Game Thread EARLY/MORNING GAME! GAME# 22: BLAZERS @ KNICKS - FEBRUARY 6, 2021 - SATURDAY, 10:00, NBCSNW

the Knicks don't make a habit of playing at 1 in the afternoon either. So, the game was 6 hours earlier than their normal; this wasn't just the Blazers dealing with a different start time

in other words, 6 of the 9 hours are a wash...both teams were dealing with it. The 3 hour time zone difference was mitigated by the fact the Blazers arrived in Houston on the 27th. They've been in the central or eastern time zones for 10 days. They have adjusted, or at least they should have by this morning

 

That’s why Melo has to be on the floor at the end of games.

 

Hey @GaryTrentSupporter do you care to back up your historically horrible take on Dame needing to go or do you just put bullshit like that out there to trigger people or are you in agreement that it was one of the worst takes in the history of this forum and that's saying a lot?

Anyway, good luck trying to understand the game and feel free to follow any team other than the Blazers. Bye the way, I'm all for different points of view, it's what makes the world great but I'm against destructive nonsense and although this isn't destructive to the world it is to our world as Blazers fans. The above questions are not rhetorical, so I'd love answers.

 

I don't mind that idea. I just need Melo to realize that he isn't all NBA Melo or all-star Melo or even effective starting Melo anymore. When he's in the game he should get shots that role players take not shots like fade away turnaround Js . He needs to use bully ball/old man game and his ability to hit open spot up shots. If he does these things and breaks off his defender every once in a while, he's a great offensive weapon off of the bench who is really giving good effort with his bad defense... that makes me want him in during the 4th when we need scoring.

 

I understand the idea but when the roster gets a bit healthier i would rather not have Melo out there in the fourth other than specific end game situations. Usually defense needs to get tighter in the fourth.
One thing Melo does do well is inbound the ball which is a huge help when the inbounder can catch and shoot.

 

Fun fact: Blazers were actually 1.5 point favorites at tip and lost by 11.

Underdogs? LMAO.

The Knicks 2nd unit knew how to break a trap with a new coach, young roster, and same limited practice time. 9 seasons later and Stotts still hasn't bothered teaching his team a way to beat it even though we all know its coming.

 

Played Lillard 38+ minutes even though he could barely move just so we could catch a double digit loss.

Amazing.

 

Actually, it's already the fourth 1 p.m. or earlier Eastern time start the Knicks have had this season. In fact, it's the second Saturday in a row they've tipped off at 1 p.m.

Their home game with the Heat today is a 1 p.m. tip.

 

Another interesting stat about the Knicks playing early game is that they're 3-1 this year in noon or 1 p.m. starts. They beat the Celtics by 30 on Jan. 17 in a 1 p.m. tip. The only loss was against the Clippers and that was a two-point game in the fourth quarter before LA eventually pulled away at the end.

 

Actually right up to about 15 mins before the game most had the Knicks as favs. But a late surge put Portland up. Probably due to Lillard and DJJ coming off the Injured list.
But yes at the beginning of the game the Blazers were favored.
You can see the line movements here.
https://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/od...ement/trail-blazers-@-knicks.cfm/date/02-6-21

Still i don't see this as a "Bad Loss" in that situation where they got 11 straight shots and 6 clean open looks from 3 at the end that didn't fall. How many times does that happen? Certainly not on a 3-3 roadie as undermanned as they have been with Lillard playing at 50%.

Not sure where the "LMAO" comes from? If you watched and actually paid attention you are fully aware of where 11 points came from. Could very easily been a win. Dame and Gary don't miss those shots often. Melo had a couple clean looks as well.
Why aren't you praising the defense for 6 straight stops to end the game? Guess that doesn't fit right? Didn't the Blazers "Break the Trap" getting all of those clean looks at the end?

Now if you were saying something like "Why did Stotts have Lillard in the game at all?" Now that i could agree with.

Missed your podcast yesterday so not sure if you had asked those questions or gave credit for those defensive stops. I apologize if you did bring those issue up?

