Rip City's wait is over. In wake of the most dramatic, controversial offseason in team history, the Portland Trail Blazers finally open the 2021-22 regular season on Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings at Moda Center.
Here are three keys to watch for as Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and company look to tip off the Chauncey Billups era off with a home victory over De'Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and the Kings.
Transition Defense
Portland's transition defense was varying levels of leaky during the preseason. The Golden State Warriors lapped the Blazers in the open floor during the exhibition opener, but were mostly held in check in last Friday's finale—at least before Steph Curry caught fire, leaving Portland thoroughly demoralized defensively.
It shouldn't be as easy for the Blazers' spirit to be broken on Wednesday as long as they manage to somewhat slow Sacramento's fast-break attack. The Kings had the second-most efficient transition offense in basketball last season, per Cleaning the Glass, and have made a pointed re-commitment to playing with pace in 2021-22, as evidenced by Alvin Gentry being brought in as associate head coach behind Luke Walton.
Fox is a terror with the ball in transition, one of the league's fastest players end to end. Haliburton always keeps his head up, looking to pitch the ball up the floor, and is a canny decision-maker with a numbers advantage. Buddy Hield poses an imminent threat from three as the floor changes sides, and it'll be tough for Jusuf Nurkic to keep up with a diligent rim-runner like Richaun Holmes. Sacramento's highly anticipated three-guard lineup, with rookie Davion Mitchell—a monster individual defender—alongside Fox and Haliburton, could rank among the fastest five-man units in the NBA.
Transition defense is made easier, of course, when the other team is consistently taking the ball out of its own basket. The Kings will still push off makes, trying to catch Portland off guard. But the real test of the Blazers' defensive mettle in transition will be how they react when—or more hopefully, if—they're struggling to score operating in Billups' offensive system for the first time. Hanging their heads and jogging back on defense will inevitably lead to layups and threes for a go-go team like Sacramento.
Rim Attacks
Holmes is a solid all-around defender, with quick feet for his size, good instincts and a motor that always runs hot. But he's not the type of rim protector who will intimidate the Blazers from challenging the paint, and neither is Tristan Thompson. The Kings surrendered 67% shooting at the rim last season, tied for second-worst in the league, according to Cleaning the Glass.
The offseason addition of Thompson won't fix that issue all by itself, obviously, and neither will the presence of a defensive culture-changer like Mitchell—especially early in the season. Sacramento definitely has better defensive talent than a year ago, when Walton's defense was the worst in league history, but still won't plug all of its holes on that side of the ball at once.
Expect the Kings to amp up the pressure at the point of attack on Wednesday, giving Portland—and specifically Jusuf Nurkic—ample opportunity to exploit it with backdoor passes to cutters from the high post and “blind pig” type action in dribble hand-offs at the elbow.
The Blazers could also feast on empty-corner ball screens with Lillard and Nurkic early in the shot clock. Sacramento's bigs will have to meet Lillard above the pick lest risk a pull-up three, affording Nurkic ample time and space to catch on the roll and make a decision as the defense rotates towards him. Curling off screens into a catch on the move should give Norman Powell enough momentum to confidently challenge Homes at the rim, too.
Creasing the paint is a hallmark of how Billups wants his team to play offensively, and the Kings present a good opportunity for Portland to do it with that newfound regularity he envisions.
Winning the backcourt battle
It's foolish to reduce basketball at its highest level to individual matchups. The NBA game hasn't been played that way for decades, and gets further and further from it every year as the league at large continues emphasizing the value of three-pointers and position-less defenders. But Wednesday's matchup is unique given the construction of these teams' rosters around three guards, all at best with the ball in their hands and inherently lacking degrees of defensive versatility.
Sacramento's talented young backcourt is trying to get where Lillard and McCollum have been for years. General manager Monte Mcnair would be thrilled if any combination of Fox, Haliburton and Mitchell reached that level, but like the Blazers, the Kings also believe there's real viability in playing all three of their guards together.
This game won't necessarily be decided by which backcourt plays better or which three-guard lineup proves stoutest defensively. The regular-season opener is not the time to overreact. Still, it would be damning of the decision to run it back with McCollum and Powell alongside Lillard if Sacramento's precocious perimeter triumvirate outdoes Portland's expensive, veteran one at Moda Center.
Follow Us
Subscribe