Blazers Can’t Hit in the Clutch, Lose Narrowly to Pistons

The Portland Trail Blazers suffered their fourth consecutive defeat on Tuesday, falling to the Detroit Pistons 113-111. Despite strong performances from Damian Lillard and Josh Hart, the Blazers struggled to hit shots in the clutch and were punished for it.

With the game tied at 111, the Blazers had possession with 9.0 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Lillard attempted a three-pointer but was blocked by the Pistons’ Jalen Duren, who made the game-saving play. Before that, Lillard had made a clutch three-pointer with less than a minute to go, but Pistons reserve Saben Lee made a go-ahead three with 14.8 seconds remaining, giving his team the lead again.

Aside from Lillard and Hart, who finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, respectively, the Blazers didn’t get enough scoring from the other starters. CJ McCollum shot just 3-for-16 from the field and 1-for-9 from beyond the arc. Jusuf Nurkic struggled as well, scoring only 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting.

On the other side, the Pistons were led by the impressive play of Lee, who finished with 26 points off the bench, including some crucial baskets down the stretch. Fellow reserve Hamidou Diallo scored 21 points, and starter Bojan Bogdanovic added 20 points.

These were the kinds of games the Blazers were expected to win, especially with the Pistons in rebuild mode and without several of their best players this season. Still, Portland couldn’t rise to the occasion and paid the price for it.

The Blazers’ next game is on Thursday against the Toronto Raptors. They’ll need a much stronger collective effort to avoid losing five games in a row.