Recap

The Portland Trail Blazers are once again the kings of Las Vegas.

Despite once again finding themselves trailing at the end of the first quarter,  the Portland Trail Blazers pulled away thereafter to secure an 85-77 victory versus the New York Knicks to win the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League championship Sunday afternoon at Thomas &amp; Mack Arena on the campus of UNLV.

“Our staff did a great job preparing them, getting them ready,” said Steve Hetzel, who served as head coach for Portland’s summer league team. “They were committed from Day One. They wanted to win this thing, so they came here with a mission and executed. I’m proud of them.”

With the win, the Trail Blazers improved to 4-1 in summer league play. Portland has now won two Las Vegas Summer League championships after taking home the title in 2018.

Both teams started Sunday’s championship, which tipped off a noon, a bit ragged, with neither team scoring for the first two minutes. But Portland, a team that bested the Knicks 88-77 in their third game in Las Vegas, got the worst of it with eight turnovers while shooting just 3-of-12 from the field, resulting in a 14-12 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

However, the Trail Blazers took control of the game early in the second quarter, with Colbey Ross, Craig Randall and Jabari Walker all converting three-pointers in a 9-0 run to give Portland a 21-14 lead with 7:50 to play in the first half.

The Trail Blazers would outscore the Knicks 29-16 in the second quarter to take an 11-point lead into the intermission. An 8-0 run midway through the third quarter gave the Trail Blazers their largest lead of the game at 49-37, though they’d head into the fourth leading by 14.

New York would use an 8-0 run of their own to get Portland’s lead down to seven with just over seven minutes to play. But Trendon Watford, who was named MVP of the championship game by unanimous vote, was re-inserted into the game and scored seven points in a 9-2 run that pushed Portland’s lead back to double digits.

“They made a run late third, early fourth and we stuck together,” said Watford. “When we came back in we turned it up and I’m just proud of all these guys.”

Behind Watford and Brandon Williams, who went 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth, the Blazers were able to comfortably finish out the game to secure their second summer league championship and the rings that now come with it.

Williams led Portland with 22 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 10-of-10 shooting from the line to go with five assists, three rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes.

Watford went 7-of-15 from the field and 3-of-6 from three to finish with 19 points, seven rebounds, three steals and an assist in 27 minutes.

Jabari Walker, selected by the Blazers with the 57th pick of the 2022 Draft, finished up a wildly successful run in Las Vegas with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting from three, 11 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists in 27 minutes.

“This just shows how much work we put in over the summer, shows we have a good, young core right now,” said Walker. “We can bring some help to the vets.”

In five games in Las Vegas, the rookie out of Colorado averaged 12.4 points on 63 percent shooting from the field, 43 percent shooting from three and 80 percent shooting from the line, 9.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals in 22.0 minutes.

“I keep preaching this: I’m happy to be here, I’m not satisfied,” said Walker. “I don’t believe I should have went 57th, I keep preaching that. I just feel like I’m slept on and I just want to go out there the prove that. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder.”

Keon Johnson scored just two points but also tallied three rebounds and three steals while finishing a +10 in a team-high 31 minutes. Kyle Alexander added eight points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in 16 minutes. Luka Garza contributed six points, three rebounds and a block.

The Knicks had five players who finished in double figures, led by 19 points from Quentin Grimes.

The Trail Blazers will now go their separate ways, with some returning to Portland in a few months for training camp while the others will be on the hunt for their next opportunity. But whatever comes next, they’ll always be a 2022 Las Vegas Summer League champion.

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Watford Wins MVP, Leads Blazers To Second Summer League Championship

The Trail Blazers kept their hopes of playing for the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League championship alive with an 85-77 victory versus the Houston Rockets Thursday night at Thomas &amp; Mack Arena on the campus on UNLV.

Portland is now 3-1 in Las Vegas Summer League play. They will finish up their run in Las Vegas on Sunday, though the time of their game and what they might be playing for is still to be determined.

