There were many absentees in Portland (Damian Lillard, Josh Hart, Nassir Little or even Drew Eubanks), the Blazers therefore left the keys to Jerami Grant (33 points) but especially to Anfernee Simons.
The latter took control of the game in Utah from the first moments: 23 points, 8/10 to shoot and an insolent 5/7 to 3-pts, in the first quarter!
“I wanted to be aggressive and set the tone for my teammates”explains the back at ESPN. “I wanted the Jazz to know that we were in the game and that I was going to do my best to win. »
He adds 10 points in the second quarter and we therefore get a 33-point half (12/18 shooting, 7/12 from behind the arc), a regular season record in Blazers history.
45 points and decisive action in defense
In the second half, the Utah defense is more pressing and the back breathes much less well, especially at 3-pts where he no longer tries his luck. Certainly, he scored 10 new points in the third quarter, but the last, he was deprived of balls: he only shot once, missed and lost three balls.
He therefore finished with 45 points, his career high, at 15/25 in shooting. But there is still a (defensive) action to remember in his second period. The Jazz are three points behind and five seconds to come back.
The ball arrives in the hands of Jordan Clarkson and when the latter goes up to shoot, Anfernee Simons blocks the passage with a counter, which also looks like an interception. The league’s statisticians count this as a counter, but the essential is elsewhere: the sixth man of the Jazz was deprived of a capital shot.
“I tried to steal the ball from him before he went up,” says the man with 45 points. “It was a risky move, but I’m glad I pulled it off. »
| Anfernee Simons | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | ORP | 20 | 7 | 44.4 | 34.5 | 56.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| 2019-20 | ORP | 70 | 21 | 39.9 | 33.2 | 82.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 8.3 |
| 2020-21 | ORP | 64 | 17 | 41.9 | 42.6 | 80.7 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 7.8 |
| 2021-22 | ORP | 57 | 30 | 44.3 | 40.5 | 88.8 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 17.3 |
| 2022-23 | ORP | 20 | 37 | 42.8 | 38.0 | 88.2 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 23.8 |
| Total | 231 | 22 | 42.5 | 39.0 | 84.3 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 11.3 | |
