Portland Trail Blazers: Is the clock ticking down on Chauncey Billups?
Defensive cohesion and a diamond in the rough
Vets Step up
Lineup-lotto seems to have finally yielded a set of starters who are focused on defense. It is just a small sample size, but the recent Anfernee Simons-led units show big improvements. With the outside shut down, the Blazers are once again seeing what Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington can do when locked in.
In the last five games, Nurkic averaged 15.4 points, 12.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, all an increase over his season averages. Atl the time Covington has come around. The versatile forward averaged 12.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game on 47 percent field goal shooting and 48 percent from behind the arc. Does their improvement feed on how much Simons and Nassir Little have improved in defending opposing guards and wings?
Robert Covington said get that outta here ❌
(via @trailblazers)pic.twitter.com/7pf3xNL3TK
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) January 8, 2022
The young guys too
The youngsters are thriving over the last five games. Not only has Little been a joy to watch on defense, but he’s also averaging 13.2 points, 5.8 boards on 42 percent shooting from three-point range. He’s proved he can hang with good players in extended minutes. Little looks more and more like a starter/above-average bench player moving forward.
Then there is Simons, the diamond in the rough who finally got comfortable enough to play to his potential. Since the new year, he’s averaging a whopping 27.8 points with 7.6 assists while shooting 51 percent from the field and 45 percent from downtown. It’s impressive how good Portland has it when it comes to guards under 6’4”, Lillard, CJ, Norman Powell, and now Simons.
Next: Page 3 – Second half will be the judge