Like many good ideas throughout history, the lineup that carried the Trail Blazers across the finish line in their season opener versus the Kings was conceived over a couple of drinks.
On the eve of training camp, Damian Lillard, Josh Hart, Justise Winslow and Jerami Grant got together at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara, a sprawling, staggeringly beautiful property overlooking the Pacific Ocean, to get to know each other a bit better over a few glasses of wine.
At some point, as is often the case when the vino is freely flowing, the conversation turned to hypotheticals. Specifically, how the new construction of Portland’s roster might allow for some interesting lineups, including some “small ball” opportunities that have gained popularity in an increasingly positionless NBA.
But like many bull sessions, the ideas discussed, intriguing as they were, really didn’t amount to much, at least not initially.
“I remember it was the night in Santa Barbara before the first practice,” recalled Winslow. “It was me, Josh, Jerami and Dame, sitting around, drinking some wine, just talking about the season and that’s one of the things we brought up. We were like ‘Man, can’t wait to see it’ and we thought that maybe the first practice Coach might do it. But I think we did it once but it didn’t last long, it was a short drill or something.”
However, the vine was planted. And in the fourth quarter of Portland’s 115-108 victory, it bore fruit.
After trailing by as many as 10 in the third, Portland managed to enter the fourth tied 84-84 thanks in large part to the play of Hart (12 points, two assists) and Grant (nine points, three rebounds). The teams took turns holding small leads throughout the first seven minutes of the fourth, so when the De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis combined to score five-straight to give the Kings a 104-99 advantage with just under five minutes to play and the home crowd at their back, it seemed Sacramento was on the verge of besting Portland in their season opener for the second consecutive season.
But Grant was inserted into the game roughly a minute prior, joining the same peers he imbibed with in Santa Barbara, along with Anfernee Simons, to comprise a closing lineup in which no player was taller than 6-8. The idea kicked around while enjoying the cool coastal breeze and some fermented grape juice had come to fruition.
“I thought they were hurting us a lot with their pick and roll stuff, going after our bigs even though I thought that Drew (Eubanks) had some incredible plays for us at the rim,” said Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. “We weren’t able to create advantages, offensively or defensively, so I felt like going small would give us a chance.”
More than a chance, it arguably gave Portland the win. The Trail Blazers held the Kings to 1-of-8 shooting, outscoring the home team 16-4 in the final four and a half minutes of play. They forced three turnovers, including a charge taken by Grant on Fox with Portland up one with just over a minute to play, and went 7-of-7 from the free throw line, with two of those coming off and-ones by Grant and Hart.
“That small lineup is good for us because we’ve got guys that are versatile defenders, guys that can rebound, guys that can score the ball,” said Hart, who finished with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal in 38 minutes. “That’s definitely something we’re going to do more and more and it was good to kind of roll that out and get a win.”
But the stats that the Kings didn’t tally in the final four and a half minutes were just as important as the ones the Blazers did, and much of that credit goes to Winslow, who stymied Sabonis in the fourth. Despite giving up five inches and 20 pounds, Winslow held the son of the former Trail Blazer great to just two points before fouling out with 22 seconds to play.
“We knew that we were running guys off the line, we wanted to take away the opportunities, those DHOs and going behind the shooting threes,” said Lillard. “But I also have seen Justise stand up some big dudes. When it’s a one-on-one matchup, he’s a strong dude. You saw it in training camp, sometimes he was down there coming over and Nurk is coming downhill at him and he was standing his ground. How strong he is, he’s a better athlete than you would expect and he just understands how to defend.”
“That’s just what I do, I take pride in my defense, of course,” said Winslow, who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and a steal while posting a game-best +21 in 26 minutes. “One through five, doesn’t matter who it is, I just go out and do my job. Tonight it was Sabonis and I was able to get it done and help the team.”
How often Billups opts to uncork small lineups, especially late in games, will be dependent on a number of factors, primarily the personnel of the opposition and the ability of his guards to hold their own on the boards. But after a tantalizing first taste in Sacramento, the lineup conceived while sipping varietals seems like it will be given time to breathe rather than being placed back in the cellar.
“Everyone contributed, top to bottom,” said Winslow. “I think that small ball lineup was really effective, we’ll probably see more of that down the stretch.”