Tag: BLAZERS
Doncic on big dunk: ‘I probably have the most bounce on the team’
Luka Doncic and Christian Wood are the top two scorers for the Dallas Mavericks, and those two helped the Mavs rout the Blazers 130-110 at American Airlines Center on Friday night.
Dallas led 62-53 at halftime and busted things wide open in the third as they took their largest lead of the game of 27 points in that quarter.
Doncic led the Mavericks with 33 points, six rebounds, and nine assists, and Wood scored a season-high 32 points to go with 12 rebounds off the bench. Wood became only the 30th player in the shot clock era to record 32-plus points and 12-plus rebounds off the bench.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd was happy with the efforts of Wood on both ends of the court.
“I thought C-Wood (Christian Wood) was great offensively and defensively,” Kidd said. “He did a great job. Being able to play through him in the second quarter was huge for us. Again, the time he was on the floor – on both ends – he gave us a lift tonight.”
Wood gave the Mavs a big boost in the first half, scoring 20 points in the half, including 15 points in the second quarter.
According to Wood, he was looking to be aggressive on the offensive end.
“I was trying to be aggressive; the team knew I had it going. If you watch the film, we kept running the same play over and over because, frankly, they couldn’t stop it,” he said. “They kept finding me and getting me the ball; my teammates trust me to score. That’s what I am here for is to score, and to help these guys off the bench, and I feel like I did a great job today.”
Doncic added on Wood’s play in the first half: “I think he did amazing on offense, obviously. I think on the defensive end; he was really, really paying attention today. Really just focusing, and that’s what helped us a lot. He’s big down there, so he helps us a lot. So today, he was really focused on both ends.”
The night’s highlight was Doncic making another poster when he dunked on Drew Eubanks in the third quarter; Doncic and Kidd reacted to the dunk after the game.
“I probably have the most bounce on the team,” Doncic said about the dunk. “You know, [Christian Wood], I was telling him he is only length, and he’s got no bounce. So I had to show him.”
Kidd was impressed.
“It was pretty impressive,” Kidd said. “He can get off the ground. It’s impressive, the load that he carries and the things that he can do, and he can still surprise you with something. That was big time.”
Dallas heads on the road to battle the Cavs on Saturday night. On Wednesday night, the Mavs were defeated by Cleveland 105-90, so they will have an opportunity for revenge.
Pelicans acquire CJ McCollum from Blazers in a seven-player deal
The NBA trade season is upon us, and on Wednesday, the Pelicans and Blazers made a big deal. Portland sent CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr., and Tony Snell to New Orleans for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Josh Hart, Didi Louzada, Tomáš Satoranský, a protected 2022 first-round draft pick, and two future second-round draft picks.
The 30-year-old McCollum, who is the deal’s centerpiece, has appeared in 36 games for Portland this season, averaging 20.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. With the addition of McCollum, the Pelicans are looking to form a solid trio with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
Portland has been busy in the last couple of weeks as they traded Norman Powell and Robert Covington in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson, and the Pistons 2025 second-round pick.
For the Blazers, it appears that a retooling is going on. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Blazers will have around $60 million in cap space this summer to build a better roster around six-time All-Star Damian Lillard. Plus, Portland got some decent draft assets in this deal, which could improve the talent on this roster.
Besides McCollum, the Pelicans added the following:
Nance Jr., 29, has appeared in 37 games (11 starts) for Portland this season, averaging 6.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 23.2 minutes per game.
This season, Snell, 30, has appeared in 38 games (10 starts) for Portland, averaging 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game.
For the Blazers, they added the following:
Alexander-Walker, 23, has appeared in 50 games (19 starts) for the Pelicans this season, averaging 12.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 26.3 minutes per game.
The 29-year-old Hart appeared in 41 games (40 starts) for New Orleans this season, averaging 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 33.5 minutes per game.
Louzada, 22, appeared in five games off the bench for the Pelicans over the last two seasons, averaging 1.6 points and 1.0 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game.
The 30-year-old Satoranský is averaging 2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.
The NBA trade deadline is February 10 at 3 P.M.
Cavs’ Allen: ‘We’re having fun and we’re playing the right way’
Coming off a 3-2 road trip, the Cleveland Cavaliers were happy to be back at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday night against the Blazers(3-5).
Cleveland led by as many as 11 points in the fourth. However, Portland cut it to one with over eight minutes left. The Cavaliers never surrendered the lead and survived after Damian Lillard missed a game-tying three at the buzzer to defeat Portland 107-104 for their second straight win.
