- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 10,089
- Reaction score
- 28,937
- Points
- 135
After one of the most disappointing showings of the young season against Sacramento the Cavs move on to Portland to take on the 3-7 Trail Blazers. The Blazers played in Utah last night and will be on the second night of a back-to-back with travel, so the Cavs have that advantage. Portland has lost four in a row.
Portland is the lowest scoring team in the NBA at 106.4 ppg, although the season is very young. They are 21st in points in the paint and 14th in fast break points so they are not an outside shooting team. They are 27th in percent of points from 3's and 28th in 3-point percentage .
They are last in effective shooting percentage and 23rd in 3-point rate, so they prefer to fast break and get easy transition buckets. The Blazers are the league's biggest ball hogs, ranking last in assists per possession. They kind of take turns attacking the rim. Turnovers are a problem as they rank 25th in that category.
The Blazers are average in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage.
Defensively Portland is pretty good, ranking 11th in points allowed per game. They're even better in defensive efficiency, ranking 9th. They are only 28th in opponents' points in the paint, so Allen and Mobley should be able to get some buckets, not to mention Garland and Mitchell driving to the rim. The reason they limit scoring is because they're 8th in block percentage and 9th in steals, so that makes up for poor rim protection.
Portland also excels in 3-point defense, ranking 5th at just under 33%. They're only 21st in 2-point defense so it's probably better to attack the rim than launch a lot of 3's.
The Blazers have a number of injuries, including Malcolm Brogden, Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Robert Williams III. Simons averaged 21.1 ppg last year but has played just one game so far. Brogdon is averaging 17.3 ppg. Henderson and Williams average 48 minutes per game between them so Portland may be missing four rotation players.
They still have Jerami Grant (22.8 ppg), Shaedon Sharp (19.8), and Deandre Ayton (11 pts, 12 rebounds). But with Simons and Brogdon out they're missing 35 points and 9.5 assists per game so no wonder they're last in scoring.
Grant is shooing just 42% from the field and 35.6% on 3's, so he hasn't been a real efficient scorer. As a team the Blazers are hitting just 31.8% on 3's and 44% overall.
The Cavs appear to be the better team, especially with the injuries the Blazers are experiencing, although Darius Garland is out with a neck injury. They need a bounce back game after the embarrassing loss in Sacramento. I expect to see them come out with a lot of fire, especially after a day off. Portland has to play on the second night of a BTB after traveling, so there's no excuse for the Cavs to lose this game, even with Garland and Okoro out.
Portland is the lowest scoring team in the NBA at 106.4 ppg, although the season is very young. They are 21st in points in the paint and 14th in fast break points so they are not an outside shooting team. They are 27th in percent of points from 3's and 28th in 3-point percentage .
They are last in effective shooting percentage and 23rd in 3-point rate, so they prefer to fast break and get easy transition buckets. The Blazers are the league's biggest ball hogs, ranking last in assists per possession. They kind of take turns attacking the rim. Turnovers are a problem as they rank 25th in that category.
The Blazers are average in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage.
Defensively Portland is pretty good, ranking 11th in points allowed per game. They're even better in defensive efficiency, ranking 9th. They are only 28th in opponents' points in the paint, so Allen and Mobley should be able to get some buckets, not to mention Garland and Mitchell driving to the rim. The reason they limit scoring is because they're 8th in block percentage and 9th in steals, so that makes up for poor rim protection.
Portland also excels in 3-point defense, ranking 5th at just under 33%. They're only 21st in 2-point defense so it's probably better to attack the rim than launch a lot of 3's.
The Blazers have a number of injuries, including Malcolm Brogden, Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Robert Williams III. Simons averaged 21.1 ppg last year but has played just one game so far. Brogdon is averaging 17.3 ppg. Henderson and Williams average 48 minutes per game between them so Portland may be missing four rotation players.
They still have Jerami Grant (22.8 ppg), Shaedon Sharp (19.8), and Deandre Ayton (11 pts, 12 rebounds). But with Simons and Brogdon out they're missing 35 points and 9.5 assists per game so no wonder they're last in scoring.
Grant is shooing just 42% from the field and 35.6% on 3's, so he hasn't been a real efficient scorer. As a team the Blazers are hitting just 31.8% on 3's and 44% overall.
The Cavs appear to be the better team, especially with the injuries the Blazers are experiencing, although Darius Garland is out with a neck injury. They need a bounce back game after the embarrassing loss in Sacramento. I expect to see them come out with a lot of fire, especially after a day off. Portland has to play on the second night of a BTB after traveling, so there's no excuse for the Cavs to lose this game, even with Garland and Okoro out.