The Blazers, as they’ve been want to do during their time in Las Vegas, went down by double-digits -- 14 to be exact -- by the end of the first quarter. But Portland scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to get back into the game, and would end up going into the half trailing 41-36.

Portland started the second half on an 11-2 run to take command of the game, eventually outscoring Houston by 14 in the third quarter to take a 63-54 lead into the fourth. The Blazers held the lead the rest of the way, securing the victory while also adding eight points to their point differential.

Why does that matter? Because the top two teams in the standings will face off on Sunday for the Las Vegas Summer League championship. And in a multi-team tie -- there are already at least three teams tied at 3-1 with seven games yet to be played on Friday -- the tiebreaker comes down to point differential, meaning that not only did the Blazers need to win Thursday night to keep their championship hopes alive, they also needed to do so in convincing fashion.

As of the end of games Thursday night, the Trail Blazers sit in a five-way tie for first with a 3-1 record. But with a +8.3 point differential, Portland sits in second behind only the Knicks, who have a 3-1 record and a Summer League best +11.3 point differential.

However, there are seven teams -- the Pelicans, Suns, Pacers, Raptors, Thunder and Nuggets -- with a 2-1 record that still have a game to play on Friday. So the Trail Blazers will have to wait until the completion of Friday’s game -- particularly the finale between the Lakers and Pelicans, a team currently with a +9.7 point differential -- before they know if they’ll be playing for the championship or bragging rights.

Keon Johnson led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and four rebounds. Luka Garza and Greg Brown III each finished with nine points, with the former grabbing six rebounds and the latter six while also blocking three shots.

Jabari Walker also contributed 9 points on 3-of-6 shooting to go with nine rebounds, two assists -- including a no-look, behind-the-head pass for a dunk that will surely make the Las Vegas Summer League highlight package -- and a block in 25 minutes.

Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 10 rebounds, two assists and a block in 28 minutes.

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Summer League Championship Hopes Still Alive With Win Versus Rockets

It’s fashionable to show up a little late in Las Vegas anyway.

The Portland Trail Blazers, despite once again spotting their opponent a double-digit lead in the first quarter, secured their second win of the Las Vegas Summer League with an 88-77 performance versus the New York Knicks Monday night at Thomas &amp; Mack Arena on the campus of UNLV.

“We got smacked to start,” said assistant coach/summer league head coach Steve Hetzel. “They punched us right in the mouth. I loved the way we responded. You could see it in the huddle that they weren’t going to give up, they weren’t going to cave in. It was fun to be a part of.”

By handing the Knicks their first loss of Summer League, the Trail Blazers improved to 2-1 in Las Vegas with at least two more games to play.

New York scored the first 13 points on Monday night’s contest and led 24-9 at the end of the first quarter. But rather than folding up, the Trail Blazers doubled down, going on a 21-4 run to tie the game at 28-28 midway through the second quarter.

Portland would go on to take a one-point lead into the intermission. After trading the lead for the first few minutes of the third, the Knicks scored eight-straight to take a 54-49 advantage with 3:13 to play in the quarter. But Craig Randall and George King would answer with back-to-back three-pointers, which started a 10-2 Portland run that would give the Blazers a two-point lead going into the final frame.

After getting “smacked” to start the game, the Blazers returned the favor in the fourth. Greg Brown III finished two dunks, Kyle Alexander got one as well and Jabari Walker, who Portland selected with the second-to-last pick of the 2022 Draft, continued his eye-opening play in Las Vegas, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the final 10 minutes to help secure the 11-point victory.

“We knew (New York’s) intensity wasn’t going to stay the whole time,” said Walker, who left Colorado after two seasons. “I like to call it rah-rah at the beginning of the game, they jumped out but we stayed composed. Our timeouts were all beneficial, good talks so we knew we were going to walk them down and that’s what we did.”

Five Blazers scored in double figured Monday night, with Trendon Watford leading the way with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go with six rebounds and an assist in 28 minutes.

Walker posted the first double-double of his fledgling pro career, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Keon Johnson added 11 points and Brandon Williams 10, though both players also finished with four rebounds and four assists. Craig Randall went 4-of-8 from three for 12 points in 16 minutes.