After starting 0-2, Cleveland(5-4) has won five of their last seven.
The Cavs had six players in double figures for the second game in the row.
Here is the Great, Not the Great, and Bottom Line of Cleveland’s win over the Blazers.
The Great for the Cavaliers:
-Jarrett Allen again was huge for the Cavaliers. He had team-highs in points(24) and rebounds(17). Allen made plays in the paint and scored eight straight points for the Cavs in the fourth after the Blazers cut the lead to one.
Allen had 24 points and 16 rebounds against Charlotte on Monday night.
-Darius Garland had a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists. The third-year guard was 5/6 from three-point range. Cleveland had 29 assists on Wednesday night
-Evan Mobley recorded his second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. According to the Cavs, Mobley became just the fifth Cavs rookie since 2002-03 to accomplish that feat. In addition, Mobley had a block, and it was a big block on Lillard late in the fourth quarter.
Mobley is the only rookie with three double-doubles this season.
-Collin Sexton, the team’s leading scorer, had an efficient night as he went 8/13 from the field and finished 21 points.
-Cleveland shot 53% from the field and 15-30 from downtown on Wednesday night, both season-highs.
-Dylan Windler and Cedi Osman were huge off the Cavs’ bench. Windler had 13 points, including 3/3 from three-point range, while Osman added 12 points with four threes.
Not so Great for the Cavaliers:
Cleveland had 19 turnovers on Wednesday night, which led to 31 Blazer points.
Bottom Line:
The Cavaliers may have turned the corner after starting the season 0-2. The five-game road trip has given this team a lot of confidence. Without Lauri Markkanen(Health & Safety Protocols), Kevin Love(Health & Safety Protocols), and Isaac Okoro(hamstring), other players stepped up. Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has the team playing with much energy and effort.
“We’re having fun and we’re playing the right way,” Allen said. “We’re just going out and playing basketball together.”
What’s Next:
Cleveland goes back on the road to battle the Raptors on Friday night.
Best of the Rest:
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 26 points on 10/27 shooting; Norman Powell scored 23 points, and C.J. McCollum added 21 points.
Sexton, Garland, and Allen react to win over Blazers:
76ers’ Rivers on win over Blazers: ‘I thought every single guy did something to help us win the game”
The Philadelphia 76ers(5-2) made it three in a row after defeating the Portland Trail Blazers(3-4), 113-103, on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Without their top two leading scorers in Joel Embiid(rest) and Tobias Harris(Health and Safety Protocols), the 76ers were still able to get it done. Philadelphia had seven players in double figures led by Seth Curry’s 23 points.
The Sixers had a 10-point lead in the fourth before the Blazers cut it to three with just over four minutes left. However, Philly would close the game on a 9-2 run to get the victory.
Here is the Great, Not so Great, and Bottom line of Philly’s win over Portland.
The Great for the 76ers:
-Seth Curry scored seven of his 23 points in the fourth. This was Curry’s third game of 20 points or more this season. He was 10/17 from the field, including 3/10 from downtown.
-Georges Niang had a season-high 21 points, grabbed five rebounds and five assists off the bench. Niang had his first 20-5-5 game of his career. He’s been a great addition off Philly’s bench and was huge on Monday night.
-Andre Drummond stepped in for Embiid and was big-time against the Blazers. The nine-year veteran had a loaded stat line with 14 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, five steals, and one block. This is the first game a player has posted a 10-15-5-5 line in the league since the 2018-19 season (Stathead).
Turnovers: Philadelphia forced 15 Portland turnovers, with 11 coming by way of the steal. The 76ers scored 17 points off turnovers on Monday night.
Sharing is caring: Without Embiid and Harris, Philadelphia needed to share the ball and get everybody involved. The Sixers had a team season-high 34 assists of 43 field goals. Since the 2017-18 season, Philadelphia is 67-10, when they have 30-plus assists. (Stathead).
“Yeah, it was great. I was joking with Michael Rubin; I said, ‘you only had $105 million not in the game tonight,” 76ers head coach Doc Rivers said after the game. “So, it was just a good team effort. The guys, we went with some crazy lineups—a lot of small ball. [Andre Drummond] was fantastic in his role. It was one of those games where I thought every single guy did something to help us win the game. They kind of stay within their roles. They understood what we needed. Getting to the paint. Creating plays.”
