The Portland Trail Blazers’ offense post-LaMarcus Aldridge has featured heavy isolation play from Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. This showed last year when the team’s assist numbers dropped to last in the league, only the second time Portland has ever bottomed-out in that category.
The Blazers started off the 2018-2019 season in a similar fashion, recording minimal assists and depending on Lillard and McCollum’s shot creation abilities. But behind Jusuf Nurkic’s emerging passing skills and Jake Layman’s constant off-ball movement, the Blazers are generating more assisted buckets and reaping the benefits.