Following the Memphis Grizzlies’ overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans, it became a do-or-die scenario for the Portland Trail Blazers to advance in the NBA Cup. Portland unfortunately fell short at home, losing 115-102 to the San Antonio Spurs.
Both teams were shorthanded in this contest, and while stars De’Aaron Fox and Deni Avdija rose to the occasion with 37 points each for their respective teams, shooting was the deciding factor in this contest. The Blazers, playing arguably the most significant game the franchise has had in years, shot 25% from beyond the arc.
Avdija was 5-of-8 from three, meaning that without his shooting in the equation, the rest of Portland’s roster shot 4-of-36 (11.1%).
This isn’t a small sample size or an instance of a young Blazers roster needing more experience to play in these playoff-type atmosphere games; it’s simply the flaw in the roster that general manager Joe Cronin has assembled. The only exception was Jerami Grant, who uncharacteristically missed all five of his three-point attempts as a career 36.6% shooter from deep.
Shooting is the Blazers’ fatal flaw
This loss was disappointing considering the Blazers were slight favorites against a road Spurs team without Victor Wembanyama, among others. But unfortunately, it shouldn’t be surprising that the lack of shooting was their downfall.
Portland has ranked in the bottom five in three-point percentage the past two seasons, and is currently third-worst in the association at 32.7% this season, ahead of only the 2-16 Indiana Pacers and 5-14 Dallas Mavericks.
It’s almost as if you need shooters in order to be successful in the modern NBA?
It’s great that Portland has an established defensive identity and a clear direction for its roster, but the analytics show this will never work if these aren’t two-way players who can effectively space the floor in today’s NBA.
Their untimely backcourt injuries certainly played a role, particularly with Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson still sidelined. But that’s the harsh reality of the NBA, given the 82-game schedule and a pace that’s, on average, faster than ever.
It raises the question of why, outside of Grant and the virtually unplayable Duop Reath, Portland doesn’t have a single reliable shooter on its bench.
There were stretches of this game when Kris Murray and Sidy Cissoko shared the floor; two sub-25% three-point shooters together is an offensive recipe for disaster. This isn’t a knock on interim head coach Tiago Splitter, as his options were limited, and there was essentially no correct answer.
Even in terms of typical starters, Portland extended Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara before the season, but Sharpe has somehow trended downward in three-point shooting each season since entering the league, while Camara is regressing from the unsustainable 37.5% he posted last season.
This NBA Cup loss isn’t the end of the world, and we still question its true significance this early on in the season. Still, it’s somewhat successful in that it created a playoff atmosphere, making it clear that the Blazers’ young core isn’t ready to take that next leap.
It exposed a fatal flaw in their rebuilding approach, as none of their building blocks outside of Avdija should be considered reliable shooters.
