The Portland Trail Blazers easily beat the Indiana Pacers on Friday night (Oct. 20), moving to 2-0 so far in the 2017-18 NBA season. Two nights after beating the Phoenix Suns by 48 points, the Blazers beat the Pacers by 18. With C.J. McCollum leading the way, the Blazers won 114-96, continuing a trend of not getting outscored in a single quarter yet this season.
Blazers coach Terry Stotts went with a starting five of Damian Lillard, McCollum, Maurice Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Jusuf Nurkic on Friday night. This was the first game for McCollum, as he missed the season-opener due to a one-game suspension.
He didn’t miss a beat, though, going 12-of-18 from the field and finishing with 28 points against the Pacers.
The Blazers vs. Pacers box score
Joining McCollum in double-figures scoring were Lillard (18), Evan Turner (17), Aminu (16), and Nurkic (11). The Blazers got away with using Nurkic for only 25 minutes in this game as he was dealing with foul trouble. He had a tough time controlling the ball, though, posting six turnovers and those five fouls during his time on the court. As a team, the Blazers took care of the ball, finishing with just nine total turnovers.
The Portland Trail Blazers shot 48.4 percent from the field and continued their impressive three-point shooting by going 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) on the night.
The Blazers also out-rebounded the Indiana Pacers 51-39, holding them to 44.9 percent shooting and just 22.2 percent from three-point range. Two nights after the Pacers scored 140 points on the Brooklyn Nets, the Blazers held them to only 96.
What’s next for the Blazers?
Starting out the season 2-0 in two road games is something that will please fans of the Blazers.
The team continues this road trip with a game on Saturday night (Oct. 21) against the Milwaukee Bucks. Game time is 5:30 PM PT for that game, giving the Blazers a shot at moving to 3-0 before heading back to the Moda Center for the home-opener. The Bucks stand at 1-0 after winning their first game of the season.
Zach Collins, who the Blazers got during the 2017 NBA Draft, also made his debut on Friday night against the Pacers.
Coming off the bench, Collins did not have a great first game. He played seven minutes, finishing 0-of-4 from the field and 0-of-1 from three-point range. Collins also had two rebounds, two fouls, and a turnover during his time on the court. It is likely that Collins will see more playing time as the season progresses for the Portland Trail Blazers, but he will also need to earn those minutes.
