NBA Game Reviews: December 28, 2020

1. The Portland Trail Blazers are a legitimate threat to make the Western Conference Finals

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The Portland Trail Blazers looked like they were ready to make a NBA Finals run in last year’s bubble. Led by star Damian Lillard, they were a popular pick to upset the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers ultimately ousted them in five games (partly due to Lillard getting injured), but the Blazers retooled in the offseason, and look even more prepared to make a push for the Western Conference Finals, or potentially further. 

The Blazers prioritized length and versatility in the offseason, trading for Robert Covington and snagging Derrick Jones Jr. in free agency. Both players displayed their defensive abilities on Monday, in a 115-107 upset win in Los Angeles against those same Lakers. The Blazers also received a huge performance from Gary Trent Jr. — who gave the Lakers fits in last year’s playoff series — with a 28-point outburst on 10/14 shooting from the field and 7/11 from deep. The Blazers also did something no team had done in 57 games, and that was beat the Lakers when they entered the final quarter with a lead.

The Blazers know an early season win against the Lakers playing a back-to-back doesn’t mean everything, but it’ll sure give them some confidence the next time they face them, or any other of the league’s powerhouses. Hopefully as much confidence as Charles Barkley and his $100,000 bet on Portland to win the West.

2. Spencer Dinwiddie’s torn ACL might be too much to overcome for Brooklyn’s championship aspiration

Nets fans awoke on Monday to the news of one of their key players being out for the season with a partially torn ACL. Spencer Dinwiddie planted his leg awkwardly in the second-half of Sunday’s game, and received the devastating news of a torn ACL early Monday morning. The Nets took the floor Monday night in their first game without Dinwiddie, while resting their stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. They relied heavily on Caris LeVert and Joe Harris, who had big games, but couldn’t do enough, in a 116-111 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Dinwiddie was by no means the best player on this team, and was struggling to fit in alongside Kyrie and KD early in the year, but he has steadily improved over the first six years of his career. The 27-year-old averaged a career-high 20.6 points and 6.8 assists per game as the team’s best player for most of last year, as Kyrie Irving wrestled with injuries.

The Nets will now have to lean more heavily on Caris LeVert to be the third guy, and step up in Dinwiddie’s absence. This injury may not be the end of the world for the Nets, as a team with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving can compete with any three guys around them on the floor. However, an injury to a starter is never an easy obstacle to overcome, and should prove to be a difficult test for first-year head coach Steve Nash to deal with so early in his coaching career.