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PORTLAND, Ore. — Just as it looks like the Portland Trail Blazers' season-long offensive slump may be coming to an end, the team’s surprising defensive resurgence has hit a snag.
The past two seasons, the Blazers were a Top-10 offense that ranked in the bottom 10 on defense. But Portland reversed the trend for the first two months of this campaign, ranking near the top of the league rankings in defense and near the bottom of the NBA in offense.
BY THE NUMBERS
A look at the Blazers' NBA rankings on offense and defense over the past month:
Past 14 games: Offense (17); Defense (22)
Past 10 games: Offense (11); Defense (26)
Past 5 games: Offense (5); Defense (28)
Since a 108-107 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 18, Portland has improved its offensive output, ranking 17th in the league over the past 14 games. Narrow it to the past 10 games and the Blazers’ offensive rank improves to 11th. Over the past five games, they rank fifth.
But the defense has stumbled at the same time. The Blazers rank 22nd in the league in defense over the past 14 games, giving up 109.0 points per 100 possessions. And it gets worse.
The past 10 games? Portland’s defensive rating is 111.4, which ranks 26th in the NBA. The past five? 114.9 points, the third-worst mark in the league.
That's ugly. (Story continues below)
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The Blazers' defense is stumbling in several areas but none are more damning than the team's sudden inability to rebound and to stop teams from hitting 3-pointers.
Over the past 14 games, Portland ranks 22nd in the league in opponent rebounds, allowing 44.1 per game. This includes 10.9 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks 26th. This is an area where the Blazers excelled during the first couple months of the season, ranking in the Top 10 in both areas. But now, over the past 14 games, they’re being outrebounded by more than two rebounds per game.
The Blazers also ranked in the Top 10 in opponent 3-point percentage the first two months. But over the past 14 games, Portland ranks 26th, allowing teams to shoot nearly 39 percent on 26 3-point attempts per game.
MORE KGW BLAZERS CONTENT
Portland’s defense relies on three major components: limiting opponents' shooting at the rim and from the 3-point line, and rebounding the basketball. For the first two months of the season, the Blazers excelled in these three areas and their defense was better for it. While the Blazers are still defending well at the rim, ranking fourth in the NBA over the past 14 games in field-goal defense in the restricted area, they have regressed in the other two areas.
It spells trouble for the Blazers, who are just one game over .500 and have suddenly fallen into a tie for eighth place in the Western Conference playoff standings, just a half-game ahead of the surging ninth-place L.A. Clippers.
The Blazers just ended a challenging 1-3 road trip that finished with three consecutive losses to the Rockets, Pelicans and Timberwolves. The schedule eases up a bit for the next couple weeks. The Blazers play eight games the rest of the month, five against sub-.500 teams. But if Portland wants to take advantage of this stretch, they need to rediscover the kind of defense they played the first two months of the season.
Here's a look at where the Blazers stand in the latest batch of NBA power rankings:
ESPN: Blazers rank No. 11 (up 1)
Previous ranking: 12
Portland neighbors: Milwaukee Bucks at 12, Miami Heat at 10
What they wrote: The Trail Blazers fell to the Timberwolves by 17 points on Sunday, dropping them to 8-14 against teams above .500 this season. That's the worst record among all the above-.500 teams facing each other.
CBS Sports: Blazers rank No. 12 (down 2)
Previous ranking: 10
Portland neighbors: Oklahoma City Thunder at 13, Philadelphia 76ers at 11
What they wrote: Portland has spent the last few seasons being a team that catches some steam late in the season and makes a run at the playoffs. The Blazers are already set for the playoffs right now so does this mean they're going to make a run for a top seed or not make one at all?
Sports Illustrated: Blazers rank No. 12 (down 1)
Previous ranking: 11
Portland neighbors: Indiana Pacers at 13, Milwaukee Bucks at 11
What they wrote: Wanna know how I know Dame is a stone-cold assassin on the court? Watch this:
NBA.com: Blazers rank No. 17 (down 3)
Previous ranking: 14
Portland neighbors: Denver Nuggets at 18, L.A. Clippers at 16
What they wrote: It took more than two months, but the Blazers have found their offense. They rank fifth offensively in 2018, having scored 111 points per 100 possessions in their eight January games, with Evan Turner shooting 58 percent and Jusuf Nurkic emerging from a slump. Of course, they've also lost their defense and rank 26th on that end of the floor this month, with particularly horrendous numbers when reserves have been on the floor. Their win in Oklahoma City on Monday was one their best offensive games of the season, but they followed it up by allowing the Rockets to grab 17 offensive rebounds on Wednesday and allowing the Pelicans and Wolves to shoot 54 percent over the weekend.
NBC Sports: Blazers rank No. 17 (down 4)
Previous ranking: 13
Portland's neighbors: Denver Nuggets at 18, Detroit Pistons at 16
What they wrote: The good news, Portland has finally found its missing offense — they have averaged 110.1 points per 100 possessions over their last 10 games. The bad news, their stout defense for most of the season went away in that same stretch, giving up 111.8 per 100 (so the Blazers are 5-5 in that stretch). Starting next Monday in Denver (a key game in a tight playoff race) Portland has 7 of 10 on the road.
Jared Cowley is a digital producer at KGW who writes about the Blazers and other topics. You can reach him on Twitter here. All stats come from nba.com/stats and basketball-reference.com.