Game Thread GAME# 48: BUCKS @ BLAZERS - APRIL 2, 2021 - FRIDAY, 7:00, NBATV & NBCSNW

[blazerkor]

Of course Giannis went off and we lost. We were playing without our starting 7 foot power forward. Not to mention Little. Too many injuries to beat a team like Milwaukee.

Zach is not a part of this team. Stop talking about a guy whose numbers are virtually meaningless. That is not an excuse. Zach would have got five points, five boards, one block and fouled out in twenty minutes. Zach is not an excuse!!! I can not overstate that. Also, how is Zach our starting PF when Neil said that RoCo and DJ were our starting forwards when we still thought that Zach would play in January???

 

[OneSport3]

Are the healthy Lakers and Sixers good teams?

I’d give you Dallas too. So 3 of 29 wins were quality wins.

 

[twobullz]

I really think they need to bring Powell off the Bench and make it a three guard rotation. Give the minutes ant had tonight to DJJ. Would give the Second unit a little more punch.

 

[Scalma]

Did we throw a double at Giannis or try a zone once?

 

[TBpup]

Stotts just said, "It's tough to double-team Giannis because he is out on the court."

Seriously? Dame is out farther than anyone and teams figure out (easily) how to double-team him all the time.

 

[wizenheimer]

I'm sorry, but that's fucking pathetic

Melo spurned the Blazers at least twice if not three times until Portland was the only team that would sign him. And the Blazers are the "custodians of melo's legacy"? It's kind of infuriating...and yeah I know that tweet is from 5 months ago

 

[kjironman1]

Blazers have no consistency with where they help from.

You don't want "Consistency" were you help from. You are not supposed to do it the same way every time. You are not supposed to do it every time either. If you do it won't work.

 

[Tince]

I'm sorry, but that's fucking pathetic

Melo spurned the Blazers at least twice if not three times until Portland was the only team that would sign him. And the Blazers are the "custodians of melo's legacy"? It's kind of infuriating...and yeah I know that tweet is from 5 months ago

I'm not anti-Melo anymore, but I do agree that his legacy should have zero impact on any move we make. I think it's important that everyone understand this directive is coming from up top, not the bench.

 

[wizenheimer]

Of course Giannis went off and we lost. We were playing without our starting 7 foot power forward. Not to mention Little. Too many injuries to beat a team like Milwaukee.

are you auditioning for a job with The Onion?

 

[Tince]

Did we throw a double at Giannis or try a zone once?

Yes

 

[kjironman1]

No, Bucks won't make it. They will run Giannis into the ground and they will flake out in the playoffs again.

They sure did push him tonight. They had lost to the Celtics, Nicks and Clippers before beating the Lakers. They played tonight like they felt they absolutely needed that win.
They got the Kings tomorrow also. So they are not done at all.

 

[kjironman1]

Glad we play another garbage team tomorrow. That’s all we can beat right now.

The Thunder are beatable like any team but i would not call that team "garbage".

 

[kjironman1]

Well until the third quarter I was going to talk about how missed open shots made this game meaningless but then we got ourselves back in it. Then we showed that we're nowhere close to as good as the Bucks. I don't know if this is a game that we can pass a verdict by watching but it was incredibly frustrating. Dame had a great game, his teammates (more than usual) let him down on offense... Dame should have had at least ten assists.

One thing was for sure, we showed that we have absolutely no coaching on the defensive end. No game plan for Giannis?!? I mean fucking really?!? We knew we were going to play against the guy and we came out like we were surprised that the back to back MVP was a threat. That was pathetic.

I think your original thoughts were correct. The Blazers got beat by a team playing much better tonight but i think there is plenty of room for improvement. This is Nurks 3rd or 4th real game workout. He will need another 3 or 4 to get back into real game shape. I also think the Blazers could have easily made some shots and made that game tougher on the Bucks. Couple possessions at the end could have put that at a 6-8 point game easy. We all know they left 20 points on the court without question.

 

[kjironman1]

I'm not anti-Melo anymore, but I do agree that his legacy should have zero impact on any move we make. I think it's important that everyone understand this directive is coming from up top, not the bench.

Yeah on nights like tonight they have to think about winning games. Melo was not a good choice at all. I would have rather had Jones in the game no question.

 

[kjironman1]

Stotts isn't using Powell right. He is way over playing Melo and benching DJJ. What the fuck kind of coaching is that?

Oh i agree wholeheartedly. I kind of think he is still timkering. I personally think Powell should come in off the bench and take the controls.
Melo needs to start taking a back seat to winning games. I'm hoping this will happen a bit more as they approach the playoffs. Melo has had enough "legacy" games. He now needs to become a team player.

 

[Tince]

Yeah on nights like tonight they have to think about winning games. Melo was not a good choice at all. I would have rather had Jones in the game no question.

I agree... Giannis is a bad matchup for everyone, but in particular Melo. DJJ would have no chance on Giannis either, but would've provided a much better look on the weakside.

 

[OneSport3]

The Thunder are beatable like any team but i would not call that team "garbage".

Not to mention, it will be the Moses Brown Revenge Game. Expect 20/20 from Moses tomorrow night.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Notes – April 2, 2021
Milwaukee 127, Portland 109
Game No. 48, Home Game No. 24


TEAM
• Portland was 21-of-54 (38.9%) from deep, while Milwaukee shot 12-of-39 (30.8%) from 3-PT range. It was Portland’s eighth game this season with 20 or more made threes, breaking a tie with Milwaukee for the third-most such games in the league.
• The Trail Blazers recorded 13 offensive rebounds to the Bucks four, outscoring Milwaukee 16-12 in second chance points.
• Portland recorded 11 steals to seven for Milwaukee. It was the fifth time this season Portland has recorded 11 or more takeaways.
• The Trail Blazers recorded 23 fast-break points, reaching the 20+ mark for the eighth time this season. Portland outscored Milwaukee 23-21 in transition.


