Game 73:Portland vs Chicago 5:00pm SNW

[monopoman]

Blazers just making the Bulls look like a complete joke so far, hopefully the Blazers don't let up in this one.

[monopoman]

Spoiler:

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I mean, if you're going to test the waters with Kanter starting, might as well be against one of the leagues worst that's sitting their whole team.

I know I know. I just really don't like him playing basketball. I like him playing the Patty Mills towel waving role. He'd be fantastic in that role.

Kanter had a terrific night the last time the Blazers played the Bulls likely why he started tonight.

[Wizenheimer]

Kanter wasn't great on D but he sure did a better job on Rolo then Meyers did, and Zach would have no chance against Rolo

[Brandon-Clyde]

3rd quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

[monopoman]

Lillard 2-10 in this game Moe 1-8, no Nurkic no CJ and yet they still have a 25+ point lead.

[Brandon-Clyde]

4th quarter GLB pic

Spoiler:

[The Sebastian Express]

I appreciate that the first game after that horrific event was a Bulls team sitting all their young talent. Thanks, Chicago, I hope you guys get a nice pick.

[zzaj]

Forgive me if I use the phrase, "just what the doctor ordered...", but this was the perfect game to have on the menu after what happened on Monday.

Nice to see Hood, Curry, Layman and Zach step things up a bit in their minutes. Blazers are going to need that, for sure. And dare I say, if those players stay in a groove they will still be tough to beat? I think now being the "underdog", plus the rallying point of Nurkic, plus the opportunity for players locking in their focus knowing they are going to get more PT with CJ and Nurkic out, might actually make Portland a MORE diverse team offensively.

I can see why Stotts is starting Kanter. Despite not being super fluent in the playbook, of all the Centers on the team he's the one that most plays like Nurkic (sans PnR defense, of course). Sometimes I suppose it has to be about keeping the other starters comfortable in their roles. Putting Leonard or Zach in there as a starter would be pretty disruptive to the starting unit offensively.

[monopoman]

Well with this win if the Blazers can go .500 the rest of the way they will have 51 wins. I think that is very doable for this team and they could get greedy and go for maybe 52 or 53 wins if they continue to see strong performances from guys like Curry. Obviously this is against the Bulls but Curry has been lighting it up against all teams lately and has looked very good in the last 5 games. Curry has scored in double figures in every game since CJ went down.

[DusterBuster]

Lillard 2-10 in this game Moe 1-8, no Nurkic no CJ and yet they still have a 25+ point lead.

Having the opponent field a YMCA rec league level team will do that.

[Moonbeam]

Good to see an easy win after the emotional blow of the last game. Atlanta should be tougher and a better way to gauge this variation of the Blazers.

Portland is now 20 games over .500 for the first time since the LMA years.

[Wizenheimer]

I'm not sure I've ever seen Dame play so flat in a game. He had reasons of course, but he'll sure need to up his intensity if Portland is to secure HCA. The remaining 3 games of this road trip will all be challenges and I'd mark Detroit as a heavy favorite

[monopoman]

I'm not sure I've ever seen Dame play so flat in a game. He had reasons of course, but he'll sure need to up his intensity if Portland is to secure HCA. The remaining 3 games of this road trip will all be challenges and I'd mark Detroit as a heavy favorite

Well it's a bit unusual for Damian he looked like a man on a mission to win when CJ went down. I think he was just having a rough game overall, Damian usually rises to the occasion when the **** hits the fan.

[DusterBuster]

I'm not sure I've ever seen Dame play so flat in a game. He had reasons of course, but he'll sure need to up his intensity if Portland is to secure HCA. The remaining 3 games of this road trip will all be challenges and I'd mark Detroit as a heavy favorite

I think when you combine the Nurk thing being so fresh and the type of game everyone knew it was going to be from before tip, I'm not terribly surprised. Dame was probably going half-speed the whole game and was only willing to really give it 100% if the team needed it - which they thankfully didn't.

But yeah, the rest of this game is gonna be rough. I'd put the Atlanta game as a tough one too imo, especially with Trae Young playing like he is. That guy goes all out and you know he's gonna be up and excited to try and show up Dame considering its his first time playing against him (Dame was out for the first Blazers v Hawks matchup).

[Moonbeam]

I think a 2-2 road trip would be a success, all things considered.

[DaVoiceMaster]

There was a lotta love from Lopez after the game. Any chance he comes back next season?

[DusterBuster]

There was a lotta love from Lopez after the game. Any chance he comes back next season?

Honestly, he'd be a great stopgap for Nurk. I'd still sooner see Collins develop more, but if the Blazers could get Lopez back on a 1yr deal, it would help the Blazers get by until Nurk is back.

That said, as last I read a couple days ago, the Bulls want him back and he's willing to take a slight paycut to stay if he gets a long term deal. If the Bulls strike out in FA, it's not hard to think they wouldn't just resign him.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

So odd to see us play terrible and lead by 20 all game. Seth, Hood and Simons got some decent burn though.

Damian is at the next level of being a floor general, I know his numbers don't show anything special from this game but he's not passing where players are, he's passing where he wants them to go, seeing plays before anyone else does. Just such a solid command of the game and his team, reminds me of CP3 in that regard, we are blessed to have a player like that.

I'm glad we picked him up, but Kanter just cannot replace that defense that Nurkic did. Bulls couldn't punish us for it, but when we play another WC playoff team it will be a problem. Nurkic literally took us from bottom 10 to a top 10 defensive team. Mo and Aminu are going to have to step up the help defense.

Lopez is on my short list of "former Blazers I would love to see finish their career in Portland" along with Wes and Davis.