The Portland Trail Blazers put forth another stellar team-wide effort on Friday night at Moda Center, defeating the LA Clippers 111-92 despite Paul George going off for a typically smooth 42 points. Not bad for a Portland team that fell to the Clippers by 30 points earlier this week in a performance that Chauncey Billups called “embarrassing.”
Here are three standouts from another impressive Blazers victory, one moving them to 3-2 to begin the regular season.
Damian Lillard
Billups said before the game that Portland's franchise player was a “ticking time bomb.” Lillard didn't quite explode against the Clippers, especially compared to George, but still managed his best shooting night of the season's early going while continuing to play a smart, commanding floor game.
Lillard went 5-of-7 on threes Friday night, picking his spots to be aggressive from beyond the arc versus a defense geared toward taking the ball out of his hands. Just like in the Blazers' win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Billups let Lillard break from the offense for a couple separate stints to get himself going. That meant mercilessly targeting Luke Kennard with small-small ball screens at times in the second half, never more importantly than when Portland put LA away for good during crunch time.
Lillard hit back-to-back off-dribble threes on either side of the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter, bringing Moda Center to its feet for a long-awaited celebration of Dame Time.
But Lillard didn't force the issue when the Clippers sold out even harder to stop him. As Ty Lue ran double-teams at him after getting Kennard switched on the ball, Lillard made the right play over and over, initiating quick-hitting passing sequences by finding a release valve and picking out open shooters along the arc.
Lillard clarified after the game that despite his “good” shooting night, he's still not completely out of his slump.
“When I come out of it,” Lillard said, “I feel like it's gonna be loud.”
His play made plenty of noise on Friday night regardless.
Jusuf Nurkic
Don't blame Nurkic, or really anyone else, for George's big night. He put on a shooting display of the highest order, hitting an array of difficult pull-up and turnaround jumpers from all over the floor. No defender Portland threw at him on Friday had much of a chance; few in the league do when George is feeling it like he was against the Blazers.
But his dominant outing is a footnote to the bigger story about this game, and that's the Blazers' continually improving defense. Nurkic was its linchpin, playing with the all-out effort and consistent physicality needed to make his presence felt all over the court in Portland's newly aggressive scheme. Where was he most effective? In the paint, where Nurkic led a team-wide commitment to deploying active hands and multiple efforts that forced the Clippers into 11-of-22 shooting from the restricted area—including 2-of-10 in the first half.
This is perfect side pick-and-roll defense from Nurkic, his job made easier by the Blazers better exploiting offensive weaknesses of specific Clippers, like the lack of shooting range from Eric Bledsoe and Terance Mann.
Nurkic wasn't especially efficient on the other end, again struggling to catch and finish through minimal contact while rolling to the basket. But he also grabbed several of his own misses and put them back in, spearheading Portland's dominant effort on its own glass by grabbing six offensive boards.
Billups credited Nurkic after the game for his attitude and overall approach, tiring himself out enough for Portland to sub him of the game but never complaining. Similarly, Nurkic seems to be realizing his ideal role for the Blazers in real-time—not as a back-to-basket scorer, but as a big man always willing and ready to do the dirty, less-heralded work on both sides of the ball.
Nassir Little
Little failed to capitalize on all four of his attempts at the rim against LA, but don't mistake his misses for lagging force or energy. He was again one of the best athletes on the floor in Friday's game, sprinting in transition, skying for rebounds and making life hard for the Clippers as a back-line defender.
Little nearly blew the roof off Moda Center early, racing up the sideline past Kennard before sizing up George for a would-be lefty poster dunk.
George won that battle, letting the crowd know it by waving his finger as he jogged back toward the other end of the floor, a la Dikembe Mutombo. But Little's instant aggression set the stage for much more to come later in the game, when Portland needed it most.
The Blazers took a 61-41 lead midway through the third quarter, their dogged defense leaving every Clipper but George in fits. After Lue called a timeout and instructed his team to switch everything defensively, though, LA suddenly came to life, following George's lead by cutting a 20-point deficit to eight in a span of two minutes and 42 seconds.
Forced to stave off a comeback that seemed close to impossible mere moments prior, Little did his best to ensure Portland would get the revenge it wanted in wake of Monday's game. He followed a score by Kennard that cut the lead to six by curling around an off-ball screen at the wing and confidently letting fly, draining a catch-and-shoot three-pointer. Guarding Kennard on the next trip the other way, Little snuffed out his backdoor cut for a one-handed knockaway in denial. He then came out of nowhere for an offensive rebound that led to a C.J. McCollum triple, and capped his personal game-changing burst with another clean splash from three.
Little was everywhere in his 24 minutes of court time on Friday. He was a real deterrent as a back-line rim protector, and did as well or better than any of his teammates when matched up with George. Every time Little steps on the floor now, he forces the opposition to feel him.
That relentless competitive zeal hasn't just made Little a rotational fixture for the first time, but a player who may very well deserve a larger role. None of Little's teammates can do what he does, a reality becoming clearer every time he steps on the court.