When Robin Lopez made his return for the Portland Trail Blazers on February 3rd, the team didn’t just get their starting center back, they seem to have found some of their swagger as well. The team is playing fast, well-rounded, confident, and probably most importantly, they are playing tough defense.
Thursday night the Phoenix Suns came into the Moda Center for a nationally televised game against the Blazers.
Two weeks ago the Blazers met this Suns team in Phoenix where the Suns won 118-113. During that game it was painfully evident how much this team missed their big guys in the middle. Not only was Lopez missing from the lineup that night, LaMarcus Aldridge was absent from the team with a torn ligament in his thumb.
What a difference a couple weeks can make.
Aldridge and Lopez were both back into the starting lineup and the Blazers were poised to win their second straight game in a few weeks.
The game got off to a slow, sloppy start. Both teams were forcing bad shots and turning the ball over. To start the game, the two teams were a combined 3-15 from the field. These two teams are not offensive slouches, as evidenced by their first matchup. Phoenix averages 106.6 points per game, Portland 102.4, so when the game was 6-5 almost halfway through the first quarter you started to look in the record books for how low we could go with this game.
As the first half continued it became apparent that Portland’s defense was here to play on Thursday night.
When the first half was said and done, the score was 46-35, Portland lead. Phoenix’s poor shooting contributed to the season low, but Portland’s defense was continuously forcing tough shots and turnovers. With Lopez in the middle to anchor the defense, Portland held the Suns to season low in points and first half field goal percentage of 32.6%.
Portland was able to hold on down the stretch, despite multiple runs by the Suns, because of their defense. The Blazers offense hot-and-cold all night. They shot 44% from the field and an awful 26% behind the 3-point line.
It was the defense that won the game. The defense forced 16 turnovers, had 7 steals, had 7 blocks, and ended up having a rebound advantage of 15.
Those numbers are just numbers but when seen in the entirety of the game, which the Blazers won 108-87, those are some huge statistics. Statistics that were completely foreign before Lopez returned to the lineup.
The Blazers now go on the road to face the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets, two Western Conference contenders. If the Blazers want to be able to carry some momentum into the All-Star break, they need to be able to live up to the old adage of “good defense travels well.” If the Blazers can beat the Rondo-less Mavericks and the Howard-less Rockets before coming home to a matchup against the Lakers, this team will once again start to show up on the league’s radar.
It is all dependent on their defense. If this team can bring the effort necessary to outwork their opponent on the defensive end of the court, Portland can beat any team in the league.
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