There’s nothing more beautiful in basketball than a free-flowing offense. In today’s NBA, a lot of the game is focused on isolation play, whether that’s clearing out and letting a guy dance with his defender — à la prime James Harden — or hunting mismatches through repeated screening, allowing a guy like Jalen Brunson to play with his food and breakdown defenders twice his size.

Of course, it’s not completely centered around one-on-one basketball, but turn on a game and one quickly deciphers that most offenses orbit around a single star. But if that game happens to feature the Portland Trail Blazers, then a viewer may notice that this team operates a bit differently. There’s not just one star, but three; they don’t have two or three guys capable of being a primary ball handler, but five; and they don’t often stand stationary and watch one guy do everything, but rather take turns initiating the offense.

Most pundits around the league didn’t give this Blazers offense a chance. They called the glut of guards confusing and lamented the lack of perimeter shooting. And they decried the lack of size defensively, wondering how a backcourt whose tallest player stood at 6-foot-4 could defend at a satisfactory level.

Yes, it’s the second week of the season. Perhaps overreactions and grand declarations should be reserved for November or December when Portland’s played more than a few games. There is always the chance they fall off or take a downturn once teams have them figured out. But there’s also a chance that day never comes, and Portland surpasses expectations — again.

As long as they maintain this prolific, selfless offense, and stay steady on defense, the Blazers may just have a run in store come April.

Suffocating the perimeter

Obviously, with the makeup of the backcourt, questions and doubts were flung in Portland's direction regarding their defense. Fortunately, the Blazers have started off pretty OK, some truths re-affirmed in the early season. Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III are still absolute anchors inside, and Sidy Cissoko, Jrue Holiday and Toumani Camara remain legit on the perimeter.

It's really Portland's head coach Micah Nori's decision to rely on drop coverage defending pick-and-rolls that tells the story. Though the Blazers aren't totally great at preventing oppononets from finishing at the rim, they are elite at preventing teams from getting there. Per Cleaning The Glass, just 20.5 percent of opponents total shots come at the rim against the Blazers, Clingan and Williams acting as effective deterrents.

The drop coverage is clearly working — Portland's forcing opponents into mid-range jumpers and defending the 3-point line well. Of oppononets total shots, 42.6 percent of them originate in the mid-range, the highest rate in the league according to Cleaning The Glass.

From outside, Portland sits among the cream of the league, ranked in the top 10 in two key categories — 36.8 percent of teams' total shots against the Blazers are from the 3-point line (8th) and they convert on only 31.5 percent of them (7th) per Cleaning The Glass.

Kinetic offense

Last year, per Cleaning The Glass, Ja Morant’s 35.7 percent usage rate put him in the 96th percentile of all point guards, while Deni Avdija led all forwards with his 30.9 percent usage rate. Damian Lillard, meanwhile, sat in the 93rd percentile for usage rate among point guards in his final season in Portland.

Considering those numbers, it makes sense why some reservations were held regarding the offense, who it would run through, and whose egos would be hurt. Through at least the first three games, those concerns seem silly in retrospect. Per Cleaning The Glass, Lillard's been assisted on 63 percent of all his made shots, Morant on 50 percent and Avdija on 61 percent.

For context, last year's percentages were: 34 percent for Lillard, 31 percent for Morant and 49 percent for Avdija.

All three have also seen their usage rate drop significantly, as the Blazers 30.7 assists per game is second in the league behind the Atlanta Hawks — at time of publication — and their 299.3 passes per game is 12th and a jump of nearly 17 from last season.

The opening sequences from Portland’s first two games against the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers do a decent job conveying the Blazers' passing inclination and movement. Against the Kings, Clingan sets a pindown screen for Camara, who catches the ball at the top of the key. Avdija and Lillard then simultaneously cut through the lane, ending up in each corner while Morant fills the slot.

Catching Camara’s swing, Morant gets to the lane off the staggered screens and tries to find a rolling Clingan, who is impeded by a tagging De’Andre Hunter. Morant probably should’ve kicked out to Camara, who lifted to the top of the key, but the unselfishiness and determination to make the right play was there.

Moving to the Lakers game, Portland’s first action opens in a horns alignment, Morant as the ball handler and Lillard and Avdija in the corners. Both corners get wide-pindowns by Clingan and Camara. Coming off their respective screens, Lillard goes toward Morant as if to screen but opts to slip and reposition up top, while Avdija curls and cuts through the lane. 

Morant skips to Clingan, who runs a dribble-handoff with Lillard, rolling afterward. Lillard gets to the paint and kicks out to Morant, who lifted to the top of the key. He swings to Avdija near the slot, who shoots and misses. Four passes and four guys touching the ball in the first possession isn’t so bad.