The Not So Great for the 76ers:
The fans: With Ben Simmons still on the roster, the fans chanting “We want Lillard” is a little inappropriate. However, I get it, but in the end, Lillard is a Blazer, and you don’t yell for an opposing player to come to Philly while he’s on another team’s roster.
Bottom Line:
This was a game the 76ers would have lost last season. Drummond is the best backup center Philly has had for Embiid, and he paid dividends last night. Great win for the 76ers, and it showed how much deeper Philadelphia is than a year ago.
What’s next:
Philadelphia concludes their four-game homestand on Wednesday against the new-look Chicago Bulls.
Best of the Rest:
Furkan Korkmaz added 15 points and five assists in place of Harris, and Shake Milton scored 10 points off the bench.
Norman Powell led the Blazers with 22 points, and C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard added 20 points apiece; Lillard also had 10 assists and seven rebounds.
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Doncic on Porzingis’ performance against Blazers: ‘Everybody can have a bad game’
The Portland Trailblazers(25-16) backcourt carried the team on Friday night against the Mavericks. C.J. McCollum had 11 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and Damian Lillard had 31 as the Blazers defeated the Mavericks(21-19) 125-119 in the first game of their two-game set at Moda Center.
Dallas was led by Luka Doncic, who had 38 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists on Friday night.
The Mavericks had a five-point lead entering the fourth quarter and led by as much as eight in the final period, but the Blazers made the plays down the stretch. Portland took a 111-110 lead with just over four minutes left after a Carmelo Anthony dunk, and they never looked back.
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle felt that Dallas did not do enough down the stretch to get the win.
“Down the stretch, we weren’t able to get the ball in the basketball, and they made plays offensively,” Carlisle said. “They made shots, so that’s what got away from us. We’re going to have to do better on the boards, we’re going to have to do better with turnovers, and we’re going have to play better overall.”
Mavericks F/C Kristaps Porzingis struggled on Friday night. He shot 3-11 from the field and scored only 11 points. According to Doncic, the Mavericks have to get Porzingis more opportunities in the post.
“Everybody can have a bad game,” Doncic said. “Not perfect in life every day. We gotta find him more on the post, and he just got to get to work on the post.”
Carlisle added on Porzingis: “He got off to a slow start, and we have just got to involve him a little bit more.”
This was another playoff type of game against another playoff team for Dallas, so you have to be at your best to win these types of games. You do expect more out of Porzingis, However, he has been good of late. In the month of March, and not counting this game, Porzinigis is averaging 20.2 points and 10.5. So, to Doncic’s point, everybody has bad games.
Hopefully, for Dallas, Porzingis bounces back against the Blazers on Sunday night.
Luka on missed game-winning three: ‘I was disappointed when I saw that the shot did not end up falling down’
There was a duel in Dallas on Sunday night between Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard. Doncic had more points, but Lillard made the biggest shot.
Late in the fourth, with the game tied at 116, Lillard made a step-back three that put the Blazers up by 3. Dallas had a chance to tie the game, but Doncic’s three-point shot rimmed out, and the Blazers snapped the Mavericks’ four-game losing streak and escaped with a 121-118 road victory.
“Our intention was to run and get the ball out of his hands,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said about Lillard. “We’d gone through that in our prep. Part of it’s the mask, and part of it’s the noise in the arena or whatever. The communication didn’t get there, and he hit a difficult shot, but it’s a shot he makes regularly. It’s a tough shot.”
Lillard led the Blazers with 34 points, 11 assists, and three rebounds. Doncic finished with 44 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. Doncic now has the most points by a player in consecutive games in franchise history with 90 points in his last two games (46 on Friday), but after the game, he was upset with himself for missing that game-tying three.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m confident or not,” Doncic said. “If the shot doesn’t go in, that’s what matters. I was disappointed when I saw that the shot did not end up falling down at the end.”
Doncic is playing very well right now for Dallas and has hit a nice groove. However, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle wants to do more to lighten Doncic’s load going forward.
“He’s got a great rhythm,” Carlisle said about Doncic. “He’s shooting the ball tremendously well. Of course, I’m concerned that the load he’s carrying is a difficult load to carry on a game-to-game basis. I’ve got to try to get some more balance in our attack. It’s just a lot to ask of Luka to put together 40-point stat-stuffer nights on a night-in, night-out basis. I feel like we’ve got to do some things to get other guys helping with carrying that load.”
