NO NURK. NO CJ. NO PROBLEM. True (For tonight only).显然每个夹克粉丝关注th多大e disaster is, and how quickly it will hit. It is like being on a fan-based hurricane watch. The weather map shows a huge circle of doom approaching, and we are poised to evacuate the bandwagon. And "poof" we have a huge ray of sunshine.

Portland has some teams remaining on their schedule who they clearly can beat despite all of the injuries: Atlanta, Memphis and Lakers. But the Hawks are playing good ball as Young makes a late push for ROY status and we have already seen how tough the Grizzlies are late in the season. Who knows what will be going through the heads of the Lakers in what will likely be Walton's last game as their coach?

But the ragtag group the Bulls placed on the court tonight is an embarrassment to the NBA brand. Remove Robin Lopez, and would this group be a decent G League unit? The Blazers would have to work hard to lose this contest. Dame was 3-12 and finished with 11 points. Mo was assertive (good) but an awful 1-8. The whole starting unit finished with 48 points. Yet Lillard was +20 and Harkless was +18 on the night. The bench totaled an astounding 70 points and had 3 in double figures. On a night of scrambled line-ups, Portland found their way to 30 assists and only 8 turnovers. It was a testament to focus and the lack of opposition.

WE NOW KNOW HOW PORTLAND WILL REPLACE NURKIC. Not yet.Kanter as the starter is the most logical choice. Enes finished with 13 and 6 on 6-8 shooting in an abbreviated 22 minutes. Collins logged 25 minutes and made 2 threes on the way to 13 points. Leonard added 18 minutes.

This game offered no evidence of whether this is the right pattern. Lopez had a solid 15 and 9 for the Bulls. Robin has been scoring well, so those numbers do not show a huge fail. 0 blocks by the starting line-up do suggest a lack of rim protection.

We know Kanter will score and rebound. He has done that his whole career. He did that with the Knicks and since joining the Blazers. What is it that makes Nurk and Collins effective defenders, and Leonard and Kanter not? It is not merely a matter of size, or bulk or quickness. We often toss around the word instincts, but what does that even mean?

Portland demands a lot out of their centers on defense. The guards are going to get picked off (at least momentarily) on the pick and roll. The big is supposed to show to the ball long enough for recovery without ceding the rim to the rolling picker. Then the Blazer center is supposed to re-attach to his own man. Can Stotts come up with a way to make Kanter succeed against tougher challenges? Tonight offered no clue because of the competition.

ONE PLAYER'S DISASTER IS ANOTHER ONE'S OPPORTUNITY. True.With Nurk gone for good and CJ missing for at least a while, obviously there are shots for others. There is a tension on every NBA team. How many shots should the 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. player take versus deferring to the stars. Curry has struggled with that at times. Hood has as well. Collins has been aggressive with his shot, even when he knows he is struggling. Uncertainty is a killer of good performance.

In some ways the pressure is off. Portland needs scoring from somebody. Lillard can't just take up the whole slack. Curry has been playing like a candidate for the "All 6th Man" team, if there was such a thing. His 20 points on 8-11 shooting and 4-7 from deep rivals prime Lou Williams. Rodney had a solid 15 points as well. Turner is still struggling with his shooting, but chipped in 8 assists. With a clearly weakened starting line-up, Portland needs consistently very good play from the bench if they are to succeed when the competition toughens. Tonight was a good easy way for the bench to get going.

FINAL GRADE: Both rookies had good showings in garbage time (9 for Simons and 5 for Trent, Jr.) and Skal chipped in a basket as well. After building the 13 point lead after one quarter, Portland never faltered. Despite the lack of competition, it is unusual not to surrender a lead at some point. Was it good D or lack of Bulls talent that resulted in 43% shooting and only 22% from behind the arc? Portland is now 20 games over .500 and that is a hell of a good mark anytime. Portland has a 2 1/2 game lead to keep the home court. Last year 3rd place seemed like a fluke. If they can hold onto it despite the injuries it would be a real accomplishment. It wasn't much of a test, but you can only play the team that steps on the court to oppose you. A, cause there will never be anything wrong with a 20 point road win.