The Blazers are a disaster and it is confirmed by losing against a Celtics that only by comparison can be given with a song in the teeth of joy. The green team is still in trouble; first, to have all its players available and second, so that the important ones give the appropriate performance. They have not caught a streak of more than three victories in a row and Christmas is approaching without this new team that is now under Udoka’s command having a smile on their face of everything that has improved. Not even with those did they have the feeling that they were going to lose at the Moda Center to a Portland that, with the absence of Damian Lillard, seems rota.
The 15 points they got in the first quarter were worth them for the whole night. Boston beat Portland 117-145 with no apparent competition between the two. Night in which the shots did hit Tatum (9/17), Schröder (10/16) or even the powerful substitute Payton Pritchard (6/12). It was balm instead of poison.
Lillard he was absent due to tendinopathy in the lower abdomen. It is true that it is not being, by far, a good season for him, but the absence says a lot. They were also not a valid player in the rotation like Simons and a breakthrough player in this difficult context, Little, but the level is not tolerable. These two teams are similar situations, with staff structures maintained over time despite the change on the bench. And the Celtics have taken the cake by far, so there is room for a little reflection period for the Blazers to try to figure out what is failing in the project.
Billups has been in charge of doing its analysis on its own. After the defeat he released several pearls against the attitude of his team and, in particular, of some players. “Competitiveness is something you have or don’t have, not something you can turn on or off”, started. “The lack of pride is what makes me mad. If not, you have a problem. Sometimes it is not your night. Well, it can happen. There is a way that you can lose and this one is not, it has been embarrassing “he added. “The young guys don’t know how this league is going, but it’s something the veterans can teach them. I’m more annoyed at the starters for putting substitutes in this situation. I’ve never seen a team that needs its bench to inspire the starters. That shit seems crazy to me. It’s supposed to be the other way around. “he said in reference to the role played by the crucial players tonight.
The opening bars were an important swallow from the Blazers, who did not seem to be present. McCollum’s courage, which Billups seems to be unaware of, was seen in plays like the last of the first quarter, in which the beating was being considerable, lowering with a layup to start the second with the best face. The reaction came especially with Zeller on the court, giving that characteristic claw, following plays and putting blocks that served. Udoka was forced to call for two time-outs in a short time because the distance was shortened despite the success of Tatum, his clearest reference. So much so that from around twenty he was only two ahead. There the problem ended. The defenses of the locals were once again muddied, which did not continue and became involved with each change, and Boston took the wisdom to walk to put, brick by brick, a second wall higher and stronger than the first. No more.
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