot with a high degree of difficulty, and Hardaway hit a couple. But there sure seemed to be many more three's taken that were wide open, for both teams, last night. I don't know if the numbers confirm that; I'm not even sure where you'd find them. It just looked like both defenses were stuck in the mud on perimeter defensive rotations

there was definitely a Dame/Doncic factor at work. Both of those guys require so much defensive attention that there are open areas all over the floor. It's just a matter of guys getting to those spots and the ball finding them there. I love Dame, and Doncic has a really punchable face, but damn, he's good

He lumbers down the court, the guy makes up for lack of speed with his ability to stop and go, euro step more stop and go and easily lay it up. It like he has a force field of some type around him where players are slow to react to his moves. Its like he's moving in slow motion. Larry Bird like.

 

[wizenheimer]

He lumbers down the court, they guy makes up for lack of speed with his ability to stop and go, euro step more stop and go and easily lay it up. It like he has a force field of some type around him where players are slow to react to his moves. Its like he's moving in slow motion. Larry Bird like.

exactly, and that force field extends for quite a few feet all around him. Inside the field, he controls time & space, and opponents are confused. Kind of like my wife

 

[Hoopguru]

exactly, and that force field extends for quite a few feet all around him. Inside the field, he controls time & space, and opponents are confused. Kind of like my wife

My wife would tell you I have a magnetic field around me. But the field needs flashed most the time.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

So i watched not just this one but about three passes like this from Doncic. He is looking at where the shooter is and driving and throwing no look passes backwards.
Blazer defenders need to watch some film and see this. The defenders need to slide into the lane and start picking these off.

OR, Blazer offenders could get some ideas as to how to make creative passes!

 

[kjironman1]

OR, Blazer offenders could get some ideas as to how to make creative passes!

He's setting that pass up about 3 to 4 seconds before hand. It's readable. He won't be doing that long. He gets scouted constantly. Too easy to see coming if a simple fan like me can see it.

 

[wizenheimer]

My wife would tell you I have a magnetic field around me. But the field needs flashed most the time.

you flash your wife? does that work the way you want?

 

[Hoopguru]

you flash your wife? does that work the way you want?

Only takes a push of the button to excite the magnetic field!

 

[James lamphear]

Just got watching the replay at times I watch good ball and player movement especially in the 1st quarter and but by the end it's basically Dame and CJ doing there iso plays majority of the time. But we just set bad screens and I think when Nurk gets back Dame and CJ should get open better coming off the screen and that's what they miss Zach in the bubble he was setting really good screens getting shooters open for good shots. Defense I going give them credit they really was working hard on that end. Dallas made some really hard shots but that's all can ask for defense. We did have rotation at times but there was less then previous games but what was really notable was the rim protection and with Nurk coming back maybe that can change. With Kanter going to come in as backup maybe he can be more aggressive in his part game. But overall it was really good victory because we beat a hot team.

 

[wizenheimer]

by the way, after a little optimism about the defense in the Pels game, the Blazers posted a defensive rating of 129.5 last night and their season average dropped from 116.7 to 117.0

 

[Pinwheel1]

by the way, after a little optimism about the defense in the Pels game, the Blazers posted a defensive rating of 129.5 last night and their season average dropped from 116.7 to 117.0

You do love your stats.

 

[wizenheimer]

You do love your stats.

there is love in my heart

 

[kjironman1]

by the way, after a little optimism about the defense in the Pels game, the Blazers posted a defensive rating of 129.5 last night and their season average dropped from 116.7 to 117.0

Did you happen to look at if the Mavericks defensive rating dropped as well?

 

[handiman]

He lumbers down the court, the guy makes up for lack of speed with his ability to stop and go, euro step more stop and go and easily lay it up. It like he has a force field of some type around him where players are slow to react to his moves. Its like he's moving in slow motion. Larry Bird like.

I think it's actually Doncic's ability to go and stop, if that's a thing, that gets him open so much. I've struggled to spot what it is about him that's so difficult to defend, but the one thing I see frequently is him stopping on a dime while driving to the basket, while the defender(s) flies by. Few players can control their momentum like that.

How he creates so many driving lanes in the first place, I haven't quite figured out yet. It's probably a mix of his threat as a passer and shooter, combined with presumably deceptive strength.