Notebook: Trail Blazers Hold On For Thrilling Win Over Sixers

Notes, observations and analysis from the Portland Trail Blazers' thrilling 118-114 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

The biggest difference in Portland's hard-fought win? Three-point shooting. The Blazers opened the game by hitting seven of their first eight threes, and shot 17-of-38 on triples overall. Philadelphia, on the other hand, went just 6-of-27 from deep–not enough makes nor attempts.
Defenders' insistence to play a full step off Carmelo Anthony beyond the arc might be the most vexing personnel mistake Blazers opponents are making regularly this season. At 36, 'Melo is absent the lightning first step he once owned to get all the way to the rim and finish. The Sixers might be leaving Portland with a win if their tepid defensive pressure on Anthony early in the fourth quarter prevented his pair of pull-up triples. Instead, 'Melo got the hot hand, scoring 15 points on six straight shots early in the fourth quarter to keep Portland alive until the end.
All the dribbling, stopping and starting it takes for Damian Lillard to beat traps–which Philly began deploying late in his red-hot first quarter–high up the floor is taxing. Far easier is targeting a mismatch and taking advantage until the opponent adjusts. Against Philadelphia, that meant Lillard seeking out Furkan Korkmaz to predictably efficient results. Lillard is sometimes better off simply attacking in isolation than in the flow of the offense or high pick-and-roll. When the opponent low-resistance switches like the Sixers did with Korkmaz, that will almost always be the case. The other notable possession Lillard mismatch hunted, freeing himself from Ben Simmons? His floater over a switched Tobias Harris to put Portland up 114-109 with 1:15 left– just his second basket after the first period.
Speaking of Simmons, he was the best player on the floor from the opening tip in a game both Joel Embiid and Lillard at times staked forceful cases for MVP. He had 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists on 12 shots, dominant numbers that fail to do Simmons' real impact justice given his outstanding individual defense on Lillard. Most encouraging for the Sixers? Simmons was aggressive in leveraging his physical tools on offense, pushing in transition for early post-ups at the rim and running snug pick-and-rolls with Embiid. Robert Covington is a very stout post defender; Simmons made him look small throughout Thursday's action.
Enes Kanter was a monster on the offensive glass against Philadelphia. He had four offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone, finishing the game with seven by aggressively mashing defenders in the paint with the ball in the air. Kanter, unsurprisingly, was absolutely abused by Embiid defensively, but played a crucial role in Portland's win regardless.
Gary Trent Jr. was quiet after scoring 15 points in the first quarter, and Anfernee Simons made his greatest impact during a brief personal scoring burst. Still, both players connected on big shots in the second half to maintain the Blazers' momentum when it was desperately needed.

Next up: Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:00 p.m. on Friday at Moda Center