Trail Blazers Fall To James Harden And Short-Handed Nets

Notes, observations, analysis and clips from the Portland Trail Blazers' 116-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.

The Blazers were on the wrong end of video-review logistics again, barely more than a week after Damian Lillard's drawn charge in the waning moments of their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves was overturned. That review only occurred, remember, after the Wolves' coaching staff lobbied the officiating crew into triggering an automatic second look at the charge call because Lillard was in the vicinity of the restricted area. Steve Nash didn't have to stoop to those antics on Tuesday; it was Terry Stotts who called for a review of Robert Covington's foul on James Harden with 16 seconds left and the Nets up by three. Replay confirmed what looked like a clean steal on the floor, and the call was indeed overturned, leading to a jump ball won by Derrick Jones Jr. But Brooklyn played the foul game from there, sending Covington to the line where he hit just one of two free throws. Obviously, Portland would have been better off if the correct call was made in real time; Covington was in the process of streaking the other way for a dunk when the whistle blew. Just like against Minnesota, odds are that replay semantics going against Portland didn't rob the team of a win, though. Brooklyn would have kept fouling and sending the Blazers to the line rather than let Lillard or C.J. McCollum launch a game-tying three attempt.
Portland sent a double-team at James Harden on Brooklyn's very first half-court possession of the game. And not just any double, but one that came as Harden was still in the backcourt. Joe Harris' resulting wide-open three-pointer was actually a preview of things to come even though the Blazers opted for less radical defensive approaches on Harden from there on out. It didn't much matter, though, as Harden picked apart the extra attention Portland threw at him with masterful poise and patience. He dropped 17 assists on Tuesday, a number that would have been much higher if the Nets shot better than 9-of-30 from three. But just as impactful as Harden's recorded assists were his countless hockey assists that don't get tracked in traditional box scores. He went just 7-of-24 against the Blazers, misfiring on all seven of his three-point attempts in a game both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant missed. Harden absolutely dominated from the opening tip anyway.

The shooting struggles that plagued Lillard and McCollum in Portland's blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks lingered on Tuesday. The Blazers' star backcourt combined to shoot 7-of-26 from three against the Nets, hardly making up for it from inside the arc by totaling just three two-pointers between them. Lillard made all nine of his free throws and also dished out nine assists, doing his best to make Brooklyn pay for trapping him in ball-screen action and overloading the strong side of the floor when he drew a favorable switch. It just wasn't Lillard's night on the whole, though, and McCollum didn't do much to help him. Often bottled up off the dribble by a relentless Harris, McCollum too regularly forced the action offensively, failing to get his teammates involved when he was stymied in isolation. This is just his fifth game back from two months away from NBA basketball, and it showed on both ends.
The Blazers were bad defensively again. They were at times awful matching up in transition, slow rotating behind Harden's point of attack and confused on where to bring help to the ball from the weak side. Jones and Covington had their moments as individual and help defenders, bringing the typical activity and intensity Portland has come to expect from its two best defenders. Jones even shook off some obvious knee pain to manage an isolation stop on Harden as the game's outcome hung in the balance. But Harden is literally impossible to defend one-on-one for 48 minutes, and what really makes him special is his ability to map the floor and make the right passing decision as defenses sell out to stop him. The Blazers' help defense wasn't nearly good enough on Tuesday, an especially damning sign because they clearly came into this game with a workable plan in place.
Jusuf Nurkic, obviously, can't get back soon enough. But his presence alone won't coax Portland into doing the little things they'll need to be great at to manage viable defense come the postseason. First to the floor wins, the old adage goes, one that Blake Griffin is apparently more comfortable with than McCollum. At least Jones atoned for McCollum's passive approach to 50/50 balls later in the game, laying out for a loose ball near midcourt in the third quarter.

Jones had a handful of dunks in this game, including three in the third quarter alone. He's really getting the timing down of skulking along the baseline and making himself available for lobs and dump-offs as defenses leave him to stop Lillard. Jones can't fly in for dunks every time he touches the ball, though, and his 1-of-8 shooting from deep looms larger than it seems. Five of those attempts came from the corner, while all of them were open looks.

Lob City 😉#RipCity
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— Orlando Sanchez (@orlandokgw) March 24, 2021

Enes Kanter was on the floor in the clutch, a change after Stotts has opted for small-ball of late during the most critical moments of close games. He helped Portland stay within striking distance in crunch-time, owning the offensive glass in the fourth quarter for multiple putbacks. Kanter was also the main beneficiary of the Nets sending extra defenders at Lillard, feasting as a roll man early and mashing smaller defenders as an offensive rebounder after switches. Exploitable as Kanter was defensively, numbers like 19 points and 19 rebounds – including 10(!) offensive boards – only lie so much. Don't get too excited about his six assists, though. Four of them came via dribble-handoffs, and the other two off simple kickouts to wide-open shooters.

Next up: at Miami Heat on Thursday, 4:30 p.m. (PST)