PLAYER
• Damian Lillard led Portland with 32 points (10-19 FG, 5-10 3-PT, 7-10 FT), four rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. It was his 27th game with 30+ points this season, which leads the NBA.
• CJ McCollum added 18 points (7-16 FG, 3-8 3-PT, 1-4 FT), two rebounds, seven assists and three steals. His three steals tied a season-high (three times).
• Robert Covington recorded 18 points (6-11 3-PT) and pulled down seven rebounds in 34 minutes. His six three-pointers were a season-high.
• Norman Powell had 12 points (5-15 FG, 2-7 3-PT), three rebounds, two assists and three steals. Powell has finished in double-figures in all four games as a Trail Blazer.
• Jusuf Nurkic finished with nine points (2-7 FG, 1-1 3-PT, 4-4 FT), 11 rebounds, three assists and one steal in 21 minutes. His made three-pointer was the sixth this season.
• Anfernee Simons had eight points (2-5 FG, 2-5 3-PT, 2-2 FT) in 18 minutes off the bench.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 47 points (18-21 FG, 11-13 FT), 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocks. His 47 points tied a season-high, and his 18 made field goals tied a career-high (12/16/19 vs. DAL).
• Jrue Holiday added 22 points (9-14 FG, 2-6 3-PT 2-2 FT), four rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. It was his second game this season with double-digit assists, and second double-double.
• Khris Middleton had 20 points (8-13 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 2-2 FT), seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

 

[kjironman1]

I agree... Giannis is a bad matchup for everyone, but in particular Melo. DJJ would have no chance on Giannis either, but would've provided a much better look on the weakside.

Jones has a better chance and at least has hops. He plays solid defense and is much quicker.
Nobody can shut Giannis down but you can create problems for him putting the ball on the floor and if he gets by you then a jumper can block from behind.
Jones would have no question been a better option tonight with Melo hitting nothing IMO.
I also feel they missed his length with the starters. I feel Powell and the 3 guard lineup is only good in certain situations. I feel Stotts should go back to Nurk, Roco, Jones, Cj. Lillard and bring Powell off the bench.

 

[Tince]

Jones has a better chance and at least has hops. He plays solid defense and is much quicker.
Nobody can shut Giannis down but you can create problems for him putting the ball on the floor and if he gets by you then a jumper can block from behind.
Jones would have no question been a better option tonight with Melo hitting nothing IMO.
I also feel they missed his length with the starters. I feel Powell and the 3 guard lineup is only good in certain situations. I feel Stotts should go back to Nurk, Roco, Jones, Cj. Lillard and bring Powell off the bench.

I agree with this if you know Melo isn't going to make a shot, you should never play him, ever. However, we've seen a lot of instances where a player starts out bad and ends the game hot, or vice versa. We've seenthreads where Melo starts out 1-4 and everyone wants him at the end of the bench for the rest of the game, then he finishes the 2nd half with 14pts and is a big part of the win.

I'm not a Melo lover by any stretch, but I don't think he was the main issue tonight. I don't think DJJ is a starter on a contending team. Frankly, we've seen he's not really even a rotation player on a team making a championship run.

 

[kjironman1]

Here are some positives-
I watched Nurk take a ball to the hoop with authority not once but twice!
I watched the Blazers play hard and work to come back when they could have given up.
I watched some new offensive wrinkles directed at Powell and trying to get him some open looks.
I watched the entire team get a bunch of open looks they can and quite often do hit.

 

[royo]

We get two defenders in off season. Both with high defensive ambitions. It took some times for them to mash with this team. And now Stotts got the new toy in Powell and he forgot defense was our problem, cos he is so exited he got another 3point shooter, so he benched DJJ.

And another funny thing commin from players. "It was bad day in the office. Up to the next one." Really? Roftl

 

[kjironman1]

I agree with this if you know Melo isn't going to make a shot, you should never play him, ever. However, we've seen a lot of instances where a player starts out bad and ends the game hot, or vice versa. We've seenthreads where Melo starts out 1-4 and everyone wants him at the end of the bench for the rest of the game, then he finishes the 2nd half with 14pts and is a big part of the win.

I'm not a Melo lover by any stretch, but I don't think he was the main issue tonight. I don't think DJJ is a starter on a contending team. Frankly, we've seen he's not really even a rotation player on a team making a championship run.

Sure. If he was hitting his open looks the Blazers are in that game. It also would have opened up the court for Lillard. That goes for Nurk making a few shots around the rim as well.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

RoCo has done his job on offense tonight. Glad to see him continue his play!

Tough ask of him on the defensive end, but he's the best option we've got.

The question is; why is he our best option. Total failure by Olshey.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I think Melo gets a lot of unwarranted criticism. He’s a fun scapegoat. Old man rivers

He has had about five games all season where he actually helped the team win ball games. He is taking time away from Powell and Jones; they may not re-sign partly because of that. He disrupts the offense. He is a terrible defender. He gets no more criticism than he deserves.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I hope that's not an actual quote, cuz I have had a really bad evening and the game was the least of it. Luckily I don't own a gun.

 

[Tince]

I hope that's not an actual quote, cuz I have had a really bad evening and the game was the least of it. Luckily I don't own a gun.

Ok, let's pretend it's fake!

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

We did have 11 steals; that's pretty good.

 

[AldoTrapani]

Tough game guys, hated to be right

 

[GDiama]