The Portland Trail Blazers were unable to get their series against the Denver Nuggets off to a promising start. Fortunately, it appears guard Rodney Hood is ready to contribute this time around.
Hood was virtually non-existent in the opening round versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. His 17 points in Game 1 were more than his entire scoring output in the series against the Thunder, via ESPN Stats:
Hood scored 16 total points in the full five-game series versus the Thunder: 5, 4, 3, 4, 0.
Ironically, it was also the first time he dropped at least 17 points since he did it against the Nuggets back in early April:
First game with at least 17 points since April 5, also versus the Nuggets.
Although the Blazers may have come up short in Game 1, it is encouraging to see that Hood is ready to contribute whenever his number is called. He was Portland's only productive bench player on a night where the team struggled to carry its weight. It is safe to say that head coach Terry Stotts will continue to rely heavily on him as a spark off the bench moving forward.
Hood is certainly no stranger to struggling in the playoffs. He made headlines for all the wrong reasons during the playoff run with the Cleveland Cavaliers last year. Fortunately, he was ultimately given a fresh start in Portland and is now looking to make his presence felt following a slow start to this postseason. It will be interesting to see if Hood can continue to his scoring ways in Game 2.
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