CAN THE BLAZERS KEEP IT UP?

With a road win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, the Portland Trail Blazers finally earned a preseason victory against other NBA teams – not including a win over a visiting Israeli team.

Previously, the Blazers lost to the Phoenix Suns, 134-118, on Oct. 12  at the Moda Center.

Terry Stotts used a different starting lineup in this game, due to forward Rodney Hood being out with back spasms and also because it’s the preseason. He started newly acquired veterans Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver in place of Hood and Zach Collins to play alongside the other expected regular starters, guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, and new center Hassan Whiteside. (Whiteside is replacing the injured Jusuf Nurkic, for at least several months).

While the Suns’ stars, Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker and Ricky Rubio, sat out the whole game, Phoenix was able to pull out an impressive win. The visiting team cashed out 24 3-pointers in 45 attempts for the night, while the Blazers committed 22 turnovers, including 15 in the first half.

The Blazers were not able to contain the Suns’ 3-point shooters, led by Phoenix rookie, Cameron Johnson, who was 4-of-6 behind the arc. But they did have good production out of McCollum, who scored 27 points in 31 minutes, and Lillard, who scored 18 points in 30 minutes. Whiteside was phenomenal in his second game,  going 5-of-5 in the field with six rebounds in just 23 minutes.

The Blazers bench also contributed. Collins had an overall good game, scoring 16 points and making two big blocks, and second-year guard Anfernee Simons had 13 points on the night, shooting 3-of-4 behind the arc.

After these first few games, Blazers fans are still looking for what this new team can do. It’s still early to predict what this team can do in the Western Conference.

With the addition of a new center (Whiteside, replacing the injured Jusuf Nurkic) and a veteran (Bazemore), and with other young players fighting for minutes in the bench, it will be an interesting year. But I would not bet on them this early yet. The team still needs to prove that they upgraded from their roster last season, something they really haven’t shown yet.

We’ll see soon if this team still has to depend in their two backcourt stars (Lillard and McCollum). If the bench can produce and stay consistent thoughout the season, then I would bet on this team to make it to the playoffs.

The Blazers were on the road for the last preseason Thursday night (after Advocate press time), and then return to the Moda Center for opening night of the regular season against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, Oct. 23.