The Portland Trail Blazers played one of their best first quarters of the season as they faced the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons scored like hotcakes. Deandre Ayton provided height, active defense, huge rebounding, and plenty of points in a fantastic outing.
In true Trail Blazers fashion, though, Portland couldn’t outrun their own mistakes or the curses of fate. Ayton sprained his hand and could not report for the second half. Portland missed a ton of shots at the rim and turned over the ball to boot. A 13-point lead after one quarter dwindled to 10 at the half, then a deficit after three.