Portland Trail Blazers’ 1st-quarter struggles have become a ‘disturbing trend’

Head coach Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers reacts to a call during the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors at the Moda Center on Jan. 28, 2023, in Portland, Oregon. The Toronto Raptors won 123-105. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday held what coach Chauncey Billups called a light practice and a team meeting to go over Saturday’s loss to Toronto and prepare for Monday night’s home game against Atlanta.

A major topic of discussion was the Blazers’ increasingly notorious slow starts that have helped turn a month loaded with home games into a run of wasted opportunities, preventing the team from ascending up the Western Conference standings.

“They just hurt us,” Billups said.

Painfully so. Saturday night’s 123-105 loss to the Raptors is a prime example.

The Blazers were home and the Raptors were playing the second of a back-to-back in the middle of a seven-game trip. Yet, it was the Raptors who jumped out to a 30-7 lead that the Blazers could never quite recover from.

“Starting off a game like that, it’s very tough,” Billups said. “And it can set the tone for you throughout the game because now what happens is after that stretch is up, there’s so much pressure on every shot to go in. And it’s tough to play that way.”

Although the Toronto game was an extreme example, it’s one of several.

“The bad starts have become a trend,” Damian Lillard said.

The Blazers (23-26) are 5-9 in January despite already playing nine home games (4-5) and five road games (1-4). The Blazers trailed after the first quarter in nine of the 14 games and in seven of the nine defeats.

In the first quarter of those nine losses, the Blazers managed to score just 24.1 points per game while shooting 41.9% from the field and 28% on threes, and also committing 4.6 turnovers.

Opponents in those first quarter averaged 31 points on 53.6% shooting including 33% on threes.

The Blazers’ offensive numbers jumped significantly in the second quarter of those games, to 29.8 points on 50.3% shooting and 37% on threes while committing just 2.8 turnovers.

The Blazers haven’t been much better in the first quarter of victories in January. They’ve trailed by an average score of 31.4 to 29. They were down 27-22 to Detroit and 31-19 to Utah. In the other three wins, the Blazers led by no more than two points.

Why have the Blazers struggled early in games?

Billups said it has come down to a simple lack of urgency. Then after falling behind, the Blazers must expend a great deal of energy to rally, and that can lead to running out of gas in the fourth. That was the case against Toronto.

“Now we’re on an uphill climb,” Billups said. “It’s just tough living.”

Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers is introduced as part of the starting lineup before the game against the Utah Jazz at Moda Center on January 25, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)

“We know that we have a team that, we’re going to scrap,” Billups said. “We’re going to play hard as heck. But we don’t start the game that way. We’re just counter-punching a team. And sometimes, you put yourself in a position where even when you get back in the game, it takes too much out of you.”

Failing to start well at home against a winning team is one thing. But the Blazers have also done so in three losses to losing teams.

The Blazers trailed 33-20 to Orlando (19-31) at the end of the first quarter and lost 109-105. Portland trailed 18-4 at the start of its game with the Los Angeles Lakers (23-27) and 33-26 at the end of the first quarter. The Blazers shot the lights out in the second quarter to build a 25-point halftime lead but ultimately lost 121-112. Then there was the loss to Toronto (23-28) in which the Blazers never led. They did, however, draw to within 94-90 in the fourth quarter before surrendering a 14-0 run that put the game out of reach for the Raptors.

Road teams with losing records win games often in the NBA. But had the Blazers gotten off to stronger starts and pulled out those three games, they would be 26-23 and in sixth place in the West. That’s how huge those defeats have been.

Lillard said following Saturday’s game that a problem that can arise is when the home team approaches a game with a comfort level that all will go well.

“You got these teams coming in on the road and they try to come get one,” Lillard said. “So, it’s more important for them on the road to get off to a good start. And I think as a home team, you got to also have that mentality and we just haven’t. It’s kind of like you just expect to have positive things happening on your home floor. Teams are just jumping out on us. We just got to be better.”

A home team letting down its guard, Billups said, plays into the hands of the visiting team.

“When you’re a road team, all you want to do is try to set the tone for yourself and your team in the first five minutes,” Billups said.

The Blazers host the Hawks (25-25) on Monday before embarking on a three-game trip starting Wednesday at Memphis (31-18). Then they will have another five-game stretch to attempt to make up for not taking advantage of January’s run of home dates.

“It’s disappointing,” Billups said. “It really is. There’s no hiding that. It’s disappointing to not have been able to pick up some steam at home like we thought that we could.”

But all isn’t lost. The Blazers entered Sunday just 2 ½ games out of sixth place. One strong winning streak could get the Blazers back on track. Improving in the first quarter could help that cause.

“I’ve got to find a way as the coach of our team and the leader of our team to help us be better at the start of games,” Billups said.

-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook). Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts

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