Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog

The 11-15 Portland Trail Blazers are getting 24.7 ppg from Damian Lillard and 19.7 ppg from C.J. McCollum, but third on the list is Al-Farouq Aminu at 10.9 ppg on subpar 39.1% shooting. Allen Crabbe is contributing 10.0 ppg with 49.0% shooting off the bench, which is solid. But ideally there’s be a clear 3rd scoring option. Here’s the Oregonian reporting:

Early in the season, Al-Farouq Aminu looked poised to seize that role. Then Allen Crabbe emerged as a possible third option with a strong start to December. Finally on Monday night at the Moda Center, Gerald Henderson threw his name into the mix with a strong performance off the bench in the Blazers 105-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Henderson scored 19-points, making 7-of-10 shots, including a career-high tying four three-pointers. His night overshadowed Mason Plumlee, who made his own compelling case for possible third option with 15 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

Henderson didn’t force his offense. He made his mark with an opportunistic and timely attack. He scored the Blazers first seven points of the fourth quarter and his reverse layup with 10:37 remaining in the game gave the Blazers their largest lead at 13 points. Two possessions later he added a three-pointer to help the Blazers maintain a double-digit edge.

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on the Portland Trail Blazers bench:

Allen Crabbe is emerging as the Blazers’ best and most consistent scoring threat off the bench.

Over the last five games, the backup shooting guard/small forward has reached double figures in scoring four times and is averaging 11.0 points. During the run, he’s shooting 59.5 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from three-point range, while adding 2.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Twice, Crabbe has been perfect from the field, logging a 7-for-7 outing against the Detroit Pistons and a 5-for-5 performance in the loss to the Grizzlies.

Crabbe said he not only feels more confident, but also can see a more confident player when he watches himself on video.

The Portland Trail Blazers in 2015-16 look nothing like last season’s edition. A lot of key players left, and they’re going to take wins along with them. But as the Oregonian says — and we agree — this year’s Blazers should still be plenty of fun to watch:

The latest and perhaps most dramatic example of this came in an exhibition game Sunday night, when the Blazers overcame a 21-point deficit to beat the Utah Jazz in overtime, 116-111, before 16,532 at the Moda Center.

Never mind that three Jazz starters didn’t play. Or that most of Utah’s key rotation players rested for the bulk of the fourth quarter and overtime after building that sizeable lead. The young-and-hungry Blazers refused to end the night without putting on a show, riding the hot hand of CJ McCollum, the prolific scoring of Damian Lillard and the impressive defense of Ed Davis to outscore Utah 50-27 over the final 17 minutes.

“This is a young team, athletic and we have an All-Star point guard, so every night we’re going to be in games,” Davis said. “We’re going to fight, it’s going to be a long season, it’s going to be a lot of up and downs. But every night we’re going to fight and give it our best effort.”

For much of the night, it looked like it would be one of those nights where the effort wasn’t enough. Instead, with more than one memorable highlight and plenty of late-game drama, the effort and success went hand-in-hand.

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on Damian Lillard, the heart and sole of the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard has managed to play all 82 games in each of his three regular seasons, and to keep things that way may want to cut down on his preseason minutes:

It was the one sight no Trail Blazers fan wanted to see Thursday: Damian Lillard limping off the court.

But there was the Blazers’ star at the end of the third quarter, hobbling off the court with a wince because of a re-aggravated left ankle sprain.

Although Lillard called the injury “minor” it was enough of a scare to cause him to reverse his thinking about his play moving forward this preseason.

“I need to stay off the floor,” Lillard conceded after Thursday’s 118-101 exhibition victory over Golden State.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard averaged 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game last season. Enjoy this video showcasing some of his best highlights: