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What’s next for the Blazers’ defense?

Portland showed new wrinkles against the Raptors and the Kings. Can they turn their defense around?

NBA: Sacramento Kings at Portland Trail Blazers Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

It’s no secret how bad the Portland Trail Blazers have been on defense. They have a hard time stopping the 3-pointer, they don’t rotate well, and their pick-and-roll defense has been atrocious.

Portland ranks in the bottom five in opponent points per-play for both pick-and-roll ball handlers and roll men according to NBA.com, and recently we saw Terry Stotts throw out a few wrinkles to try and curb that.

And, by gum, it worked! Sort of.

The Trail Blazers were able to slow the No. 1 offense in the NBA, pushing the Raptors well below their season average in efficiency during a close loss on Monday, 95-91.

On Wednesday, the Blazers mixed it up again, this time applying specific techniques in hybrid fashion as they stopped a six-game losing streak with a 102-89 win over the Sacramento Kings.

This week’s breakdown covers an important topic, and that’s Portland’s pick-and-roll defense, how it’s changed recently, and what we might expect to see from Terry Stotts in the future if it proves to be successful moving ahead:

Topics in the video above include:

  • Portland’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad defense.
  • The switch in tactics against the Raptors.
  • A reminder that you don’t have to watch JJ Hickson play basketball anymore.
  • An idea of what Stotts could do for gameplans from here on out.

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