ORLANDO – Playing a position that is as deep and talented as any in the NBA, Orlando Magic point guard D.J. Augustin knows he usually has his work cut out for him in every game.
But when it comes to playing the Portland Trail Blazers – a team with one of the best backcourts in the NBA – it’s as if Augustin is seeing double sometimes when tasked with trying to slow down Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Because both Lillard and McCollum are plus shooters, plus playmakers and often alternate between the point guard and shooting guard positions, Augustin could have twice the problems tonight when his Magic (2-2) face the Trail Blazers (2-1) at the Amway Center. Tipoff is just after 7 p.m.
``It’s tough every night for guards because some of the best players in the league play at the guard position,’’ Augustin said. ``It just comes down to us helping each other as a group. That’s what we’ve been doing over the last few games and we’ve got to keep doing it.’’
The Magic want to keep doing what they’ve done in the past two games. They played exceptionally well in Philadelphia on Saturday and led twice in the final 90 seconds before falling 116-115 in heartbreaking fashion. Undeterred by that defeat, Orlando stormed out of the gates in Boston on Monday, never lost the lead and hung on for a stirring 93-90 victory.
Now, their mission is to carry that kind of strong play to tonight so that they can have a shot at ending a losing streak to Portland that has reached three.
``After a game like we had last Friday against Charlotte, we didn’t put our heads down, we put it behind us quickly and got ready for Philly and got it rolling,’’ Augustin said, referring to the 32-point home loss to charlotte. ``That game the other night (in Boston) can definitely get us going with some good momentum.’’
Portland opened the season by beating LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers and thumping the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs. However, the Blazers had a meltdown late against Washington, squandering a five-point lead late and falling 125-124 in overtime.
Lillard had led the team in scoring in all three games with 28, 29 and 29 points. He’s pumped in those points despite some poor shooting, hitting just 43.9 percent of his field goals and only 30.4 percent from 3-point range. McCollum (19.3 ppg.) has been his usual reliable self from 3-point range by hitting 39.7 percent of his tries. He didn’t play well in the loss to Washington, making just five of 25 shots and only one of nine 3-point shots.
In addition to worrying about the shooting and scoring abilities of the two Portland guards, Magic coach Steve Clifford is concerned with how they make others around them better. Lillard is averaging 7.0 assists a game, while McCollum is at 2.3 assists. They tend to make defenses pay with their passing when they load on them. Four other Blazers average double-digit points in scoring and many of their looks are set up by the vision of Lillard and McCollum.
``One thing they don’t get credit for is when you commit to them defensively, they throw the ball right away to Nurkic or they snap it to the weak side corner,’’ Clifford said. ``They’re both very, very unselfish. They all play so well together. So, you can’t have one coverage against them and you have to try and keep mixing it up.’’
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