If the first NBA game you ever saw was Tuesday night’s matchup between the Portland Trail Blazers and Atlanta Hawks, you might have noticed a couple things. The sport is fast-paced. Long shots are common. And watching salted slugs drag a cement mixer through a marathon course would have been more entertaining. The two teams played closer to Summer League level than playoffs-ready. That wasn’t necessarily bad for Portland. An old truism still prevails: if you don’t take the Blazers seriously, they’ll bite you. They did, posting a 127-113 drubbing on their hosts.
Here are some of the factors that helped determine the outcome.
Klutz Central
The Blazers started the game without Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson. That left Deni Avdija, Dalano Banton, and Shaedon Sharpe initiating the offense. It was ugly at first. Like gross ugly. The parade of stumbles, bumbles, and above all turnovers was eye-searing. Not only did the Blazers not have a point guard. Half the time their offense didn’t have a chance. Sharpe wasn’t getting past anyone. Avdija has problems with his handles. The less said about Banton, the better.
At a certain point, the defenses eased up. When that happened, Avdija started collecting assists like hotcakes. But even that sop couldn’t erase the memory of the point-guard-less Blazers treating the ball like a greased pig.
The Blazers ended up with 17 turnovers. The Hawks weren’t much better. Despite fielding their normal point guard in Trey Young, they committed 20 themselves. Ouch.
Transition
Unsurprisingly given the above, a ton of offense in this game came in transition. You’d think that would make it exciting. You’d be wrong. The teams usually managed to get one defender back on the break, but the second guy was usually an offensive player, leading to plenty of lightly-contested buckets.
Portland scored 28 on the run, Atlanta 25.
Avdija and Sharpe
Avdija and Sharpe may not have been great point guards in this one, but they sure were good scoring guards. Deni shot 11-21 for 32 points on his way to a triple-double with 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Sharpe carved up the Hawks for 33 on 11-25 shooting. Their attack eventually loosened up the floor for Toumani Camara and other ancillary scorers. That’s when the game got out of control.
When all else fails, scoring wins. Sharpe and Avdija gave the Blazers enough tonight.
Say What Now?
Critics of Head Coach Chauncey Billups had plenty of grist for their mill this season, but one of the constant—though probably inconsequential—critiques has been Billups’ curious use of Coach’s Challenges. That reached a peak with 4:30 left in the first half tonight. Matisse Thybulle, trailing the play, reached around from behind and tipped the ball away from Zaccharie Risacher on the drive. The referees whistled a foul. Billups called the challenge. Upon review, the referees ruled that Thybulle had, indeed, made clean contact with the ball. The foul was rescinded. But since Thybulle had still touched the ball last, the Hawks retained possession with 15 seconds left on the shot clock. They scored on the ensuing play.
The net result of the challenge: no possession gained for Portland, one foul taken away from Thybulle’s ledger. Because everyone was afraid that Thybulle would foul out of this one.
Sigh.
Three-Point Defense
I guess the Blazers can make at least a light claim to three-point defense. The Hawks shot 7-32, 21.9%. In a make-or-miss league, that was a miss. Atlanta scored 58 in the paint, but it didn’t end up fatal when they couldn’t make threes. It was something consistently good in an otherwise weird game for Portland.
Possessions
Take all of that put together, then add 19 offensive rebounds for Portland. That was enough to create 103 total shot attempts. Atlanta had only 92. More possessions made the game easier for the Blazers.
Up Next
Boxscore
The Blazers face the Toronto Raptors on Thursday with a 4:30 PM, Pacific start.