The Mavericks finish up their seven-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Pistons.
Twitter reacts to Damian Lillard’s performance against Lakers
Damian Lillard continues to dominate in Orlando. After being named the MVP of the NBA bubble on Saturday, Lillard put on a show against the Lakers on Tuesday night.
Lillard had 34 points, including 6-13 from downtown and 10/10 from the free-throw line, five rebounds, and five assists, as the eighth-seeded Blazers defeated the number one seed, the Lakers, 100-93 to take 1-0 lead in their best of seven first-round series.
Dame was incredible, and after the game, Twitter reacted.
Here’s a sampling:
Damn @Dame_Lillard. This brother just pulled up from the parking lot. Damn!!!
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 19, 2020
My goodness!! Look at your watch, It's #DameTime #Blazers #Lakers #NBA
— goforitradio (@goforitgant) August 19, 2020
Man @Dame_Lillard is just different!
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) August 19, 2020
go dumb @Dame_Lillard ! he different
— Jordan Clarkson (@JordanClarksons) August 19, 2020
After a long strange drought, Damian Lillard finally snapped out of it in a 4th q and made bombs with 7:37 left then 5:46 (to tie) then 3:13 (to tie). Didn’t bring it all the way home the way Jamal Murray did a day ago. But way better than 0 baskets in his last 20 mins of 4th qs
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 19, 2020
Lord, do I love watching @Dame_Lillard play basketball.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) August 19, 2020
DAMIAN LILLARD MUST BE STOPPED!!!!!!! My GAWD!!!!
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) August 19, 2020
I like that @Dame_Lillard just hit a 3 from the @Chilis outside the bubble. Hes on fire. @NBA
— David Spade (@DavidSpade) August 19, 2020
Man Dame Lillard has been the most entertaining athlete in any bubble period.
— Evander Kane (@evanderkane_9) August 19, 2020
Wizards’ Beal: ‘We got three at home we gotta get’
The Wizards(22-39) four-game west coast road trip is over, and it ended on a sour note. Washington was blown out by the Trail Blazers 125-104 on Wednesday night.
With the loss, the Wizards end the trip at 1-3 and remain 4.5 games behind the Orlando Magic for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
“We had an opportunity to be at least 3-1,” Wizards G Bradley Beal said after scoring a game-high 29 points against Portland. “We kind of laid an egg; we got three at home we gotta get.”
Washington starts their three-game homestand on Friday against the Hawks, which is a very winnable game for this team. Then, they host the Heat on Sunday, and the Knicks on Tuesday.
After the three-game homestand, the next four won’t be easy. The Wizards will have to face the Celtics on the road, come home to OKC, go to Philly to battle the 76ers, and travel to Brooklyn to face the 7th-seeded Nets, which could have huge playoff implications for Washington.
Even with a disappointing road trip, Washington is still in the mix for the playoffs, but with 21 games left, time is not on their side, so they must string together a few wins if they have any hope of making the playoffs.
Hawks’ GM on Turner: ‘The versatility he has shown throughout his career will be valuable for us this season’
The Atlanta Hawks have acquired guard/forward Evan Turner from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for guard Kent Bazemore, it was announced today.
“We are happy to add Evan to our team, a veteran who we believe can help our club,” said Hawks General Manager and Head of Basketball Operations Travis Schlenk. “The versatility he has shown throughout his career will be valuable for us this season.”
In nine seasons with Philadelphia, Indiana, Boston and Portland, Turner has averaged 9.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 27.2 minutes (.435 FG%, .781 FT%). The No. 2 overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, Turner posted 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists (.460 FG%, .708 FT%) in 73 contests (two starts) last season. The Ohio State product has appeared in 63 playoff games (27 starts), averaging 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 23.5 minutes.
Bazemore, a seven-year veteran, appeared in 355 games (242 starts) in five seasons with Atlanta, averaging 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 24.8 minutes. Through 483 games (257 starts) with the Warriors, Lakers and Hawks, the six-foot-five swingman has compiled 8.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 20.7 minutes per contest (.419 FG%, .352 3FG%).
An undrafted free agent from Old Dominion, Bazemore converted 453 three-pointers in a Hawks uniform, the eighth-highest total in franchise history. He received the Jason Collier Memorial Trophy in 2018-19, awarded annually to the Hawks player who most closely exemplifies the characteristics of a community ambassador displayed by Collier, the late Atlanta center who passed away in 2005.