Portland Trail Blazers Throw Turnover Party in Ugly Loss vs. 76ers

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups tested the Moda Center’s patience when he signaled a coach’s challenge with 5:57 left in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s clincher against the club. Philadelphia 76ers.

The Blazers trailed the Sixers by 25 points. It mattered little if the refs overturned the basket interference call and allowed Portland guard Shaedon Sharpe’s tip-dunk to count for two points. In many ways, the stoppage felt like an exercise in futility, prolonging an inaccessible, ugly game for the Blazers.

In another way, the short break gave the fans a golden opportunity to head for the exits. They took it. In the two minutes the refs looked over the replay, fans poured up the aisles and out the gates, not sticking around to see if the Blazers reached 100 points for free McNuggets.

As the stragglers still filed out, an official got back on the mic to say Portland lost the challenge after all. The call would remain basket interference and go down in the stat book as a team turnover.

The verdict was fitting: The Blazers played like Team Turnover in Monday’s 125-103 loss, turning the ball over a palm-worthy 24 times, resulting in 36 points for Philadelphia. Portland forward Deni Avdija, the team’s December MVP, produced the rare, enviable double-double with 17 points and 10 turnovers. He had nine before the fourth quarter.

In addition to those numbers, the Blazers shot 8-36 (22.2%) from 3-point range and both teams combined for 53 fouls. You can understand why the game wasn’t too pretty on the eyes.

“It was tough for us out there,” Billups told reporters after the loss.

Philly sank into a matchup zone for most of the game that gave the Blazers fits as they lacked the shooting to make the defense pay for that style. Billups also credited the Sixers for their “ultra-physical” play. He said they did a good job of pushing Portland players out of their spots, cutting off passing lanes and jump change their actions – everything the team prepared for but struggled with in live action.

“That’s one of the things about being young,” Billups said. “Sometimes the best teacher actually comes out there, and those are also the hardest lessons.”

Along with Philadelphia’s physical defense playing a role, Portland produced a number of unforced errors in the turnover fest. The ball seemed to fumble out of the Blazers players’ hands all night on catch and rally moves, sometimes when the court was wide open. Along with Avdija’s high total, rookie Donovan Clingan collected three turnovers in his nine minutes of play (side note for emphasis: Clingan only played nine minutes). He was one of four Blazers to tally three turnovers in the game, joining Scoot Henderson, Deandre Ayton and Shaedon Sharpe.

“I take responsibility,” Avdija said of his performance. “I’ve never had that amount (of turnover), but the ball wasn’t in my hands very well today. They scored a lot of points off my turnovers.”

The Blazers’ losses this season — currently at 21 after Monday, along with 11 wins — usually happen because the offense can’t keep up or because the Blazers are simply outmatched in the talent department. Monday was an example of both, as the Sixers showed why they are on a four-game winning streak that includes a win over Boston Celtics christmas day

Embiid was a force, dropping 37 points on 57.1% shooting. Tyrese Maxey added 23. Reserve forward Guerschon Yabusele, France’s basketball darling at the Summer Olympics, might have had the best first half of his life, finishing with 16 points for the game. After starting the season 3-14, the Sixers have jumped into the play-in discussion for the Eastern Conference standings at 13-17 and look like they’re not done climbing.

When all those elements combine — the turnovers, the poor shooting, the solid opponent — Billups said games like that usually end up even scarier on the scoreboard. He cited some of Portland’s 40-point megalosses this season as examples, noting that the Blazers kept this one respectable by comparison.

He had a point, but whether you see it as a silver lining probably depends on your disposition as a fan.