Jazz @ Trail Blazers: Three Good, Three Bad

The Blazers had what was essentially a skeleton crew on the floor last night. The team was already without LaMarcus Aldridge for the rest of the season, but ended up sitting starters Joel Przybilla (illness) and Raymond Felton (Achilles), as well as sixth man Jamal Crawford. Nicolas Batum was also limited due to a strained quad, playing only 16 minutes. Predictably, Portland was beat up inside, as they were outrebounded 49-39 by the bigger, more physical Jazz frontcourt. Ultimately, the Blazers fell to the Jazz 112-91 to close out their home schedule.

Three Good
1) Jonny Flynn - After struggling against the Suns as the starter, Flynn came off the bench against the Jazz on Wednesday. Flynn played 25 minutes in the game, and largely made good decisions with the basketball, finishing with 7 assists against only two turnovers. Flynn was 3-7 from the floor, but did a great job of attacking the basket, attempting 7 free throws (making five). While it would be a stretch to call Flynn a starting-caliber point guard, he's still just 23 years old, and could be a decent backup.
2) Luke Babbitt's confidence - It's been amazing to see the difference in Luke Babbitt since becoming a rotation player under interim coach Kaleb Canales. While his shooting numbers weren't great (6-17 FG, 2-7 3PT), he's decisive with the basketball, and isn't afraid of getting pulled should he miss a shot. He also worked hard on defense, though he lacks the lateral quickness to guard some elite small forwards and the bulk to bang with big power forwards. Like Flynn, Babbitt is probably never going to be a starter for the Trail Blazers, but if he's able to continue to shoot the three with confidence and accuracy (46.4%), then he could be a solid contributor as a scorer off the bench.
3) Wesley Matthews - Matthews continued his stretch of solid play for the Blazers, logging a team-high 21 points. This stretch has done wonders for his confidence, as he's been more consistent in squaring his shoulders on his shot release, and has seen his three-point shooting numbers improve considerably. Whether Matthews is better-suited as a starter or coming off the bench long-term, his energy, effort and improved performance have been good to see.

Blazers vs Kings: Three Good, Three Bad

The Blazers led almost the entire way, but Sacramento closed up the paint late in the game and forced the team to shoot jumpers. In spite of that, a Wesley Matthews three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left put the Blazers up one. Kings SG Marcus Thornton promptly hit a floater with just a few seconds in the game, and the Blazers (without a timeout) had to settle for a desperation heave from just inside mid-court that didn't go in.

Three Good

1) Wesley Matthews - While his defense wasn't particularly good on Marcus Thornton (20 pts on 9-17 shooting), Matthews was in rare form on offense tonight, connecting on 10 on his 16 shots from the field. He was even more effective behind the three-point line, nailing 8 threes on 10 attempts, including what appeared to be the game-winner (before Thornton's floater went in) on a step-back three. While he won't score like this every night, it has to boost his confidence heading into next season.
2) Three-point shooting - The Trail Blazers were simply on fire tonight, draining half of their 32 attempts from deep. While most of the time you see that many attempts from three it would be due to poor shot selection, the Kings were hell-bent on defending the paint, and good ball-movement gave Portland a bevy of wide open looks.
3) J.J. Hickson's energy - Hickson finished with a game-high 13 rebounds, and his effort and athleticism are likely continuing to earn him brownie points with the Portland front office. While his defense may be a work in progress (though he did have two blocks), he's the only real threat to score in the frontcourt, and saw a lot of defensive attention (only attempting 8 shots). It shows maturity to not let the low number of shots affect his effort, which makes me hope that Hickson can be retained this offseason.

Three Bad
1) Perimeter defense - While the Kings weren't absolutely lights out, starters Isaiah Thomas (18 pts, 8 ast), Marcus Thornton (20 pts, 9-18 FG) and Tyreke Evans (20 pts) largely had their way with Portland's perimeter defenders, beating them off the dribble. While Portland didn't foul a lot, perhaps they should've let the Kings know there won't be any easy buckets in the game.
2) Ball control - The Blazers got sucked into an up-tempo game, which led to a lot of sloppy turnovers. Perhaps no turnover was more costly than Felton having the ball stolen by Kings reserve Terrence Williams in the final minute of the game. Felton was far from alone in blame, as Matthews (4) and Flynn (3) both had some head-scratching moments. The Blazers can't be -11 in turnover differential and expect to win many games, especially with the team as thin as they are.
3) Rebounding effort - For anyone not named J.J. Hickson, tonight's game illustrated how thin the Blazers are up front. Przybilla had his hands full defending DeMarcus Cousins, and needed his teammates to crash the boards. Instead, the team got caught up in an up-tempo game and often forgot to secure the ball before fast-breaking, leading to 14 offensive rebounds.

While the last-second loss may sting, the Blazers will quickly have an opportunity to remove the bad taste from their mouth, as they next play at Phoenix tomorrow night.