To stay in the running for a postseason place, the Portland Trail Blazers will need rookie center Donovan Clingan to produce more consistently than they did in their loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
In little under 17 minutes, Clingan scored six points (3-of-4 shooting), pulled down six rebounds, and blocked three shots while starting against the Lakers in lieu of Deandre Ayton due to a calf injury. Not too awful. However, he also made three mistakes, received two personal fouls, and didn’t perform well enough for Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.
After the game, Billups remarked, “I thought he was okay.” He had some strong moments in the game, in my opinion. Once more, I believed he became distracted by some of the defensive maneuvers we wished to execute. I chose to just kind of go tiny and switch things up because he was a step or two slow.
Clingan wasn’t the only player who struggled in the Moda Center’s 110-102 defeat. It was obvious that the Blazers (23–33) were rusty after the All-Star break.
Clingan will start for the Blazers while Deandre Ayton (calf) will be out for possibly three more weeks. In his 25 minutes of play against the Lakers, backup Robert Williams III finished with eight points and six rebounds.
During the second half of a basketball game at Spectrum Center on January 24, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Donovan Clingan #23 of the Portland Trail Blazers blocks a shot made by Vasilije Micic #22 of the Charlotte Hornets. (Image courtesy of Getty Images/David Jensen)Getty Pictures
Before the break, Clingan should ideally deliver performances like the two he gave at Denver. On February 10, he scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds. On February 12, he scored 17 points and pulled down 20 rebounds.
Clingan’s performance against faster centers is the Blazers’ main worry. Together, Lakers centers Trey Jemison III and Jaxson Hayes scored 15 points on 7 of 12 shots and pulled down 11 rebounds.
More sports centers are easier for Williams to manage. However, the Blazers need Clingan on the court because he can be a powerful rebounder and a space-eater inside.
The Lakers grabbed 11 offensive boards and outnumbered the Blazers 48–33, which resulted in 22 second-chance points.
Blazers forward Deni Avdija stated that they had too many offensive rebounds and too many second-chance points.
That was unacceptable against a Lakers team that had traded Anthony Davis, their top rebounder, prior to the half.
Billups stated, “It’s not like we don’t have other centers and we’re missing DA.” Yes, we do. Therefore, there truly isn’t an excuse. We simply need to perform it more effectively.
At 7 p.m. on Saturday, the Blazers take on the Charlotte Hornets.
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Aaron J. Fentress | [email protected]|@AaronJFentress (Facebook), @AaronFentress (Instagram), and @AaronJFentress (Twitter)
