Utah at Portland
Time: 9:30 PM CT (ESPN)
Spread: POR -3.5
Total: 202
Odds c/o 5dimes
Portland Notes:
The Trail Blazers are now drawing consideration for being the possessors of the NBA’s best backcourt. Lillard and C.J. McCollum are two high-scoring interchangeable pieces in the backcourt that function as well as any other in the NBA. Sure, there is the tandem of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry in Golden State, but outside of that, and possibly Washington’s Bradley Beal and John Wall…and Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston…Okay, you get the point:
There are a lot of great backcourts, and Portland’s pairing is right up there with all of them.
What is not there in great abundance is front court talent and depth. Jusuf Nurkic is a very good starting center, but he seldom plays huge minutes. Behind him, the Blazers turn to either an inept Meyers Leonard or a rookie in Zach Collins.
The recourse for Portland is often just to go small, and play Al-Farouq Aminu at the 4-spot. Aminu posts a humble nine points and seven rebounds per game, but is a staunch defender who brings a lot of intangibles to the table. Similar things can be said about Maurice Harkless. The Blazers also have some good playmakers off the bench in the form of Shabazz Napier and Evan Turner, but depth remains a concern with so many other teams sporting high powered benches.
Even so, Portland is a team that will ride Lillard. He is averaging 27 points per game this season and is fearless and confident in crunch time. While Portland may not be a true contender quite yet, it more than has the makings of becoming one, which is astounding considering the team gutted four of its five starters when LaMarcus Aldridge split for San Antonio. Since that time, Portland has done nothing but add the right role players to play around Lillard, while handing him the keys to the franchise. While Lillard is not tearing up the court, he is dropping great rap. What is not to like about “Dame D.O.L.L.A.?” Perhaps this postseason will be his chance to take the great stage and amass yet more fans as Portland continues to make its climb towards actual contention in the upcoming seasons.
UTAH notes:
Louisville product Donovan Mitchell is making his run for the 2018 Rookie of the Year Award. The Jazz now is playing a faster pace to utilize the skills of rookie Donovan Mitchell. He had 35 points and five rebounds on 10 of 20 shooting (5 of 11 threes) in the 99-88 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Mitchell is looking like a future superstar, and the Jazz has some nice young pieces around him, but his emergence may shape the future of the Jazz’ building effort.?With an offensive cog like Mitchell around Gobert, it may be that the Jazz shapes its attack around Mitchell, with Rudy
Gobert simply being the defensive anchor he is. Mitchell had another 40 point outing in the Jazz’s 129-97 win over Phoenix the last outing.
Mitchell is averaging 24.6 points per game over his last 10 outings while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor. In January, he averaged 23.4 points per game, no longer showing any signs of all of being a rookie. Mitchell also comes up with 1.4 steals per game over his past 10 games, while having scored 33 percent of his 9.6 threes attempted per game. Mitchell was taken No. 13 overall but is definitely in the top-3 of whatever becomes of this draft class. He has the shooting range and slashing ability to become nearly unstoppable, and the Jazz may not have had a weapon of his caliber since the Stockton/Malone era. He’s now averaging 19.7 points per game and it likely will be 20-plus by season’s end.
“Spida,” as Michell refers to himself, is better than the likes of Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and the multitude of semi-stars the Jazz have rostered, and the Pacers are much about a young prospect of their own in what could be an exciting showdown between two of the league’s best-unheralded talents.
