Game Thread GAME# 75: BLAZERS @ GRIZZLIES - MARCH 28, 2018 - WEDNESDAY, 5:00 PM (PST), NBCSNW

[kjironman1]

Who knows what B4 does next game....but he should have played more tonight.

Maybe? He did get 20+ mins. So it's not like he was shut down.

 

[tykendo]

To be fair they were not guarding him like either Turner or Bazz.

KJ I get that. But Shabazz and Pat aren't hitting shots, and that is putting the Blazers in situations where the team has to be bailed out at the end by the starters, or it keeps games closer than they need to be. Which hurts rest potential for key players.

 

[BonesJones]

One of the things KC and Hurd were pointing out and i believe it to be correct. Brooks just signed a 10 day and has absolutely no pressure on him to make those shots. He has not been heavily scouted and the Grizz are playing loose.

That's true, Turner should've realized he was hot though and should've played further up.

 

[TBpup]

Maybe? He did get 20+ mins. So it's not like he was shut down.

Not shut down....but playing the best of anyone besides CJ and yet with less minutes than players who who in who couldn't hit the broadside. I've never understood why so often Stotts will pull a player who is on a roll for someone who couldn't throw it in the ocean.

 

[kjironman1]

KJ I get that. But Shabazz and Pat aren't hitting shots, and that is putting the Blazers in situations where the team has to be bailed out at the end by the starters, or it keeps games closer than they need to be. Which hurts rest potential for key players.

Sure but Your statement is about Wade. If they were guarding him the same way as Pat and Turner i just wonder if he scores as well? No question Pat needs to start making shots again. He is in a major slump. But when his shot comes back he will be fine.

 

[kjironman1]

Not shut down....but playing the best of anyone besides CJ and yet with less minutes than players who who in who couldn't hit the broadside. I've never understood why so often Stotts will pull a player who is on a roll for someone who couldn't throw it in the ocean.

Tonight my guess would be defense. The Blazers actually played good defense. Who would think Brooks would hit 4 3's in a row to end the game?

 

[HolyBackboard]

Another head-scratching loss from this Trail Blazers squad ... I understand we were without Dame and Moe tonight but Memphis was without Conley, Harrison, Evans and Gasol sat the final 18 minutes of the game.

Obviously Memphis hit some shots tonight that they haven't throughout the season and likely won't replicate again and we shot 18-29 from the charity stripe but here's my concern:

- Turner, Aminu, Napier, and Connaughton shot a combined 7-34 from the field. Both Napier and Turner are battling through injuries so off nights are to be expected but we're getting nothing on the offensive end from Pat in weeks and if Chief doesn't hit open 3's, our offense is fucked. Teams are going to roll the dice and make our role players beat us in the playoffs and when we struggle is when they don't make the defense pay.

- Terry Stotts' continued mis-management of Jusuf Nurkic. I've been down on Nurk for the majority of the year (offensively) but he's been a beast since the All-Star break. Why in the world did Nurk log only 27 minutes and attempt SIX shots?!? Nurk shot 83% from the field tonight and Memphis pulled Gasol mid-way through the third period. It's unbelievable that our guards didn't look for Nurk and even more boggling that Stotts didn't run any sets for Nurkic when it was clear Memphis was keying in on CJ late.

- Killer instinct. All throughout the 13-game winning streak Portland played with fire and on multiple occasions nearly gave up 15-17 point leads late in games. Against Boston they were up 10 through three quarters and allowed just 67 points. Once the game was over, Portland gave up a staggering 38 points in the period and lost to a depleted Celtics team. Tonight, Portland had Memphis down seven on a handful of occasions, twice if I remember correctly in the fourth, yet they got sloppy on the offensive end and failed to get timely stops on the other end of the floor. Portland was outscored 32-22 to a Memphis team loaded with no-names. How does this happen?

- Defense. Defense. Defense. As mentioned earlier, Memphis hit shots they won't hit again. But, a lot of those 3's early on were wide open and off of dribble penetration. Marc Gasol scored 8 points and Memphis ended with 108. It just looked like we were satisfied with the first two wins on the trip and let our guard down. I get it, the team is tired and playing on the second night of a back to back without two starters. However, the great teams find a way and it's not like we're asking the Blazers to beat a really strong team. This Grizzlies team was bad. It's not the worst loss of the season, but it's up there.

