With Brandon Roy missing for the Blazers and Vince Carter returning, this game looked like it was going to be a blowout…and it was…just not the way you would expect it.  With the Blazers missing Roy, they didn’t have that go-to guy who you can give the ball to and watch him work.  It showed in the stats, the Blazers only attempted 10 foul shots (hitting on 9 of them), and they were outscored in the paint 44-32.  So how did they win?

What The Blazers Did Right?

Shooting The Three

Without Roy, the Blazers needed to find a way to make up the points he would have provided if he played.  They did this a the three point line.  The Blazers shot 52% from three, hitting on 11 of 21 threes.

For all of the stuff that Andre Miller gets, he is still an affective player with his back to the basket.  His opponents know this as well, because they have their eyes on him.  This allows for Juwan Howard to find a soft spot in the defense, and he cuts to it.

Miller hits Howard with the pass.  The combination of the post up with the pass to the middle sucks every Magic into the paint.  Howard is a veteran and he recognized that the Magic all were sunk in before he even made the catch.  This allowed him to turn and pass just as he made the catch, hitting a wide open Rudy Fernandez.

Rudy Fernandez makes the catch, and takes a wide open three.  The Magic defender is able to get his hand up, but he is too far out to bother the shot, and Fernandez knocks down the three.

Execution

Also, without Brandon Roy, the Blazers had to find a way to get the ball into the paint.  Once the ball gets into the paint, it leads to either made baskets or open shots on the outside.  Since the Blazers couldn’t just give the ball to Roy and let him attack the basket, they had to execute everything perfectly so they can get into the paint.

As Andre Miller brings up the basketball, Steve Blake sets a downscreen for LaMarcus Aldridge.

Aldridge comes off the scree and sets a screen of his own for Miller.  So what was the point of the initial screen?  Probably to take Dwight’s attention away from helping on the screen for Andre Miller.  Look where Howard is positioned.  He is in no type of position to help on on the screen at all.  He is too high on Aldridge, so when Miller comes off on the screen, he wouldn’t be able to hedge effectively.

With Howard not being able to hedge properly and with Jameer Nelson forced to stay with Steve Blake on the outside (Blake was 4-6 from three this game), this gives Andre Miller a wide open lane to drive the basketball.

He gets to the rim and finishes strong.

What The Magic Did Wrong?

Turnovers

The Magic turned the ball over way too much against Portland, and not only that, but these turnovers lead to points for the Blazers.  Throughout this whole post, we talked about Portland “making up” Roy’s points, and this is another way they did that, points off the Magic’s turnovers.  The Magic turned the ball over 12 times, and these 12 turnovers lead to 22 points for the Blazers.

Here the Magic are out and running towards the end of the first quarter.  It is a 5 on 3 fast break, and Portland’s defender (I believe it’s Jeff Pendergraph) is in a real tough spot.  He needs to make a decision to either stop J.J. Redick, or drop back and defend the lead man on the break.

It’s a tough decision, but J.J. Redick made it much easier for him.  Redick stops his dribble a few feet outside the three point line.  This doesn’t work because it allows Pendergraph to drop off and defend the cutter (the trailing Blazer is able to close out on Redick if he decides to shoot).  Redick should have forced the action and at least dribbled it to the elbow.  This would have forced Pendergraph to make a decision, and if he came out, he could have hit the lead Magic for the lay-up.  If Pendergraph dropped off, Redick had a easy shot inside the paint.

Instead, Redick tried to make the pass, and it is deflected by the Blazers’ defender.

This turnover leads to a dunk by the Blazers giving them momentum going into the second quarter.