Is It Time For Changes In Portland?; Suns Send Defending Champs Packing! 6.2.21
It’s a Thursday night of NBA basketball and we have 2 games on the schedule tonight, both Game 6’s in the Western Conference.
(3) Denver Nuggets vs (6) Portland Trail Blazers
Denver Nuggets (4-2)
Denver deserved to win, simple as that. They didn’t look good for 2.5 quarters but they ended the 3rd strong and then just dominated the 4th. They showed that even short-handed, they can hang with teams. Their defense was solid against Dame and CJ. MPJ was on fire in the first half and Jokic dominated the 2nd half. Monte Morris had his 2nd straight great as he has been so good. Denver showed they were the better team as they head to the 2nd round.
MPJ was so good in that first half. He scored 22 of the first 27 Denver points. He was 6/7 from 3 in the first, with 22 points. But Denver trailed because of their 6 turnovers and two early fouls to Jokic. The Nuggets defense was getting shredded and they looked sloppy.
The 2nd was more of the same. Jokic got going a bit but he didn’t look right, mainly because those two fouls took him out of rhythm. Nurkic stayed out of foul trouble, so Jokic was neutralized for the most part. MPJ was much quieter as he wasn’t getting the same looks. Dame got going in the pick and roll and Portland opened up a double-digit lead. The Nuggets cut that lead to 4, but Dame beat the buzzer with a 3, Blazers up 7 at the half.
MPJ was 10/14 in the first half. The rest of the Nuggets were 13/30 (43%). The Nuggets had 9 turnovers and Dame had 18 points. Nurkic was out of foul trouble and Portland was red hot from the field. It wasn’t looking good but Denver played a superb 2nd half.
But it got worse before it got better. Portland built on their lead, holding steady at 14 points as they couldn’t be stopped. With 4:53 left, Denver trailed by 14. After that, it was all Denver. Denver went on a 19-8 run to end the 3rd, including a Monte Morris buzzer-beating 3 that pulled Denver to within 3. The 4th was more of the same.
Denver held Portland to 5/18 shooting in the 4th with 3 turnovers. Dame and CJ combined for 2/10 shooting and Monte Morris and Jokic combined for 16 in the 4th. Denver deserved the win and they got it. Their defense was far better, especially in that 4th as they get revenge on Portland and will take on the Suns in the 2nd round.
26 for MPJ who didn’t do much of anything in the 2nd half, but he kept the game close in the first half with his 26 points. 36-8-6 for Jokic who got Nurkic into foul trouble in that 2nd half and he had 27 in the 2nd half. 22 for Monte Morris off the bench, as he had 50 points in the last two games.
13 for Gordon, 10 for Campazzo, 10 for JaMychal Green. The Nuggets showed why they were the better team. They will likely have Will Barton in the 2nd round so they’re getting slightly healthier.
Portland Trail Blazers (2-4)
Yeah, I’m not breaking this game down. I have seen this game too many times, it really doesn’t hurt anymore. Just kind of deflects off of you. I thought after 2018, changes would be made. None were made and we made it to the Western Conference Finals the next year, sure. But we should have at least took that series to 6-7 games instead of getting swept.
Then this year the defense was awful. Surprised we made the playoffs with this defense. The defense was just the problem. Offense never was and never really has been with Dame led teams. I think it’s time to unravel things a bit. How much more of this can you have, year after year, losing the same way? I don’t know. I have some ideas for Portland that I will list below, I’m not optimistic that most of these will happen. We’ll just have to see. But yeah, that’s about it. Lost to the better team.
Terry Stotts
I have had it with this guy. I know coaches are the scapegoats with teams that underperform (Nate McMillan with Indiana is a perfect example). But Stotts has to go. His teams are all the same. We had a couple years of being good at best defensively and last year we were very bad defensively, but it was excused because of that roster. I get Zach Collins didn’t play and Kanter sucks at defense, but this year we shouldn’t have been this bad. Roco and Nurkic are very good defenders and Dame and CJ are ok at best.
I don’t get why we were 29th for the whole year. We should have around the 20’s, but not 29th in the league bad. The offense is just isolation and pick and rolls. We have always ranked near the bottom is assists, hoping that Dame and CJ make shots. They do that enough for 40-45 games in the regular season, decent seeding, and then lose in the first round when teams just make other guys make shots. Stotts was never a good coach before coming to Portland. He’s an all offense guy, which is why he’s an assistant coach rather than a head coach. He has success with Dallas as an assistant, winning a title in 2011. But he doesn’t know defense at all and that’s why he just has to go.
I get Dame likes him, which is why he probably hasn’t gotten fired, but this is something that you just have to do. I would really like Kenny Atkinson, Dave Joerger, somebody like that. We need defense and I think those guys are the two best options. I wish Stotts the best of luck, he’s been the head coach for a lot of good teams, but like I said, sometimes it’s just time for change.
CJ McCollum
I love this guy. He’s a great guy, very talented. But he kind of stopped progressing after that 2016-17 season. He has hovered around the same 21-22 points per game on good efficiencies but it’s clear he’s not getting better, therefore the duo of him and Dame can’t get better. He underperformed in this series despite the fact that he wasn’t been guarded tough or anything. Aaron Gordon was on on him sometimes, but Monte Morris outperformed him in Games 5 and 6. That can’t happen, under any circumstances.
