The Portland Trail Blazers showed plenty of positive (and familiar) signs in their first preseason game of 2018-19 against the Toronto Raptors. Damian Lillard canned deep threes, CJ McCollum went to work off the bounce, visiting announcers called Meyers, “Miles” Leonard multiple times... it was like old home week. In the midst of the mundane, here are a few standout differences to pay attention to as the new season gets underway.
Defensive Pressure
The Blazers came out and put more pressure on the ball, in passing lanes and on pick and roll action than I can remember in a long while.