Athletic John Hollinger examines every playoff scenario in the Western Conference, and in the case of the Portland Trail Blazers versus the Los Angeles Lakers, he chose the Lakers in five. Hollinger makes his case, noting that the Blazers do not have much to offer at the defensive end, and their extended schedule prior to the Lakers does not bring any benefits.
Finding the energy to defend will remain a challenge. Portland comes into play after pedaling to the medal for nine straight games – Lillard and CJ McCollum both * averaged * more than 40 minutes a game in the nine games the Blazers played to reach that point. Nurkic averaged 34 to 16 months of inactivity and played 41 minutes on Saturday; he was great, but also looked like he was crashing into court at times. Carmelo Anthony is 36; but three players in the bubble played more minutes than he did, and two of them were on this team.
Hollinger notes that if the Blazers are unable to pick up the defense, they will be left in the dust by the Lakers.
Portland came here of course with Lillard with banana-crazy offensive, and that will be his method of making this series competitive. But the story must begin at the other end. If Portland continues to give up 1.2 points per possession, this thing will be over soon.
He suggests starting Gary Trent Jr. could provide an advantage for the Blazers at both ends of the court.
The Blazers have played significantly better at both ends with Trent on the court in the bubble. These are small samples, yes, but the results are so extreme that it is overwhelming. Portland outscores teams with 10.1 points per 100 possessions as Trent plays, but is a whopping -14.8 as he sits.
But despite the influence of Gary Trent Jr., the question remains as to whether anyone on the Blazers can defend against LeBron James.
Okay, who’s we kidding – no one on the Blazers can protect LeBron. The Lakers also have Anthony Davis on their team, sources said The Athletic, and he will punish any Portland defender who dares to switch him. James is the best player in the league at hunting matches, and will certainly try to pound Lillard and McCollum on Davis in switches.
Hollinger acknowledges that Damian Lillard is still very, very dangerous against this Los Angeles Lakers squad, and Portland must hope he has even more to give. You can read the full piece here (pay wall).