Quentin Grimes led all scorers with 24 points in the losing effort.

The Blazers will finish up their scheduled games at summer league on Thursday versus the Rockets at 6:30 p.m. on NBA TV before completing their play in Las Vegas on either Saturday or Sunday versus a team to be determined.

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Watford, Walker Lead Another Comeback To Best Knicks In Las Vegas

After nearly a week of practices at their facility in Tualatin, the Portland Trail Blazers got their 2022 Summer League underway with a 81-78 loss to the Detroit Pistons Thursday night at Thomas &amp; Mack Arena on the campus of UNLV.

“First-game jitters a little bit in the first half,” said Steve Hetzel, who is handling head coaching duties in Las Vegas. “You could tell by the shooting percentages, just a little tight.”

Though they never led and trailed by as many as 14, the Trail Blazers outscored the Pistons in the second, third and fourth quarters to turn what had the makings of a blowout into a close affair. Both Trendon Watford and Greg Brown III had opportunities to potentially tie the game in the final five seconds, though ultimately, neither could convert their respective attempts before the final buzzer.

“I loved the effort,” said Hetzel. “These guys are together, and that’s what is most important. I like how they pull for one another -- in the huddles they were always positive. So everything from that end was positive.”

As was the play of Keon Johnson, who started Thursday’s contest alongside Brandon Williams, Shaedon Sharpe, Brown III and Watford. The 6-4 guard, acquired from the Clippers via trade last season, made five of his first six attempts before finishing as the game’s high scorer with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 shooting from three and 3-of-3 shooting from the line to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 33 minutes.

“I felt like I’ve done alright,” said Johnson. “I wanted to come out on top with the win, that’s my main goal, but I feel like I played hard, tried to get my teammates involved, which is really what I try to focus on, just getting my teammates involved, keeping the energy high on the court. I feel like I done an okay job tonight.”

Then there was the play of rookie Jabari Walker, who Portland selected out of Colorado with the 57th pick of the 2022 Draft. The 6-9 forward didn’t miss a shot from the field in nearly 15 minutes, going 5-of-5 from the field and 1-of-1 from three to finish with 11 points in his Trail Blazers’ debut. Walker, who left Colorado after being named First-Team All Pac-12 his sophomore season, also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a shot in the losing effort.

“It was great,” said Walker of his first game as a pro. “I have a lot of great guards I can play off of. Just cut, rebound, do some of the simple stuff. I’m finding it a lot easier than college in some ways just because of the spacing and being able to stay in the corner and cut.”

Unfortunately, Thursday’s game wasn’t as rewarding of an experience for Walker’s fellow rookie Shaedon Sharpe, who Portland selected with the seventh overall pick in last month’s draft. After not playing his first and only season at Kentucky, many were hoping to get an extended look at the 6-6 guard in his first competitive game in over a year. But Sharpe would leave Thursday’s game after less than six minutes with a left shoulder injury and would not return. His status for Portland’s next game, not to mention the rest of their summer league schedule, is to be determined.

Brandon Williams was the only other Blazer to break into double figures, going 4-of-12 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line for 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes. Rookie Jaden Ivey, selected with the fourth overall pick, led the Pistons with 20 points to go with six assists and six rebounds in 32 minutes.

With their first game at summer league in the books, the Trail Blazers will hold practice in Las Vegas on Friday before facing the Pelicans Saturday night at Thomas &amp; Mack. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

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Jitters And Injuries Plague Portland In Summer League Loss To Pistons

The Portland Trail Blazers wrapped up a five-game trip and their 2021-22 road schedule with a 128-78 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in front of a sellout crowd of 20,174 Friday night at American Airlines Arena.

“I thought, for a lot of the game, we played hard,” said Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. “(Dallas) is just a good team, just a good team. I got no complaints with our guys... I thought we played hard, for the most part, we just couldn’t make shots. We had some good-looking opportunities, just couldn’t make. And against this team you’ve got to try to keep up with the scoring and they’re a really good defensive team. So when you do get good looks, got to knock down a pretty nice portion of them.”

