Voltar
For just the third time in the last 15 years, the Portland Trail Blazers are off to a 2-0 start.
Their wins against the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings are impressive, but two games are not enough of a sample size to give us true insight into how this team will play over the course of the season. It's easy to overreact after these two games, so here's a look at the biggest overreactions from the first week of the season.
Going into Sunday's action, the Blazers are tied for the league lead in offensive rating at 123.5. This is a great sign of what's to come, but it's still too early to tell if this is going to stand. The team has been healthy for the first two games, but history has suggested that it might not be the case down the line. I will be curious to see if Portland can maintain this high level of offense once the season continues to roll along.
The Blazers' offense should be one of the top 10 in the league, but we need to see more games to determine what their true ceiling is.
This is a slightly larger surprise, considering the fact that the Blazers were viewed as a defensive liability going into the season. Their game against the Suns, where Phoenix scored just 83 points and shot 35.7 percent from the field, definitely skews this rating.
The Blazers didn't play particularly good opponents in their first two games, but the schedule is going to increase in difficulty from here on out. If the Blazers can continue the success against stronger teams, then I will become more of a believer.
Blazers forward Toumani Camara has not shot better than 37.5 percent from distance in any season of his career, but he's off to a strong start this season, making nine of his first 17 looks from downtown.
If Camara emerges as a 40 percent three-point shooter or better, that is going to do wonders for this Portland offense, with a pair of dominant drivers in Ja Morant and Deni Avdija. Their ability to kick out to Camara on the perimeter for a three-pointer opens things up tremendously.
We'll see if he can continue this trend, but I wouldn't expect him to be shooting it this well for a longer period of time.