CJ is under contract for another 3 years with his upcoming extension, set to pay him an average of $33 million dollars per year for 3 years, a $100 million dollar deal. I know he has a massive contract but we’ve seen contract like that be moved as of late (CP-3, Wall, Westbrook). I just don’t see us getting any better with him, would like to see it be more of a Dame only team with a much better supporting cast.
Here are some trade spots that could work. I like Harrison Barnes a lot and the Kings don’t have a reliable scorer next to Fox. That could be an option. But Portland can’t really trade anyone because everybody is up in the air right now, whether is be to player/team options or to free agency. These are all the guys who might not be back next season;
Norman Powell (PO)
Zach Collins
Enes Kanter
Carmelo Anthony
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Derrick Jones Jr (PO)
So Portland really doesn’t have many pieces to trade as of right now on top of CJ. Norman is definitely declining that player option because he can make a lot more than the $11.6 million dollar player option. Derrick Jones Jr. is likely going to accept his player option, so he’s a trade piece. I don’t want Kanter back. Zach Collins is good when healthy, he just hasn’t been healthy. Melo is old and to be honest, I don’t want him.
So any trade talk for CJ will have to wait for the offseason and see which pieces Portland actually has. But I would like to trade CJ to a team who has a win (Harrison Barnes ideally). I just really want something new. I know the counter to trading CJ is you’re not getting a player better than CJ back, which is likely true. You’re not getting an All-Star in all likelihood. But I think that it could be like those Dirk Nowitzki Dallas teams. One star and an elite supporting cast. I would much rather have that than what we have now.
So like I said, CJ is up in the air. But if we can get somebody like Harrison Barnes, I’m all in.
Damian Lillard
I hate when people talk negatively about this guy. Most people only see the nationally televised games, which Portland doesn’t get a lot of anyway. Then you see the playoffs where Portland always disappoints. I have watched this guy carry teams for a half-decade. Teams that shouldn’t be making the playoffs are making the playoffs because of him. He is so good and has done so much for this team, easily the greatest Blazers ever, not even close. I know he’s loyal and I respect that a lot. He should have left after 2018, but he didn’t. I get he wants to win here, I get that. But how much is enough?
Same old, same old. Not a deep team, crappy defense, same offense every year, nothing changes. I just want him to win. No matter where he goes, I want him to win. I just don’t think it can happen here when he’s still a top 15-ish player in the league. Now I’m not saying Portland should trade him, but I wouldn’t be mad at all if he wanted to leave.
He has done soooo much for this team, likes words cannot describe everything that he’s done. All the big games, the clutch moments, he has carried this team, hiding all the flaws that this team has year in and year out. But I just don’t think he’s going to win here, so maybe he should leave. I really wouldn’t care, he deserves a lot better than how he’s being treated here.
So that about sums it up. I really want Stotts fired, that’s a given. The guys I want to try and keep are Powell and Collins and maybe trade CJ for Harrison Barnes + some picks if possible. But the bottom line is, I want change. Something different. I think that is going to happen which is good and it’ll be interesting to see what Portland does this offseason.
(2) Phoenix Suns vs (7) LA Lakers
Phoenix Suns (4-2)
As Kevin Durant said, “This is a spiritual experience.” Indeed it was. The Suns didn’t want to go back home with the Lakers coming with them. They wanted to end this game and series and they did. They were hitting 3’s from everywhere, Booker was on fire. Then the game was over when AD hurt his groin again. After that, the Lakers stood no chance. Booker was 11/16 from the field and 7/8 from 3 with 33 points in the first half. The Suns upset the Lakers and advance to the 2nd round to take on Denver, which should be a very good series.
LA Lakers (2-4)
Of the 4 teams that made the bubble last year (Miami, Boston, Denver, LA), only Denver made it to the 2nd round. All 4 teams got hit hard by Covid and injuries as it shows that having an offseason is important. The Lakers were injured so that’s why this is excused. AD was gone for half the year, Lebron missed time, the Lakers weren’t the same. I don’t want to see what this does for Lebron’s legacy. It doesn’t do anything. This team was flawed but something has to be said about the future of this team.
AD is so injury prone that it’s hard to really pass the baton to him while Lebron kind of takes a backseat. AD has never been healthy and now Lebron might be slowing down due to age. Dennis Schroder was a disappointment. He was so bad in the playoffs as he just never fit in. The good thing is you gave up Danny Green + a late first round pick, nothing valuable.
But he was a definite upgrade over anything you had last year and he was very poor when it mattered most. Schroder is a UFA this summer and I don’t know if he’s worth the $20+ million he wants this summer. Don’t know if he’s staying in LA.
The center rotation was a mess. Dwight and Javale McGee were so good defensively that now when you don’t have any defensive bigs outside of AD, you miss them. I’m not blaming the Lakers for losing them, but you’re seeing their impact. Gasol is 36 years old, don’t know if you keep him long term. Drummond is very bad defensively and doesn’t fit with AD. But apparently they want to keep him long-term. That’s not a good idea.
Montrezl Harrell is simply unusable in the playoffs. He got destroyed by Jokic last year and that’s why the Clippers let him go. Now LA didn’t even use him in the playoffs and he’s going to be back next year. He has a player option this summer, which he would be stupid not to accept. He’s not getting more than $9.7 million, I can almost guarantee that.
The Lakers need changes. They don’t have much youth and they need shooting. They need new centers that can play defense and wing play alongside Lebron. The Lakers are going to have to look a lot different if they want to win another title before Lebron’s window officially closes.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 2 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
Follow My Instagram To Never Miss A Post: @hoopnotions
Agree with you on next moves for Portland, especially what you said about Dame