The Trail Blazers are now 27-54 overall, good for 13th in the Western Conference standings, with one game to play and finish the season with a road record of 10-31. Portland has now lost 10-straight and 14 of their last 15. And with the loss, the Trail Blazers have been swept 3-0 in their season series versus the Mavericks.

“My thing is, I just want us to fight,” said Billups. “There was a play there late in the game where I felt like -- there were a couple players that I got on in our huddle because we kind of just caved in and gave up on the play. To me, that’s unacceptable. It’s an honor and a privilege to play in this league and to get minutes in this league. And no matter what is going on in the game, you’ve still got to continue to fight. That’s the price of admission playing for me.”

Drew Eubanks led Portland with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, seven rebounds and a steal in 32 minutes. Ben McLemore surpassed the 5000-point mark for his career with 14 points while also tallying three assists and three steals in 31 minutes.

“It’s amazing, it’s a blessing,” said McLemore. “Obviously I’ve been in this league for nine years now, to reach that milestone, it’s tremendous. At a loss for words, really. Hard work and dedication.”

Keon Johnson was Portland’s only other double-digit scorer, posting 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting to go with six assists and a rebound in 30 minutes.

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic led all scorers with 39 points on `12-of-21 shooting while also contributing 11 rebounds, seven assists and a block in 30 minutes.

The Trail Blazers will now return home to host the Utah Jazz in the final game of the season for both teams Sunday night at Moda Center.

“It’s a good thing we’re back home for the last game,” said McLemore. “Hopefully we’ll have some momentum to finish the season off strong. That’s the biggest thing we’ve got to worry about. This is behind us now, this road trip, focus on the last game of the season, get a win in front of all of our fans.”

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Blazers Finish 2021-22 Road Schedule With A Loss In Dallas

SAN ANTONIO -- The Trail Blazers finished consecutive games versus the Spurs in San Antonio with a 113-92 loss in front of a crowd of 15,816 Sunday night at AT&amp;T Center.

"We put a good half together, that's not enough to beat a team like (San Antonio)," said Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. "But I was proud of our effort. We played hard, even when they played so well in the third quarter, we just didn't play very smart. We played hard though, and I can live with that." 

The Trail Blazers are now 27-51, placing them at 13th in the Western Conference standings with just four games to play in the 2021-22 season, and 10-28 on the road this season. With the loss on Sunday, not to mention the loss on Friday, the Trail Blazers have lost the season series to the Spurs 4-0.

Portland jumped all over San Antonio in the first quarter of Sunday’s affair despite being soundly beaten by the Spurs 48 hours prior, going up 15-2 in the early going behind the play of Drew Eubanks and Greg Brown III.

The Spurs would wake up midway through the quarter, going on a 24-8 run in the final eight minutes of the first quarter to take a 26-23 lead into the second. However, Portland answered back in the beginning of the second, going on a 15-2 run to reclaim a double-digit lead. Portland would do a better job of defending the lead this time, outscoring San Antonio 33-22 in the quarter to take a 56-48 lead into the intermission.

"We came out in the first half really focused," said Billups. "Thought we had a really, really good half. In the first game we had a tough first half, really good second half. Today we had a good first half."

But the Spurs would hold the Blazers to just four points through the first seven minutes of the third quarter to reclaim control of the game. San Antonio would take a 10-point lead into the fourth and would expand that advantage on the way to a 21-point victory.

"We struggled at the start of the third quarter and it just kind of continued the entire quarter," said Billups. "They really hurt us in that third quarter and we weren't able to get back." 

Ben McLemore and Keon Johnson both finished with 19 points to lead Portland. Greg Brown III scored all 14 of his points in the first half. Drew Eubanks posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds versus his former team.

Keldon Johnson led all scorers with 28 points. Both Zach Collins and Tre Jones finished with 19 points.

