The first week of the Portland Trail Blazers 2016-17 regular season schedule presents much of the same of the what the team faced in its preseason preparations.
In the past five days, the Blazers have faced both the LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets, while Portland is set to close preseason play with road games versus the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors this week. Portland welcomes the Jazz on Opening Night on October 25 before hosting the Clippers two days later, traveling to Denver on October 29 and facing the Warriors at home on November 1.
Given the familiarity of opponents, Blazers head coach Terry Stotts is playing his cards close to his chest in his team's final exhibition games -- especially when it comes to fourth-quarter rotations.
"Since our last four preseason games are against our first four opponents, I doubt either team [plays its regular rotation in the fourth quarter]," Stotts said before Sunday's loss to Denver.
Stotts stuck with his word, finishing Sunday's game with the lineup of reserves Tim Quarterman, Pat Connaughton, Jake Layman, Grant Jerrett and Noah Vonleh, similar to the first four games of preseason. Starting point guard Damian Lillard rested the entire second half, while other impact players CJ McCollum, Maurice Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu, Allen Crabbe and Evan Turner hovered around the 25-minute mark.
Following Monday's practice in Tualatin, Stotts expanded on that notion. Going into his fifth season at the helm of the Trail Blazers, Stotts explained that it's been more of limiting his regular rotation's role in the closing minutes of recent preseason games due to the 'unique' situation the schedule presents.
"I don’t know what the other teams’ schedules are like, but I think that’s really unique," Stotts said. "You need to get the reps against a different opponent. To be honest, I don’t know how much we’ve actually held back, other than the minutes the main guys have been getting, but we try to go through different things we need to practice against a different opponent besides ourselves [in practice]."
The Trail Blazers finish off preseason play with a road trip to Utah and Golden State, beginning with Tuesday's matchup with the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Tickets are still available for the Blazers' Opening Night clash with Utah.