Trail Blazers Fumble Away Final Summer League Game to the Heat

Miami capitalized on Portland’s turnovers and inexperience.

• By
  
  JoeMoore21
  
• on July 16, 2023 7:16 pm

The Portland Trail Blazers fell to the Miami Heat in their final Summer League game 104-78. The game’s leading scorer was Heat big man Orlando Robinson with 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Blazers were lead by the 18 points of Doup Reath, but got strong contributions from Michael Devoe, who had 16 points and 5 assists, and Kris Murray, who had 12 points.

The first quarter was defined by hot shooting from three for the Blazers, from the Heat everywhere else. Portland shot 40% from the arc in the quarter. Miami kept them at bay by shooting 52.4% from the field themselves despite shooting just 27.3% from three. Kris Murray and Jabari Walker combined for 10 of the Blazers’ first 13 points, battling Miami’s Orlando Robinson who finished with 9 in the quarter. The Heat held a 26-22 lead after one.

The Heat jumped out to a 32-23 lead in the second quarter before allowing a 13-0 Blazers run. That put Portland in front 36-32. The Blazers were able to keep that four-point lead into halftime following strong play from Devoe. He finished the half with 15 points and 5 assists, including a couple highlight worthy passes leading to easy baskets in the paint.

Miami erased Portland’s lead immediately with a 8-0 run to start the third quarter. The Blazers went scoreless for more than three minutes as the Heat blocks, steals, and points after, including a pair of wide-open fast break dunks on back-to-back possessions.

The Heat rode an extended run to a 12-point lead before Portland tried a full five-man substitution to change momentum. The new line for the Blazers did not have much more success. Miami won the quarter 28-7 to take a 76-59 lead into the final frame. Orlando Robinson had 10 points in the quarter, bringing him up to 25 for the game.

The fourth quarter saw the Heat and Blazers trade blows without either team gaining much ground on the other. Unfortunately, for the Blazers, that meant that they were held at about a 20-point deficit. Among the bright spots for Portland was huge dunk from Doup Reath at the start of the quarter. Reath had his best game of the Summer League despite the blowout loss.

The Blazers suffered from an excess of turnovers and the Heat capitalized on those mistakes throughout. Portland finished with 24 turnovers for the game, leading to easy baskets in transition for the Heat. The turning point of the game centered around the turnovers early in the second half when the Blazers found themselves losing a lead they’d never regain.

Boxscore

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