This was a gimme and the Blazers let it slip through the cracks ... now they'll have to find 4-5 wins on the schedule over the remaining 7 to secure the #3 seed.

 

[blazerkor]

2-1 on that road trip is still damn good.

Way to look at the bright side. The fact is this game should make Dame a real contender for MVP

 

[KingSpeed]

Way to look at the bright side. The fact is this game should make Dame a real contender for MVP

To be fair, we are now 5-3 without Dame this season. Not bad.

 

[SarniPL]

We would have won this one comfortably with Dame. After two good wins at our direct competitors for homecourt advantage we could afford to lose this one but it still sucks to complicate things needlessly.

We need to win the next three to reach 49-29 because the final 4 games are quite tough.

 

[HailBlazers]

- Terry Stotts' continued mis-management of Jusuf Nurkic. I've been down on Nurk for the majority of the year (offensively) but he's been a beast since the All-Star break. Why in the world did Nurk log only 27 minutes and attempt SIX shots?!? Nurk shot 83% from the field tonight and Memphis pulled Gasol mid-way through the third period. It's unbelievable that our guards didn't look for Nurk and even more boggling that Stotts didn't run any sets for Nurkic when it was clear Memphis was keying in on CJ late.

- Killer instinct. All throughout the 13-game winning streak Portland played with fire and on multiple occasions nearly gave up 15-17 point leads late in games. Against Boston they were up 10 through three quarters and allowed just 67 points. Once the game was over, Portland gave up a staggering 38 points in the period and lost to a depleted Celtics team. Tonight, Portland had Memphis down seven on a handful of occasions, twice if I remember correctly in the fourth, yet they got sloppy on the offensive end and failed to get timely stops on the other end of the floor. Portland was outscored 32-22 to a Memphis team loaded with no-names. How does this happen?

This X-1000. It's really mind numbing. The only explanation my mind can come up with is that they're trying to keep his value low.

It's games like this that remind you we're no Spurs, and the chances of a deep playoff run are slim.

 

[Scalma]

This X-1000. It's really mind numbing. The only explanation my mind can come up with is that they're trying to keep his value low.

It's games like this that remind you we're no Spurs, and the chances of a deep playoff run are slim.

Live by CJ, die by CJ.

 

[DUB]

I didn't get to see the game. Nurkic shot 5/6, why did he only take 6 shots?

 

[AFully22]

This loss will mean nothing at the end of the season. Still essentially 3 games up against OKC with 7 left to play. Dame won’t let this team lose enough games to drop out of the 3rd seed.

Disappointing we pretty much no showed but as long as we get back to playing like we did vs OKC and NOP this loss is meaningless. A let down, sure. But more than likely meaningless.

 

[tester551]

I didn't get to see the game. Nurkic shot 5/6, why did he only take 6 shots?

No one could get it passed into him. There were a bunch of turnovers trying to

 

[Sarni]

This loss will mean nothing at the end of the season. Still essentially 3 games up against OKC with 7 left to play. Dame won’t let this team lose enough games to drop out of the 3rd seed.

Disappointing we pretty much no showed but as long as we get back to playing like we did vs OKC and NOP this loss is meaningless. A let down, sure. But more than likely meaningless.

This a hundred time. The wins over Thunder and Pelicans at their own courts were worth double so we did earn the comfort of not having to care about losing to Grizzlies. It’s disappointing because it will delay the locking down of the third seed but it’s going it happen anyway. Next three games are crucial and the very next one is a must win for our peace of mind, beat Clippers and I think we will comfortably beat both Grizzlies and Mavericks too.

 

[stampedehero]

This loss sucks.

 

[riverman]

I think guys are gassed after a back to back on the road and two tough wins before tonight...couldn't score...4th qtr seems the energy left the building..get the next one...positive from this game was Baldwin....impressive showing tonight

 

[Labinot41]

Wtf happened to the free throws?

 

[Mediocre Man]

Absolutely. Sometimes an opponent is gonna shoot like crazy and you're gonna lose. Happens to everyone. That's why playoffs are best of 7. Lose a game like that and you're okay, you have three losses to give.

We lost to an organization trying to lose. I get the players aren't trying to lose, but that's pretty unacceptable for a team in a playoff race

 

[illmatic99]

To be fair, we are now 5-3 without Dame this season. Not bad.

with losses to the pretty much the two worst teams in each conference in ATL and MEM.

