Dressed in their new “City Edition” jersey which pays homage to the famous greenish carpet of Portland airport, the Blazers had to tear themselves away from the Spurs of a Jakob Poeltl in record mode, at 31 points (plus 14 rebounds and 5 assists), but they did end up winning (117-110).
And they did it thanks to their defense, mounting the barbed wire in the “money time”, allowing Spurs only four small points in the last seven minutes of the match!
“I think in the past, we would have expected someone to find the warm hand”Explain Damian Lillard on Blazers official website. “But with the energy we have in the team at the moment, we first think of going for stops. We have to stop them in defense and we have to get the rebound. That’s the difference [par rapport aux saisons passées] and that’s why we win a lot of these matches. »
As a symbol, it was Lillard himself who succeeded in the defensive action of the match, holding his duel perfectly against the greatest Keita Bates-Diop, whom he ended up countering, before going to register a 3 -decisive points on the next possession.
“When guys see how I take things to heart, how Josh takes things to heart, when we accept this challenge [défensif] and that we show that it is important to us, it is contagious. Some people have said things about my defense without knowing what the real responsibilities of being the leader of the team are, and how much this role [en lui-même] is hard to hold. So, now, I make it a point of honor: we’ll see [ce que je peux faire en défense]. »
“If we want to be an elite team, we all have to be involved in defence”
Expected at the turn on the first defensive curtain of his team, Lillard is not used to slipping away. And the “letter O” of Oregon once again takes on this mission, this challenge launched by Chauncey Billups and his staff.
” [Les gens] can say what they want, but there have been many times like this and there will be others when I have to be ready to accept this challenge. And I will continue to accept it. It was only one possession but it was a key possession. »
Carried by a very good Jerami Grant (29 points, 8 rebounds), the Blazers can above all count on a more constant defensive effort this season, past that they are from 27th place (115.1) to 6th this season (107.6). Full tanking last year, Portland was painful to see defensively, but this year, with new ambitions and a cleverly reshaped workforce, Rip City no longer makes anyone laugh.
First in the Western Conference, the Blazers want to regain their place in the League’s elite. Starting with establishing their progress in defense.
“At the end of the day, it’s about envy. You have to want these victories. If we want to be a team that is part of the elite, we all have to be involved in defense. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Damian Lillard | 8 | 35.4 | 46.8 | 39.7 | 86.8 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 28.6 |
| Anfernee Simons | 11 | 36.1 | 42.1 | 36.5 | 84.6 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 22.3 |
| Jerami Grant | 12 | 35.6 | 49.7 | 46.0 | 76.4 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 20.7 |
| Jusuf Nurkic | 10 | 29.5 | 49.5 | 54.5 | 87.5 | 3.1 | 8.1 | 11.2 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 13.0 |
| Shaedon Sharpe | 12 | 20.8 | 51.8 | 44.4 | 72.7 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 9.0 |
| Josh Hart | 13 | 36.3 | 41.2 | 30.4 | 68.3 | 1.7 | 7.0 | 8.7 | 4.4 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 8.8 |
| Justise Winslow | 11 | 26.7 | 39.3 | 25.0 | 66.7 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 7.9 |
| Keon Johnson | 6 | 17.7 | 35.6 | 34.8 | 33.3 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 7.0 |
| Nassir Little | 13 | 15.3 | 54.1 | 46.4 | 58.3 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 6.6 |
| Drew Eubanks | 13 | 17.5 | 69.0 | 0.0 | 68.4 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 5.5 |
| Trendon Watford | 5 | 18.4 | 45.0 | 0.0 | 87.5 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 5.0 |
| Jabari Walker | 8 | 9.0 | 52.9 | 20.0 | 66.7 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| Greg Brown III | 4 | 5.5 | 71.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| John Butler | 1 | 9.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
