Shooting Woes, Sloppy Play Characterize Blazers Loss

星期天的Matinee之间波特兰径丝滩赛和印第安纳步行者在NBA最强的坦克工作中是一个决斗。Pacers在波特兰举行的不平衡队伍中赢得了一天的一天，而西德尔斯在他们的使命中赢得了可能的使命来收集5月的乒乓球NBA DraftLottery.

有时这个年轻人和缺乏经验的燃烧者束在他们的体重课上方摆动，出现了充满活力和沮丧，足以给予更好的团队拍摄。其他时候他们看起来无助，像鸡一样无奈，像鸡一样切断。今天肯定是后者的案例，因为射击困境和邋obsoce的困境将这场比赛变成了一个欢乐的嬉戏，因为半场以剥夺剥夺的步行者竞争。

If you missed the action, you can find ourquarter-by-quarter recap here. After that, here are a few more observations from the day.

什么比冷寒冷？.... 冰冷！

Maybe you can blame it on the early start time, but the Blazers came out of the gates cold as can be Sunday afternoon. Point guard Brandon Williams couldn’t get it going from deep or in the lane in the first quarter. Forward Trendon Watford’s patented floater was off. Then shooting ace Ben McLemore came in off the bench and promptly bricked his first attempt. The Blazers started the game 1-8 from the field and quickly fell into a 12-4 hole that they’d never recover from. They shot 30.4% from the field and 22.2% from deep in the first quarter, falling behind 35-22 after one. At halftime, the team trailed 69-48. Josh Hart was the only player who could consistently create on offense for Portland and the only Blazer to reach double figures by halftime. The rest of the team was able to put up better numbers in the second half, raising the team field goal percentage to a more respectable 46.9%. By then the game was largely out of reach and the Pacers had eased up on defense.

邋张失误和鹅卵石的通行证

Up top, I mentioned this iteration of the Blazers can often look “discombobulated.” This was largely in reference to the number of unforced turnovers the team gave up today and the way they bobbled so many passes. All game long, but especially in the first half, the Blazers couldn’t catch the ball cleanly. Players often didn’t suspect the pass was coming, but even when they did, they still had trouble holding onto the ball. Even when these plays didn’t result in turnovers, the passing woes, compounded by the shooting troubles, put Portland’s offense in a terrible rhythm. For the game, Portland coughed up 18 turnovers, but it was the nature of the giveaways that was so demoralizing. There was CJ Elleby fumbling the ball away on drives, an unforced over-and-back violation off a sloppy pass and a lazy inbounds pass in the backcourt that led to a Buddy Hield three-pointer in the third quarter. At one point, Kris Dunn had a three-on-one fast break with Greg Brown III and Keon Johnson, two of Portland’s best finishers. Dunn threw a 10-story-high lob behind Johnson, who then fumbled it off to Brown, who proceeded to throw the ball to a Pacer at halfcourt before stumbling out of bounds.

Teams Just Wanna Have Fun

A few weeks ago, it was Patrick Beverley shooting the t-shirt cannon while he and his teammates danced on the bench during Minnesota’s 124-81 blowout against Portland. Today it was Pacer players dancing and hugging after Lance Stephenson threw a behind-the-back pass on the break to Oshae Brisset for a reverse, double-pump jam. He got fouled on the play too for good measure. It’s become abundantly clear that teams have fun playing against the Blazers. Opponents get their fair share of highlight plays, the defense can be sliced up like butter, players enjoy uncharacteristically big nights and stars get to rest by the fourth quarter — if they haven’t already taken the night off. Indiana tallied 38 assists on 48 made field goals and shot 57.1% from the field. Brisset has averaged 7.9 points per game on the season and unleashed 24 points on the Blazers, with 19 of those coming in the first half. Justin Anderson, who’s on a 10-day contract, scored 18. Just like in that Minnesota blowout, Indiana fans started doing the wave in the second half.

乔希哈特还是好的

It’s clear that Portland is playing out the rest of the season with the intention to better their position for the Draft Lottery, but Hart did his best to sabotage that mission today. The veteran dazzled again, scoring a game-high 26 points on an ultra-efficient 11-13 from the field. He shot well from deep, going 3-5 from downtown, and then made strong moves to get to the basket and his midrange jump shot when defenders were forced to honor his pump fake. Hart scored 14 points in the third quarter, bringing the Blazers to within 12, before Billups shut him down for the entire fourth quarter. Without him, the team was lost again and the blowout ensued.