5 Things Going Well for the Trail Blazers (and 3 That Aren’t)

The波特兰径丝滩赛have reached the quarter pole of the season with a 13-8 record. Stretched out over an entire year, their winning percentage would yield 51 wins, not exactly NBA Title material, but far better than pre-season projections. What are the chances ofDamian Lillard但是，公司继续他们的头条，记录真正揭示了多少？让我们进一步下降五件事，为西装外壳和三个可能不是。

Things That Are Going Well

1.西装外套允许对手从场地拍摄43.3％，仅次于Golden State Warriors, and 33.1% from the arc, good for 4th in the league. In all the years of wishful thinking and false starts, they’ve never excelled in those categories. If they keep this up for a season, their defensive revival will be secured.

2.虽然它们不是他们在本赛季开幕几周的反弹巨头，但是燃烧者仍然在进攻篮板率和整体反弹率的第一个竞争率。这是转换低现场目标百分比的巨大关键，允许整体允许的点少。

3. Jusuf Nurkic has normalized. He’s not quite the beast he was last season but his defensive energy has improved, his scoring rate has returned to his 2016-17 Trail Blazers level, and his foul rate has dropped from tragic to average. The “Big 3” are starting to look like a trio instead of two guards and a question mark.

支持的铸件也拿起了。Moe Harkless很诽谤。贡献帕特康顿可能被高估了，或者至少需要更多的时间来忍受。但Noah Vonleh避开了他的每年的“联盟最差的初学者”推出了大门，与队友无缝起来，实际上从去年的职业生涯最大的表现。德戴维斯has been darn near heroic on the glass and has given the Blazers a defensive lift when Nurkic has flagged. Shabazz Napier’s production has fallen off over the last couple games but his efficiency is still incredible.Evan Turner仍然是唯一的家伙在中间,摇摆不定tween solid contributor and eyesore. But even he looks more comfortable with the ball in his hands. He’s just not suitable as an appendage third guard. Saying the bench is good or competitive would be a stretch, but they’ve helped the Blazers win games this year, not just lose them.

5. It’s a shade too early to look at point differential, but even after the opening-night blowout of Phoenix has receded, Portland’s margin of victory remains positive and puts them in the second tier of Western Conference contenders. The Warriors andHouston Rocketsare running away with everything, but the Blazers stand alongside the圣安东尼奥马刺和俄克拉荷马城雷霆。如果这持续到赛季结束时，他们就会进入好公司。

Things That Are Not Going As Well

这件开拓者不刻得很容易。他们在每场比赛4.5的过渡点仍然死于NBA，总数悲惨。尽管他们的竞争对手，但它们在涂料中的分数中有24个......挑战性大男子（Davis，Vonleh，Al-Farouq aminu和Nurkic）的产品侵犯了大多数董事会的产品。随着时间的推移，这会告诉。如果您不得不打赌他们的防守是否会变且易于拍摄的游戏，最重要的是，大多数人会把钱放在前者上。

那首歌结束时的CODA：波特兰的令人反感效率正在滑落。三周前，随着6-5次纪录，他们在联盟中排名第10。他们现在20日。

Much has been made of the Lillard-McCollum-Nurkic triangle. They’re impressive. But scratch beneath the surface and small cracks are appearing. All three had a higher a true shooting percentage last year than this. Only Nurkic is producing more points per possession and his gains are more than offset by the loss from the guards. Last year the three combined for 56.4% of the team’s field goal attempts on average. So far this year, they’re at 58.4%. In short, they’re absorbing more of the offense and scoring less efficiently overall. The margins are still small and the season is barely a quarter through, but the Blazers aren’t exactly having a banner offensive year. Placing more of the burden on the shoulders of the Big 3 may not cure what ails them.

3. Portland’s 13-8 record looks good, but their schedule has been populated with home games, questionable opponents, and teams missing key players...in many cases not just a starter, but THE starter. For all of that, the Blazers have notched just 5 convincing wins in 21 games (纽约尼克斯,Sacramento Kings,Denver Nuggets,New Orleans Pelicans,凤凰太阳). This has not been a grand march, but a series of daring escapes amid a season of fits and starts. Earlier in the season people within the organization were claiming that had a couple more shots fallen, their record could have been incredible. Not only did that not happen, there’s an argument to be made that the Blazers are benefiting from a bit of luck when it comes to other teams’ misfortunes. That’s not a bad thing; they can only win the game in front of them each night. But we’ve seen this before and it’s become quite evident that—one 2016 series against the Los Angeles Clippers aside—luck plays little role in the playoffs. They’ve done well, but if they want to be genuinely good, they’ll have to be better than they’ve shown so far.

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-dave /@Davedeckard./@Blazersed./ blazersub@gmail.com.