Beyond that, the sequence sets up a few mismatches to exploit. Camara’s wide-pindown switches Doncic, a below-average defender, onto Lillard — Doncic is then quickly thrust into a pick-and-roll situation, having to fight over the top of Clingans’ 7-foot-2, 280-pound frame. If one hopes to wear Doncic down by the fourth quarter, which Portland did (he only attempted three shots and one free throw in the period), it’s crucial to run him ragged early. There’s no earlier than your first play of the night.

Lillard's remarkable gravity is what makes this flow. Typically it's his shooting ability that pulls defenses wide and opens lanes, but his drive commands some respect as well: two Lakers have a foot in the paint and the other three are within the elbow or short corners. Whoever gets the kick out is going to have a defender closing hard; either he shoots, blows by, or swings immediately, knowing that every head on defense is turned toward him, creating a delay in rotations. Morant chooses option three, it just doesn’t work out this time.

Successful actions

Alright, let’s move on to some movement Portland actually scored off of. In this clip from early in the first quarter against the Kings four guys touch the ball. Williams sets a high inside pick for Morant, but he doesn’t really roll, but rather swaps places with Lillard, who gets the swing from Morant. 

With Morant and Lillard in the slots, Camara and Avdija in the corners and Williams on the strongside block, the spacing here is incredible, especially when you consider there’s two non-shooters (Morant’s a career 31.2 percent 3-point shooter) on the floor.

The spacing means there’s multiple actions available to the Blazers. It’s a pick your poison situation. Williams, ultimately, flashes to the high post and receives a pass from Lillard. Lillard then sets a butt screen for Morant who curls around and gets a handoff from Williams. Morant attacks off the handoff and skips the ball to a wide-open Camara on the wing for an easy 3-pointer.

Portland did a masterful job of breaking down Sacramento’s defense here and putting them in an unfavorable scenario. As you can see in the screenshot below, it was at this specific moment that the Kings were toast. Now, I’m clearly not an NBA player, so it may feel a bit unfair to lambast Sacramento over a single frame. But it’s a frame, a mere second, perhaps, that makes the difference in whether a team gets a stop or not.

Zach LaVine is certainly not known for his defense prowess. A more aware defender likely could’ve anticipated that Morant was using Lillard’s screen to create space for a handoff, and telegraphed that the next subsequent action is a Williams’ roll. It’s understandable wanting to cling to Lillard. Maybe LaVine was instructed to do so, but as the closest perimeter defender the ball screen is moving away from, it’s technically his job to bump Williams and slow him down.

Again, leaving Lillard seems foolish, but a capable defender can bump and recover to wherever his guy shakes to, ensuring a decent contest. But LaVine doesn’t bump, and with the Kings in drop coverage Sabonis has to try and stay in between an attacking Morant and the basket while staying in front of Williams. To make matters worse, Darius Acuff Jr. is slow to recover, forcing Hunter to sink further into the restricted area and leaving Camara all alone, leading to the easy trey. Jay Triano — who runs the Blazers’ offense — and Nori’s decision to exploit LaVine’s weaknesses in his pick-and-roll coverage worked splendidly.

Let’s look at another action against Sacramento midway through the second quarter. A lineup of Morant, Holiday, Vit Krejci, Cissoko and Camara doesn’t scream offensive talent — that’s maybe two guys who can reliably create their own shot — but under Portland’s current offense, the shots often find those positioned or moving correctly regardless.

The clip below is a fantastic example. Operating out of a horns set, Camara and Holiday are in the designated four and five spots while Krejci and Cissoko camp in the corners. Camara successfully sets a cross-screen for Holiday; he does such a good job, in fact, that Precious Achiuwa assumes he and Keegan Murray are going to switch and both close-out on Holiday. 

In Achiuwa’s haste, he’s unable to recover properly, discombobulated. Sacramento’s miscommunication caused just enough lag that Achiuwa overcorrects and projects a drop that makes it easy for Holiday to read and reject the screen, attacking the chasm between Achiuwa and Sabonis instead. Holiday beats Murray off the dribble, forcing Sabonis to commit a hard help and leave Cissoko open in the corner for a shot that is widely considered the easiest in today’s era of basketball.

Adapting on the fly

Coaches can draw up plays and call out sets all they want; it doesn’t matter how smart the coach is if the players are unable to read and react to the coverage in front of them in real time. This next clip illustrates brilliant basketball IQ and offensive awareness. It ends in a thunderous alley-oop slam by Williams off a gorgeous pass by Morant, but it likely wasn't the intended result initially, and thus wouldn't have occurred without some clever improvising.

With Morant starting near the mid-line and Lillard in the opposite slot, Williams goes to set an off-ball screen for Lillard. The slightest hesitation is enough to make Austin Reaves bite and turn his hips toward Williams, allowing Lillard to reject the screen and cut to the paint instead. As he cuts, Williams turns around and sets a pick for Morant.

Matisse Thybulle goes under the screen, attempting to divert a drive, and Williams rolls. While he does so, Lillard lifts to the weak-side slot, using Williams as a brush screen and catching a swing from Morant.

