Grizzlies 111, Trail Blazers 106: What We Saw
Sights, sounds and notes from the Blazers' loss to Memphis, plus the Jersey of the Night.
In their last home game before the first of three six-game road trips this season, the Trail Blazers picked up their second loss of the year to Memphis. Turnovers were the story, as they've been for a lot of the season, but there was a lot more that happened on Friday night. Here are the sights, sounds and observations from the Moda Center, including the Jersey of the Night.
Justise Winslow, a Houston native, entered the arena wearing an Alex Bregman jersey. Bregman hit a two-run double a couple hours later to help the Astros tie the World Series up against the Phillies at 2-2.
Winslow also picked the Blazers' warmup music, and he paid tribute to Takeoff, the Migos member who was tragically shot and killed earlier this week, by playing "Last Memory."
Before tip, Chauncey Billups and Damian Lillard took the court together to give a pair of short speeches about the impact of Bill Russell on their lives and on the NBA. There were several Russell tribute videos throughout the night, a part of the league's broader get-out-the-vote effort. This was Portland's last home game before Tuesday's midterm elections; Election Day is now an NBA holiday, with no games scheduled.
Members of the Portland Thorns, who just won the NWSL championship a few days ago, were in the building and got huge cheers when they were introduced.
With Lillard still out, Billups continued to tinker with the rotation. Winslow became the de facto backup point guard for a lot of the first half. Results were mixed.
In the second half, Billups rode Keon Johnson in that role and trusted him down the stretch in the Blazers' comeback. Johnson made a couple of nice defensive plays and very nearly hit a go-ahead three after they came back from 17 points down in the fourth quarter. Johnson has so far been the odd man out in Billups' nine-man rotation when everyone is healthy, but he's played well when he's had to slot in replacing Lillard.
Speaking of Lillard, there hasn't been any official word on when he'll play again, but I'd be shocked if it's not on this road trip.
A fan came as close to making the halfcourt shot for a new Toyota as anyone can come while missing it. A seriously impressive attempt.
For some reason, when I was on the Bulls beat several years ago, I used to get hit by T-shirts from the cannon all the time. It's never happened in Portland, until last night. (I gave it to a kid sitting near me.)
Jusuf Nurkic hit a career-high three three-pointers Friday night, all wide open. Anfernee Simons, asked after the game to grade Nurkic as a shooter: "If they give it to him and he gets time, most of the time he's gonna knock it down. Watching him shoot in practice, he has a good, natural shot. If he gets a wide-open three, I don't have a problem with him shooting it at all."
Ja Morant is approaching Stephen Curry levels of visiting-player popularity. He is by far the leader so far this season in number of jerseys for players on the opposing team I've seen in the crowd, and got a decent-sized cheer in pregame introductions. After the game, there was a good-sized crowd waiting for him by the tunnel. I walked in a little after him and overheard a kid saying he was never going to wash his hand after Morant touched it. For the post-Steph generation, he's that dude.
Jersey of the Night