 

[QUOTE="hoopsjock, post: 5093894, member: 29504"

The Knicks 2nd unit knew how to break a trap with a new coach, young roster, and same limited practice time. 9 seasons later and Stotts still hasn't bothered teaching his team a way to beat it even though we all know its coming.[/QUOTE]I noticed that also; I know they got at least two wide open threes in those situations, and I don't think they really got hurt by any of the traps.

 

so, out of 24 games, the Knicks have had 4 early starts. Out of 22 games, the Blazers have had 2 early starts

I think what I'm seeing is not an early start issue for Portland yesterday. Just a somewhat common on-the-road issue. Portland didn't lose the game because of time zones or an early start. They lost because they gave up 50% shooting on FG's and 43% on three's while losing the rebound battle by 10; they lost because they only shot 50% on FT's while only having 15 assists on 37 FG's; they lost because Trent-Hood-Jones-Melo combined to score 31 points on 41 shots

Dame needs more help than that...a lot more. He actually had a great game considering he was fighting thru injuries and fatigue. But nobody else on the team played above their norms. Blazers aren't good enough to survive that

 

I think what I'm seeing is people who decided out of a whole litany of things that were listed as being contributing factors to the loss a couple of guys keep wanting to take issue with my saying the start time was likely one of them because they apparently don't want to ever understand there are reasons that go into a loss.

Nowhere did I say it was THE reason. Nowhere did I say it was out of line. I talked about some of the same stats you are bringing up now. The difference is I'm putting them into the context of WHY those things might have occurred.

If you guys want to make a mountain out of a molehill, you're doing a great job of it, because you are stuck on this one thing out of many and keep posting your opinion on it and when I come back with facts and data you keep trying to defend your molehill with minor adjustments and more opinion.

You can say they didn't do this or that because of the Knicks. They didn't shoot 50% at the foul line because of the Knicks. They didn't miss 10 shots in the restricted area because of the Knicks. I think it's fair to surmise that the very early start time played a part in that.

The Knicks play weekend matinees with regularity. It's something they've always done. They've done it several times recently. They're doing it today. They did it last week. They are successful when they do it. The Blazers played one other game and even that game tipped off 2 hours later than this and it was against a team that, like the Blazers, doesn't play a lot of matinees.

And, since I guess everyone else is being pedantic here, I'll join in. There's no such thing as "somewhat common." It's either common or it isn't.

 

When they missed shots it was in the fourth quarter when they trailed by double digits most of the 2nd half.

 

I do understand that. They pushed it as close as 4 but never closer. Doesn't detract from the fact that they played solid defense for the last 5-6 minutes and could not capitalize because they simply missed wide open looks. It happens sometimes. Certainly a reason could be that they were on the 6th road game in about 10 days. Not to mention Lillard was playing at less than 100%. They also missed 8 free throws. Very unlike the Blazers but again it happens. This was a winnable game but i just fail to see how it was a "Bad Loss".

Like i said you might have addressed these issues but i couldn't get on the cast yesterday.

 

They actually also have a PG run their second unit, not a shoot first guard who is averaging 1 assist per game like the Blazers do in Simons.

 

The tired thing along with the time of tip off and the last game of a road trip is the perfect recipe to let your energy guys play more. Reward someone like Elleby for his previous game by giving him a few minutes to see if he can provide a spark. I'm not saying it would've worked out but Dame playing 38 minutes the way he looked running around out there (and Stotts admitted he barely noticed Dame limping up and down the court) is reckless.

 

These are things i can absolutely agree with. Dame was obviously hurting. Melo wasn't helping Hood wasn't worth a damn. Let healthy players play. Every team has these issues right now. I would even bet the Knicks starters have their bumps and bruises.

 

They gave up 110 points to a team that averages 103 points and is one of the worst offenses in the league. I get that the defensive standard bar is so low that people can consider that a good performance but personally I'm not going to give them credit for their defense against that team.

I'm also looking at the bigger picture. Sure, losing the last game of a 6 game road trip against a team like the Knicks in a vacuum might be an excusable loss but when you factor the importance of games like this, the way this team played a poor style after showing a brilliant style just a day and a half earlier, and then combine it with several other games they wet the bed in then yeah it's a bad loss for me.

 

Fair enough.