Observe the screenshot below. With Lillard and Morant in the slots, Avdija and Camara in the corners and Williams on the strong-side block, the spacing initially doesn’t impress. Doncic and Thybulle can easily stunt a Lillard drive if he beats Reaves, and Walker Kessler and Ziaire Williams comfortably sit in help position.

One rejected off-ball screen, pick-and-roll and cut wasn’t enought to create an advantage, so Camara takes it upon himself to make one. He rushes toward Lillard and uses a ghost screen to get the switch, forcing Doncic onto Lillard. As Camara repositions to the top of the key, Thybulle leaves the nail to offer coverage, seemingly expecting a swing from Lillard to Camara. Doncic and Reaves are not awesome defenders — Doncic was slow following Camara from the corner, meaning Reaves had to wait and stay just a half-second longer on Lillard before committing to the switch, which led to Thybulle overcompensating his help, leaving the middle vulnerable.

As soon as Thybulle stepped toward Camara, Morant flashed to the lane. A final touch of awareness is on display on the lob; Morant noticed that Williams at some point moved over to the weak-side short corner and realized that Kessler would be forced to step up and help, leaving Williams lonesome behind the defense.

Time Lord hustlin'

That was quite the dive into some of Portland’s offense. Feeling pretty bloated, personally. How about we wash it down with some Time Lord highlights? 

There is tons to rave about here. I would like, however, to keep this within a reasonable word limit, so we'll keep this section short. The obivious: Williams' rim-running is phenomenal. Twice against the Kings he started behind four of Sacramento's players, hauling (expletive) and filling the lane perfectly — on the lob he caught the basketball and slammed it one motion, and on other dunk he glided through the paint effortlessly.

The final slam in the clip was great, too, showcasing Williams' versatility and ability to effectively close out and contest shooters on the perimeter, something he does better than most bigs in the league. And his pick-and-roll slams with Lillard and Avdija were simply fantastic. He showed great awareness flipping the screen with Lillard and removing the threat of a stunt by Murray, and with Avdija he slipped at the opportune moment to get completely behind the Kings' defense.

He can't spread the floor like Clingan (theoretically) can, but through the young season he's by far the better roller and bigger lob-threat.

Coast-to-coast magician

Everyone knows how efficient and crafty Avdija is in transition and attacking the rim. At the time of publication he led the NBA in drives per game (25), bolstering Portland's 77 drives per game, the third-highest in the league according to the NBA's official advanced statistics.

He's insane in transition, too, and it's his ability to relentlessly apply pressure on the defense that makes up the crux of the video below.

It's popular nowadays to hate on guys like Avdija, to claim they don't participate in "ethical hoops." Forget all that. The ability to manipulate your body and initiate contact against defenders is just as valuable as the ability to shoot the ball, breakdown defenders off the dribble or finish at the rim. The game is governed by rules; you'd be silly not to find ways to exploit them.

And because he exploits them, Avdija is the tide that lifts Portland's boats. The Blazers, according to Cleaning The Glass, are: fifth in the NBA in points added per 100 possessions through transition play (5.5), eighth in percentage of possessions started with a transition play (17.7), eighth in points scored per 100 transition plays (131.1); eighth in points scored per 100 transition plays that came off a steal (141.7); sixth in points added per 100 possessions through transition plays that came off of live ball rebounds (3.5), sixth in percentage of live ball rebounds that led to a transition play (34.8) and 10th in points scored per 100 transition plays that came off a live rebound.

So, yeah, Portland's pretty good in transition.

Moving on, Avdija is also very adept at punishing the defense when he drives right. There’s a great moment in the second quarter against the Lakers where Avdija receives a cross screen from Williams at the weak-side elbow. He sort of rejects it, however, and shoots out toward the strong-side slot and gets a pass from Morant. Williams approaches as if to set a standard screen on the inside, but he flips it at the last second, giving Avdjia the angle he needs.

Portland wants to get Avdija going right, so to open the lane the flip screen is perfect for tricking defenses into thinking he’s trying to lift to the middle of the floor. Kevon Looney shifts to his right, expecting Avdija to come off the pick in that direction, and Ziaire Williams is already making contact with Time Lord, attempting to fight over a screen he thinks is coming. Instead, the sea parts and Avdija finishes at the rim, fouled by a recovering Looney.

Final thoughts

The Blazers have given fans plenty of reasons to overreact. Scratch that — Nori has given fans plenty of reasons to overreact. The manner in which he's been able to enter Portland, establish an identity outside of the three marquee names and ascend past last year's plucky "man, they're just so fun and gritty" image has been impressive.

Portland still isn't quite in the upper echelon of the Western Conference. Any objective person recognizes that the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets remain levels above the rest.

But the Nikola Jokic-dependent Denver Nuggets? The Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves? Or how about the old-folks-home Golden State Warriors and the Snowtime Los Angeles Lakers? The Portland Trail Blazers might just have their number.