A popular internal talking point from the Portland Trail Blazers before the regular season was the success of their incumbent starting lineup. Whether a subliminal message to Damian Lillard as he pondered leaving Rip City or just more general justification for bringing the band back together, Neil Olshey, Chauncey Billups and even some players championed the starting five's +13.4 net rating—seventh among 30 lineups that played at least 200 minutes league-wide, per NBA.com/stats—at pretty much every available opportunity.
On a dispiriting opening night against the Sacramento Kings, though, Portland's starters were more part of the problem than a solution. That group ended up with a neutral plus-minus, spearheaded by C.J. McCollum's fourth-quarter shot-making and the Kings devolving into rote isolations on the other end while trying to stave off a comeback. But the Blazers' furious late-game surge wouldn't have been necessary at all if their best lineup had played anything like it earlier. Instead, Portland's starters were the driving force behind ugly two-way struggles that helped Sacramento take a 15-point lead into intermission and hold several 17-point advantages over the third and early fourth quarters.
Billups praised his team for its effort after the game, noting on multiple occasions how hard Portland played. He's not wrong. During the second half, in particular, the Blazers operated with the type of sustained edge and engagement that will be necessary for them to be more than a playoff also-ran in the Western Conference. But there were still more isolated instances when Portland's effort waned after halftime, and most of them came with the starting five on the floor—just like the first half.
Tyrese Haliburton isn't exactly De'Aaron Fox in the open floor, yet still proved too fast for Portland on this full-court take early in the third quarter.
Portland's frustration as Sacramento relentlessly attacked in early offense and pinged the ball around the halfcourt for threes was palpable. Robert Covington—clearly over-helping here, by the way—pointedly appealed to the bench after this Harrison Barnes triple, his arms spread wide in obvious exasperation.
Nurkic and Lillard expressed similar irritation throughout the game. Norman Powell, mostly a bystander offensively, appeared lethargic at times defensively, as did McCollum.
Still, the Blazers' starters almost made up for all that disappointment in the end, giving Lillard the chance to atone for one of his worst shooting nights ever with a game-tying triple as time expired. But why did Portland even have the opportunity to make that crunch-time run? Energy and activity from the opening tip provided by a revamped bench that kept the Kings from blowing the season-opener wide open.
The tenor of the game noticeably changed when Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller entered for Covington and Jusuf Nurkic in the first quarter. A bit more mobile overall and more comfortable in a defensive scheme that Covington and Nurkic are clearly still learning, Portland's bench bigs gave their new team a jolt on that side of the ball that would've been impossible to come by a season ago. Nance and Zeller sprinted into screens and made quick, incisive decisions catching on the roll, too.
Zeller, his athleticism still underrated, even skied for a running dunk down the lane as Sacramento anticipated the pass.
It wasn't just Nance and Zeller who gave the Blazers a much-needed boost off the bench. Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little did, too. The former exhibited the poise and playmaking growth that made him the talk of training camp, getting to the paint for a series of variable finishes and drop-offs to bigs.
Little's presence in the second half changed the game most, though. He not only drained a quick-trigger corner triple and curled around an off-ball screen for a pull-up jumper from the elbow, but awoke a sleepy Moda Center with his awesome effort on the offensive and defensive glass.
The impact of Portland's bench didn't go unnoticed by Billups.
“I thought they gave us great energy,” he said. “I thought Cody, his energy and his effort was incredible. Thought Ant played really well. I’m gonna be looking at the tape probably kicking myself for not playing him more in the game, because he made shots and I thought he played really good. I thought Nas’ energy was really good, you know, extra efforts. That’s what your bench and your reserve guys are supposed to do. They’re supposed to come in there with a lot of energy. Larry, as well. I was happy with our bench tonight.”
The Blazers obviously didn't undergo the significant roster overhaul Lillard all but demanded over the summer. They've reportedly engaged in conversations with the Philadelphia 76ers regarding Ben Simmons, but it's an open secret in Portland that Neil Olshey is extremely averse to moving McCollum. Portland missed out on its top targets in free agency, too, ultimately electing against using the taxpayer's mid-level exception.
There were and could still remain avenues to improve this roster before 2021-22 is finished. But if Nance and Zeller stay healthy while playing up to career norms and Simons and Little cement themselves as viable rotation players, those improvements won't need to come on the bench. Based on those hopeful developments and the season-opener, at least, it's the Blazers' vaunted starting lineup that could use a change.
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