Portland Trail Blazers: 5 more keys to pulling out the Denver series
Rob Ryan
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The Portland Trail Blazers are on the verge of elimination in their opening-round playoff series with Denver. Here are five more keys to pulling out this series.
Another three games passed since my last analysis of the first-round playoff series between the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver. After Portland lost two of the previous three games, here are five keys (and a prediction) for the final game(s) of this series.
1. Robert Covington – Keep up the good work
Aside from the missed dunks, I thought Robert Covington had a great Game 5. RoCo was arguably Portland’s second-best player Tuesday night. So far, he’s outplayed his Denver opposite, Aaron Gordon. In the last few games, Covington has been the best non-Jusuf Nurkic option the Blazers had to try and slow Nicola Jokic down.
RoCo’s last missed dunk definitely took the wind out of Portland’s sails in that second overtime comeback attempt. But Covington hit big threes throughout the game, made his free throws, and helped put Portland in position to even send the game into OT.
Covington is not in Portland to be a core scorer for this team. Olshey brought RoCo in to be a 3-and-D player. He needs to continue doing what he’s doing (minus a few missed dunks), and he will have done his part to help this team win.
2. Norman Powell – Attack the basket
Despite recent results, I like Norman Powell‘s aggression. He’s been attacking the basket, drawing fouls, searching out higher percentage shots. Powell missed some shots in Game 5 after leading the team in scoring the previous game. But he’s got the right idea. With all the jump shooters this roster has, they need more points in the paint.
Powell’s defense improved in Games 3 and 4, but he wasn’t able to lock in as well in Game 5. I’d like to see him guard Denver’s best perimeter player on the court as much as possible. Limiting Michael Porter Jr. and Monte Morris from getting good looks should be a high priority for Norman.