Portland Trail Blazers win 4 straight games, Billups praises Klingen for helping the team gain more confidence to suppress

With Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija scoring, the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 102-97 in a new game of the 2024/25 NBA regular season. Portland Trail Blazers coach Billups praised Donovan Klingen's performance in an interview, saying that the center helped the team to be more confident in putting pressure on opponents.

After the first quarter, the Charlotte Hornets regained their rhythm and successfully overtook and established a double-digit lead. Although the Portland Trail Blazers tried hard to score points, they still fell behind their opponents 22-30.

In the second quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers recovered a lot of points with three 3-pointers from Jerami Grant in a difficult situation. Then the Charlotte Hornets struggled to find opportunities to counterattack and continued to lead 54-50.

In the third quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers seized the scoring opportunity after their opponents lost their touch and reduced the Charlotte Hornets' lead to single digits. In the fourth quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers continued to organize offense in a stalemate, and Anfernee Simons scored 12 points in this quarter to help the team overtake.

In the end, the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 102-97 at home and achieved a four-game winning streak.

Talking about Donovan Clingen, who contributed 4 points, 4 assists and 13 rebounds for the Portland Trail Blazers in this game, coach Billups said, "He played very well in his playing time, I just hope he can play more time. He performed very well in rebounding and blocking shots, and had a strong presence in the interior. This is where his talent lies, and I think he laid the offensive foundation for us in this game."

"His presence gives us confidence and allows us to be more aggressive in suppressing our opponents. When we know he is in the paint, he will try to make up for our mistakes when we are too aggressive on defense."

In addition, Anfernee Simons, who scored 27 points for the Portland Trail Blazers, said, "Donovan Klingen did a great job and kept contesting shots near the basket. That's where we need him, to fight hard and grab offensive rebounds, complete second offenses, and do the hard things."

Anfernee Simons also said, "I love defense and man-to-man defense. I just want to have an effect in the paint, interfere with shots, block opponents, and make opponents afraid to shoot easily."