The Portland Trail Blazers, despite their 128-120 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, have been playing better basketball of late.
After a winless February and a January that saw them suffer multiple blowout losses – including a 62-point walloping at the hands of the Thunder – the Blazers have opened March with a pair of wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and a pair of single-digit losses to the Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves.
When asked about the team’s progress compared to that low period, Blazers guard Anfernee Simons was optimistic:
“I think everybody’s making good progress as a team. I mean, obviously, we’ve got guys coming in and out of the rotation. We’ve got guys getting injured. So it kind of messes up how we want to develop as a team. If [the rotation] changes every week, you’ve got to pivot and figure it out from there.”
Simons then shouted out the Blazers young rotation players. “Kris [Murray] goes into the starting lineup, he’s been playing hard. Duop [Reath] gets to the starting lineup and has been playing well. [Rayan Rupert] coming in, last two games, he gets some playing time and goes in playing as hard as he can. That’s all you want to see from those guys, and just continue to get better.”
Simons certainly understands the Blazers process of developing young players and so-called ‘good losses.’ But that doesn’t mean that he’s okay with losing.
“Development-wise, you see it as a full win, being able to compete and keep it close. But obviously, as a competitor, you’re like, ‘nah, forget that. I want to win.'”
Simons and the Blazers take on the Houston Rockets from Moda Center on Friday.
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