NBA Notes: Blazers, Damian Lillard, Jazz, Kevin Love, Timberwolves

Trail Blazers

The Blazers needed a reset, a little belief and maybe a familiar voice. They got all three Monday night in a win over Milwaukee.

Damian Lillard isn’t playing as he rehabs the torn Achilles he suffered last postseason, but he’s been plenty active behind the scenes.

As Jason Quick of The Athletic wrote, Lillard has turned into Portland’s in-house mentor through a rough stretch that included seven losses in nine games.

“I told these dudes this is the time when you find your true identity,” Lillard said. “It’s not when you win a couple games and everything feels good.

“It’s in the moments when it would be easy to walk away… this is the time when you make a decision to march forward and up.”

The Blazers heard it, and responded with one of their better showings of the season.

Jazz

Utah’s defense hasn’t been the same since Walker Kessler went down for the season with a shoulder injury — and that might be putting it mildly.

As Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune detailed, the Jazz have given up 130-plus points in six of their last nine games.

Jusuf Nurkic is gobbling rebounds as the new starting center, but he’s never been known as a rim deterrent. Kevin Love, now 37, is the primary backup. The only other option is sliding true fours into the five spot.

Frankly, nobody figured Love even would be with the Jazz this long, but both the veteran and the organization are pretty good fit at the moment. Love also said he’s enjoying Utah.

Anyway, the Jazz will score. They can shoot. But without Kessler’s paint protection, the identity gets shaky fast.

Timberwolves

Two games, two late-game meltdowns.

On Saturday in Phoenix, the Wolves blew a nine-point lead with 50 seconds left. On Monday against Sacramento, they allowed a 10-point cushion to evaporate in the final three minutes before losing in overtime.

That’s the kind of stretch that gets your attention.

Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic broke down the issues, and Rudy Gobert summed up the mood.

“Hopefully we learn,” Gobert said. “We still have an amazing opportunity ahead of us, but we have to decide who we want to be.”

Minnesota’s ceiling hasn’t changed. But the closing-time habits need fixing fast.