Next up, the Trail Blazers head to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder in the final game this season between the two teams. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

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Blazers Finish Off Extended Stay In San Antonio With Another Loss To Spurs

PORTLAND -- The Trail Blazers hosted the Houston Rockets at Moda Center in back-to-back games. They lost both by double digits, the most recent being a 115-98 loss in front of a crowd of 17,821 Saturday night.

“I thought we played hard,” said Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. “We gave ourselves a chance. Too many turnovers, gave too many opportunities, but we played and fought hard, guys played well.”

The Trail Blazers are now 27-47 overall, good for 12th in the Western Conference with eight games to play, and 17-21 at home this season. Portland and Houston have split their 2021-22 season series 2-2.

After losing the first meeting on Friday by 37 points in a game that was never all that competitive, the Trail Blazers brought a better effort in the rematch, going into the half tied 60-60 Saturday night.

But after shooting 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from three in the first half, Portland’s percentages sunk to 30 percent and 18 percent, respectively, in the second half. The Rockets had no such dropoff and would go on to outscore the Blazers by 17 in the second half to come away with their second-straight comfortable victory.

“It was a much better start than we’ve had in the last two games,” said Drew Eubanks. “Just got a couple of lapses in our principles, in our defense in the second half and they got some wide open shots where guys shouldn’t even be that open. It’s tough right now this time of the year when games are so close together, we don’t have time to practice. So got to mentally lock in every game on our game plan.”

Trendon Watford completed his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds while also tallying five assists and two steals in 29 minutes. However, Watford was carried off the court in the fourth quarter with an apparent left knee injury and underwent an MRI after the game.

Drew Eubanks also posted a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds to go with two assists and two steals in 33 minutes.

Brandon Williams finished with 15 points and eight assists. Keon Johnson went 4-of-9 from three for 14 points while also logging two rebounds and two blocks in 32 minutes. Ben McLemore came off the bench to score 11.

Alperen Sengun led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Jalen Green finished with 25 points, Christian Wood had 13 and Kevin Porter Jr., Dennis Schroder and Kenyon Martin Jr. each added 10.

Next up, the Trail Blazers host the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night at Moda Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Trail Blazers Go Winless In Back-To-Back Versus Rockets

PORTLAND -- The Trail Blazers began their last extended homestand of the 2021-22 season with a 133-96 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in front of a crowd of 16,610 Tuesday night at Moda Center.

“From the very start of the game we didn’t pay attention to a lot of the details we knew that this team would do,” said head coach Chauncey Billups. “We knew they were going to play fast, we knew offensive rebounds, everything. We talked about it, I don’t think we prepared for the battle that was going to happen.”

With the loss, the Trail Blazers are 27-45 overall, good for 11th in the Western Conference standings with 10 games to play, and 17-19 at home this season. The Trail Blazers are now 0-2 versus the Spurs this season with two games, both in San Antonio, to play in the season series.

Tuesday’s game wasn’t competitive but for the first few minutes of play, with the Spurs leading by as many as 19 in the first quarter and 28 in the first half. San Antonio would put up 81 points in the first half on nearly 60 percent shooting from both the field and from three, making the second half little more than a 24-minute obligation for both teams.

“It was a disappointing effort,” said Billups. “It was a really embarrassing first half. Give up 81 points, they I think at that time had 21 fastbreak points, 30 points in the paint, they had it everywhere. I don’t know how many threes they made. They had it going every which way. By way of that, it was pretty ugly.”

Ben McLemore went 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line for a team-high 23 points off the bench. Drew Eubanks went 8-of-13 from the field for 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal in 36 minutes versus his former team.

Both Trendon Watford and Elijah Hughes added 10 points to round out Portland’s double-digit scorers. Greg Brown III grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds to go with seven points and two assists in 26 minutes.

Justise Winslow started Tuesday’s game but left after just over seven minutes with soreness in his left calf. He did not return.

The Spurs had five players finish in double figures led by 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting for Dejounte Murray.

Next up, the Trail Blazers begin an all-home, back-to-back series versus the Houston Rockets, owners of the worst record in the NBA at 18-55, Friday night at Moda Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Last Extended Homestand Of The Season Starts With Loss To Spurs

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