Portland Trail Blazers Show They’re More Than Damian Lillard Heroics

Plenty of worthy candidates populate the playoff field, but Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard entered Wednesday’s Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets as a frontrunner for unofficial postseason MVP.

Prior to the Blazers’ 97-90 win, Lillard’s playoff low in scoring was 24 points. He was shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three. Portland’s net points per 100 possessions was a whopping 37.4 points better with him on the floor. As much as anyone still playing, he was carrying his team.

Then he had an off night, which almost seemed impossible at this point.

In Denver on Wednesday, Lillard went for a meager 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting, and his team won. It was almost the inverse of Game 1, during which Lillard had 39 points on 21 field-goal attempts in an eight-point loss.

And that’s a great sign for these Blazers.

Already down Jusuf Nurkic, who suffered a broken leg at the end of the regular season, Portland lost starting forward Maurice Harkless to a sprained ankle near the conclusion of Wednesday’s first half. It didn’t matter.

The Blazers need as many “other guys” as possible to up their contributions if they’re going to keep pace with the high-powered attacks of the Nuggets, Houston Rockets or Golden State Warriors. In Game 2, several were up to the task as Portland stole home-court advantage away from Denver.

CJ McCollum had 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting, including a crucial three with less than four minutes to play that stymied a Denver run and bumped the lead back to double digits. Enes Kanter went shot for shot with Nikola Jokic. He had 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting; Jokic had 16 on 17 attempts.

Three other non-Lillard Blazers—Rodney Hood, Al-Farouq Aminu and Zach Collins—reached double figures.

“You just need a few guys to make a few big-time plays,” Lillard said of his teammates. “And CJ, Chief [Aminu] and Enes did that.”

As the series shifts to Portland, one or more of these players must continue to share Lillard’s burden.

For much of Game 2, Denver had 6’3″ Monte Morris matched up against Hood. If the Nuggets continue to do that, the Blazers should attack with their 6’8″ wing off the bench. He has a high release and plenty of lift on his jumper, making him a tough matchup even for players his size. A five-inch advantage is something Portland should continue to exploit.

Kanter is certainly an option, as well. Much has been made of his lackluster defense throughout his career, and a lot of that is fair. But he’s giving buckets as well as he’s getting them this postseason. After Wednesday’s game, his playoff scoring average is up to 15.3 points on 60.6 percent shooting. He’s grabbing over three offensive boards in 30.2 minutes per game, and Portland’s net rating is 5.7 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor.

Then, there’s the obvious one: McCollum.

Down the stretch Wednesday, Portland ran everything through him. On several possessions, Lillard was even able to watch as his teammate took over the game. Lillard’s heroics have been the story of the playoffs for Portland, but McCollum now has four consecutive seasons averaging over 20 points under his belt.

Forget about him at your own peril.

Still, as good as the rotation players were on offense in Game 2, it might have been the defensive aggressiveness that did more to pick Lillard up.

“Our defensive focus for most of the game was the difference,” Portland head coach Terry Stotts said.

The Blazers flew around for most of three quarters, doubling down hard on Nikola Jokic and daring everyone else to beat them. The results were the aforementioned poor shooting and seven assists (two below his playoff average) from Denver’s All-Star big.

“We didn’t give him the freedom to make the plays he made in Game 1,” Stotts said when asked about his team’s approach against Jokic.

He wasn’t shy about when he went to the double team, as pointed out by the Dallas Mavericks‘ Haralabos Voulgaris:

Now, this could all simply be a case of Denver having an off night. Its true shooting percentage of 41.1 is the lowest this team has registered in a game since November 2016. Jokic called it a “weird game, weird day.” And Denver coach Mike Malone didn’t think his team did itself many favors.

“If you’re not making shots, maybe attack the basket,” Malone said following the game. “You gotta start thinking attack instead of settle.”

He may have shared a similar message with his team at the half because the Nuggets were far more aggressive trying to get into the paint following the break. Shots just continued to roll out.

Denver grabbed 23 offensive boards and went 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) on putback attempts. In the regular season, the Nuggets shot 54.1 percent on putback possessions. The league average was 54.7 percent.

They aren’t likely to shoot this poorly again (or miss this many layups), and that may have masked some defensive issues for the Blazers. But Portland can take solace in the fact that it has stolen homecourt advantage, and a lot of those open looks were largely conceded by double-teaming Jokic.

Proceeding with that defensive scheme is a bit of a dice roll. Do you maintain this level of aggression on Jokic and hope for more off nights from Jamal Murray and Gary Harris (2-of-13 from downtown in Game 2)? Do you stay home on the shooters a little longer and make Jokic beat you?

“Did you see Game 1?” McCollum asked reporters on the subject of the opposing big man.

During that contest, Denver’s star center had 37 points, nine rebounds and six assists on 11-of-18 shooting against a Portland defense that was decidedly less aggressive. In other words, the Blazers probably need to keep doubling.

If they do that and get more contributions from all over the roster, they have a chance to upset the second-seeded Nuggets.

Prior to Wednesday, it felt like Portland was heavily dependent upon Lillard going supernova. Stealing a game in which he isn’t giving 40 minutes of “Dame Time” almost feels like more than a single win.