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Game 36 vs. DET: Oh, there they are

On Monday night the Detroit Pistons came to town, and the Trail Blazers welcomed them warmly.

Detroit's missing the most productive player on a rebuilding roster, so by all appearances they've packed it in for the season and boast the Association's worst record.

Of course, with all the stinkers the Blazers have put up lately, there was some risk that this game would become another. During the first half we were kept guessing, but at the end of the second quarter the Blazers finally started pulling away, which led to a final result of 106-135.

Recaps

That first half

The account is simple: the Blazers tipped off with a still-sick center on the court, and just started integrating a new player into their gameplan.

With Jusuf Nurkic back out and Gary Payton finally seen, things rapidly improved…

But for all their futility the Pistons have a bit of spring in their step. Two teams showed up to play, in fact.

Detroit's comparatively outstanding first half came because they shot remarkably well themselves, notwithstanding competent Portland defense, particularly from the guards. Detroit took the home team out of their rhythm by throwing double-teams at Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons whenever they were on the ball, essentially forcing Jerami Grant to do the heavy lifting on offense.

Portland was never in complete trouble, since with all those double-teams there was plenty of space provided for the other players to set screens and score.

Once Detroit's shooting cooled off, a Portland victory was a sure thing.

On the subject of Gary Payton II

The younger Payton offers many qualities about which we've yet to learn, but one thing we already know is that he gets defense—cares about defense—to a degree far greater than nearly all the players the Blazers have had on their roster over the past several years. He reads the court and quickly motions beware to his teammates, and his mellow body language with Coach Billups suggests that he's recognized for induplicable skills.

…However he rates, we should like the cut of his jib. Payton has an enthusiasm for bothering assignments, for sticking with them on the court, that strikes this writer as extraordinary. Drew Eubanks and Josh Hart have made themselves famous in Portland for their sticktoitiveness and willingness to take on thankless defensive assignments, but Payton appears to take that gung-ho to an even higher level.

Look forward to more and better as Payton more nearly approaches the removal of his minutes restriction.

Postscripts

  • The Pistons started those frequent double-teams on Dame and Ant by building a wall at the three point line, and hoping that not many leakers would get through. In practice it gave too few men too much court to cover, but for most of the first half it was still vexing to watch.
  • Nurk started the game back, but when he left during the second quarter it was through the tunnel. His attempt at indefatigability didn't work out, but for that we should blame his body rather than him personally, and be grateful that he was willing to make the effort.
  • You know that thing where Josh Hart takes the quick rebound or the outlet off the turnover, then runs it down for a layup at the other end after running the obstacle course of opposing defenders? That just what he does, really.
  • The officials gave Detroit six more free-throw attempts than to the Blazers, but more importantly they couldn't seem to leave the game alone at all. The spectators were unhappy about that, to put it mildly.
  • For all intents and purposes Payton's minutes came out of the starters' allocation, while the partial absence of Nurkic and ongoing absence of Justise Winslow encouraged Billups to look down the rotation. One result of this allocation was relatively long run to Sharpe and Walker again, and Sharpe especially did not disappoint.
  • However, the usual manner of keeping a starter with the reserves might be preventing the reserves as a unit from flexing as much as they could, for want of applied leadership from one of their own number. The staff may need to take those training wheels off, if they intend to get the most possible from the reserves in time for the playoffs.

As these words are being written the Blazers are at the Target Center, tilting for a third positive result against the Timberwolves on the season. Following tonight's game are visits to Indy and Toronto, then 10 out of 11 games at home, the sole road entry in that stretch coming in Denver for the fifth of those 11 games. The game tipped off shortly after 5 p.m. PST and should end by 7:30, and hopefully you'll be seeing the next of these in the morning.