How Portland's Defensive Execution Is Slowly, Subtly Coming Around
Portland's biggest problem on defense is personnel.
That was the case even before Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter, two of the most physically limited defenders in the league, emerged this season as Terry Stotts’ favorite options off the bench. It’s just extremely difficult to build a stout, successful defense around a pair of undersized guards whose basketball identities were forged on the other end of the floor.
Even the Utah Jazz, with one of the longest-standing and ingrained defensive infrastructures in basketball, fall apart on defense without Rudy Gobert. Utah’s second-ranked 107.4 defensive rating jumps nearly five points without the presumptive Defensive Player of the Year on the floor, per NBA.com/stats.
Jusuf Nurkic, impactful as he can be, certainly isn’t Gobert, and Stotts not the defensive tactician of Quin Snyder. There’s a wide gulf between Kanter and Derrick Favors on defense, despite the latter’s waning explosiveness as a rim-protector. Even Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell, another tandem of high-paid, undersized star guards, stand a cut above Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum defensively.
It’s those widespread personnel shortcomings that pushed Portland to embrace a more active defensive approach in 2020-21. It hasn’t worked, obviously, wholesale struggles on that side of the ball owed to consistently lacking engagement, understanding and communication. For the season’s vast majority, making in-game adjustments to failing pregame strategy only made matters worse for the Blazers, too.
Not anymore, at least in Portland’s two most recent games. The Blazers fell a single score shy of victories in back-to-back losses to the LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets, but finally, provided real room for some optimism by how they successfully implemented on-the-fly tweaks defensively.
Stotts called a quick timeout just more than a minute into the second quarter against LA, after DeMarcus Cousins used multiple dribbles and several seconds to easily score on Anthony. Post defense is one of 'Melo's only positive attributes as a defender, and Cousins, ravaged by injury, is a shell of the dominant player he was three years ago.
Still, leaving the former All-Stars alone on an island proved a losing proposition for Portland – one Stotts didn't want to risk again.
On the Blazers' next possession, following that timeout from Stotts, the Clippers went back to Cousins again late in the shot clock.
But instead of letting Boogie go to work on 'Melo alone, let alone any other size mismatch in Portland's small-ball lineup, Portland first switches a Cousins ball screen before sending another defender at him in the post. Nassir Little, crucially, doubles Cousins from the baseline on the flight of the ball – even briefly pointing for Norman Powell to slide down and help the helper before arriving.
Cousins makes a quick read, but Powell reacts even faster, disrupting a dish to Patrick Patterson with his arm, allowing Little enough time to fly back into the play and secure a stop.
That possession served as a catalyst of sorts for Portland. Powell and Little's palpable sense of urgency and connectivity set a clear example for their teammates to follow, and showed Stotts that a more dynamic, aggressive defense would suit his team best against LA. It's no coincidence that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson played the last 14 minutes of that game, spearheading Portland's switch-heavy defense at small-ball five.
Nikola Jokic, obviously, is better now than prime Cousins ever was, but Boogie is still a recent predecessor to his devastating perimeter versatility – especially now that Jokic is in the best shape of his career. Nurkic learned that the hard way early in Portland's heartbreaking loss to Denver, getting absolutely roasted by Jokic off the bounce for a straight-line drive dunk.
The problem for Nurkic, and pretty much every other center in basketball, is that Jokic is now just as dangerous a shooter as he is a driver. Close-out short in pick-and-pop, for instance, and he'll casually drain a long-armed triple from the top of the key.
Look at Nurkic on the possession below, though. He points for Powell to stay high as Will Barton comes around the re-screen, fearing a pass back to the popping Jokic for three. But Powell stays with the ball, leaving Nurkic to close-out to the arc and Lillard to dig over from the wing without any chance of getting an effective contest.
The Blazers didn't make that same mistake again after intermission, a big reason why they forced the Nuggets into a 100.0 offensive rating and 35.6 percent shooting in the second half.
Automatically switching Jokic pops wouldn't be enough by itself, though. On several occasions, Portland's smalls proved stout enough under that duress to prevent Jokic from getting a good look immediately, affording their teammates ample time to offer pointed help.
Initial defense and secondary help on Jokic in switching situations doesn't get much better than this.
The Blazers' physical deficiencies aren't their only problem. They lack a certain degree of instinct and assertiveness defensively, too, especially when making snap decisions that – often for reasons unknown, frankly – don't appear to be part of the game-plan.
Pre-switching ball screens in late-clock situations has never been more en vogue in the NBA, but you wouldn't know it the way Portland gets regularly confused when deploying that gambit. Check out Powell and Enes Kanter on this late third-quarter possession against the Boston Celtics, another one-point loss.
Powell clearly prepares to switch onto Robert Williams III as Jayson Tatum burns clock, leaving Romeo Langford alone in the corner. Kanter sticks with Williams when the latter goes to set the ball screen, though, despite Powell and the bench ostensibly calling for a switch. The Blazers double the ball instead, with Powell and Anthony failing to communicate how to best zone up behind the play, leading to an easy and-1 for Boston.
Portland was far more dialed in to pre-switching versus the Clippers a week later.
Anfernee Simons, looking better than ever defensively of late, first points for McCollum to take Nic Batum, correctly assessing that Paul George wanted to target him in pick-and-roll. The veteran Clippers notice almost instantly, Patterson sprinting from behind Anthony on the other side of the floor in hopes of catching Portland off guard. But Anthony sees it all the way, motioning for Little to take Patterson. Just to be safe, McCollum even gestures for Anthony to pick up Luke Kennard in the corner as Little is about to switch onto George.
George splashes a three in Little's face anyway, a frustrating result that belies the Blazers' encouraging process.
Portland, by the way, has a 112.9 defensive rating since Powell's debut, 21st in the league, per NBA.com/stats. Its 106.3 defensive rating with Nurkic on the floor over that timeframe is an easy team-best, and a hair better than the New York Knicks' third-ranked mark overall.
Those numbers paint an overly rosy portrait of the Blazers' play on defense over the last month, though. They include Portland's 133-85 shellacking of the tanking Oklahoma City Thunder, and have come mostly against opponents that are subpar or missing marquee players. Jamal Murray was out for Denver, Kawhi Leonard didn't play in the Clippers game, Jaylen Brown was absent versus the Celtics, LaMelo Ball was sidelined for the Charlotte Hornets and the Toronto Raptors played without Kyle Lowry.
There's only so much encouragement to glean from Portland's statistical improvement on defense, basically. But the film doesn't lie, and Stotts' team has undoubtedly taken small strides in recent games to account for its lacking personnel defensively.
Can swarming small-ball lineups, well-timed help on superstars and pre-switch gambits fix all that ails the Blazers on defense? No way. Significant differences can be made on those small margins, though, and Portland, finally, is starting to do it as the most defining stretch of the season tips off.