 

[kjironman1]

We lost to an organization trying to lose. I get the players aren't trying to lose, but that's pretty unacceptable for a team in a playoff race

Bad loss yes. But it happens. They were playing with nothing to lose.

 

[tlongII]

Tough loss. I'm not down on them though. It took a 10-dayer going Yogi Ferrell on us to beat us.

 

[CupWizier]

Well that wasn't fun, but not totally unexpected either. Get the Clips on Friday and clinch a playoff spot and then work to secure the 3rd seed.

 

[riverman]

We lost to an organization trying to lose. I get the players aren't trying to lose, but that's pretty unacceptable for a team in a playoff race

They had a guy playing his first game with the team score 21 pts....their roster is filled with guys trying to stick in the NBA....they weren't trying to lose from what I saw...they played hard

 

[riverman]

Wtf happened to the free throws?

tired legs

 

[blue9]

Baldwin with as many FGs as Turner, Aminu and Pat...combined. All while playing less minutes than any of them.

I think it's pretty damning when:

• The team, minus one starter, doesn't know how to play basketball anymore.
• The team performs better when a player who has never played, and doesn't know the "system", gets minutes. This also happened last season when we got Nurk.

Terry does nothing for the team.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Another head-scratching loss from this Trail Blazers squad ... I understand we were without Dame and Moe tonight but Memphis was without Conley, Harrison, Evans and Gasol sat the final 18 minutes of the game.

Obviously Memphis hit some shots tonight that they haven't throughout the season and likely won't replicate again and we shot 18-29 from the charity stripe but here's my concern:

- Turner, Aminu, Napier, and Connaughton shot a combined 7-34 from the field. Both Napier and Turner are battling through injuries so off nights are to be expected but we're getting nothing on the offensive end from Pat in weeks and if Chief doesn't hit open 3's, our offense is fucked. Teams are going to roll the dice and make our role players beat us in the playoffs and when we struggle is when they don't make the defense pay.

- Terry Stotts' continued mis-management of Jusuf Nurkic. I've been down on Nurk for the majority of the year (offensively) but he's been a beast since the All-Star break. Why in the world did Nurk log only 27 minutes and attempt SIX shots?!? Nurk shot 83% from the field tonight and Memphis pulled Gasol mid-way through the third period. It's unbelievable that our guards didn't look for Nurk and even more boggling that Stotts didn't run any sets for Nurkic when it was clear Memphis was keying in on CJ late.

- Killer instinct. All throughout the 13-game winning streak Portland played with fire and on multiple occasions nearly gave up 15-17 point leads late in games. Against Boston they were up 10 through three quarters and allowed just 67 points. Once the game was over, Portland gave up a staggering 38 points in the period and lost to a depleted Celtics team. Tonight, Portland had Memphis down seven on a handful of occasions, twice if I remember correctly in the fourth, yet they got sloppy on the offensive end and failed to get timely stops on the other end of the floor. Portland was outscored 32-22 to a Memphis team loaded with no-names. How does this happen?

- Defense. Defense. Defense. As mentioned earlier, Memphis hit shots they won't hit again. But, a lot of those 3's early on were wide open and off of dribble penetration. Marc Gasol scored 8 points and Memphis ended with 108. It just looked like we were satisfied with the first two wins on the trip and let our guard down. I get it, the team is tired and playing on the second night of a back to back without two starters. However, the great teams find a way and it's not like we're asking the Blazers to beat a really strong team. This Grizzlies team was bad. It's not the worst loss of the season, but it's up there.

This was a gimme and the Blazers let it slip through the cracks ... now they'll have to find 4-5 wins on the schedule over the remaining 7 to secure the #3 seed.

I have an answer, see below....

This X-1000. It's really mind numbing. The only explanation my mind can come up with is that they're trying to keep his value low.

It's games like this that remind you we're no Spurs, and the chances of a deep playoff run are slim.

Whoa K.... Such pessimism from you is alarming!


I believe this was solely an affect of the guards not being able to get him the ball. I remember two passes from Shabazz that were stolen. Nurk doesn't start with the ball, so for him to score, he needs an inlet, and we have very few that were getting through.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

We lost to an organization trying to lose. I get the players aren't trying to lose, but that's pretty unacceptable for a team in a playoff race

Like you are fond of reminding us, this doesn’t count because the better team was missing their star and another starter.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

Turner, by the by, was an impressive -21.