Fansided

NBA Power Rankings: Come fall in love with the Sacramento Kings

By Ian Levy

MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 29: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings drives to the basket against the Miami Heat on October 29, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 29: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings drives to the basket against the Miami Heat on October 29, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
12 of 16
Next
PORTLAND, OR – November 1: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers enters the arena prior to a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on November 1, 2018 at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR – November 1: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers enters the arena prior to a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on November 1, 2018 at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Previous: 7th. Portland Trail Blazers. 5. team. 34. . 7-3

The Trail Blazers had a monster week, pounding Houston, New Orleans and Minnesota, and dropping a close game to the Lakers. To this point, the Blazers have been in the top five in efficiency on both offense and defense, and have the fourth-best scoring margin in the league. It’s been amazing to watch them shake off their playoff struggles and pick up right where they left off at the end of last year’s regular season.

As Jared Dubin documented last week, depth has really been showing up for the Blazers. Evan Turner has assumed more ball-handling responsibilities, freeing up Lillard and McCollum to work off-ball and preventing his own lack of outside shooting from collapsing the defense. Zach Collins continues to be a revelatory piece, playing solid defense and hitting better than 40 percent of his 3s. This could be the best version of the Lillard Trail Blazers we’ve seen, even if I’m not sure exactly what that means yet.

Home/NBA