Putting doubts to rest in Portland

We wondered if Anfernee Simons could keep it up with Damian Lillard back in charge. The answer so far: a resounding yes.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Last season, with Damian Lillard exiting early due to injury and the franchise’s opportunistic decision to dip into the high lottery once the playoffs seemed out of play, Anfernee Simons received a huge opportunity not just for lots and lots of minutes, but for offensive responsibility. And he made the most of it, showing off enough potency to win a big contract from the Blazers and a co-starring role next to Lillard, so long as Lillard remains. As I wrote in ranking Simons as the No. 15 best player 23 or under before the season, nothing about Ant’s performance in 2021-22 seemed like a fluke. The efficient shooting on volume as the team’s No. 1 option — that spelled reality to me. You can’t really fake what Simons did last year, not against NBA competition.

But even if, like me, you believed the Anfernee Simons Experience was real, and even if you thought there was a good chance Dame would pick up where he left off in 2020-21, there was still the question of how the two would fit together. Would it be like Lillard and C.J. McCollum?

Would it be something better?

The early returns: so far, the answer is yes. The Blazers are 4-0 after beating the Nuggets on Monday. In that game, Dame and Simons combined for 60 points on better than 60% shooting, 11 threes, seven free throws (all from Lillard), 13 assists, two turnovers. It’s just perfect modern guard-led offense. Portland took full control of the game in the third quarter, when Simons — the league’s top young breakout star in Week 1 of the season — scored 22 in six minutes.

So casual. And he put at least of those shots on Aaron Gordon, Denver’s best defender. Why this works is that Lillard is fully unselfish, at least as far as we can tell. Despite being one of the best players in the world, Dame never begrudged McCollum his shine and his opportunities. The same is applying to Simons, even with the age difference and the fact that eventually Simons appears on track to take Dame’s spot as the team’s No. 1. Dame isn’t just happy to set up Simons and get the assist, like some other alpha stars would be. He seems as overjoyed as fans watching Simons blossom.

I’m skeptical about this current Blazers incarnation’s defense, though limiting Nikola Jokic like they did is a good sign. They put the Lakers in a bottle the other night, but the Lakers have one of the worst offenses in the league. The Kings put up a lot of points on opening night. We’ll check back in on the defense around Thanksgiving to see if they can string together a surprisingly good strategy given the tools, a la last year’s Wolves.

But one thing that’s not in question is that with Lillard and Simons, this team is going to score like hell. Put the doubts to rest about that. This works.