How can each team in the Northwest improve in the second half of the season?

As we enter the second half of the NBA season, the playoff picture is observed with increasingly more scrutiny, but teams are continuing to improve their strengths and come up with plans to better cover their weaknesses. No team is perfect, and most have one glaring problem that could have them packing their bags far sooner than they predicted. We took a look at each team and where they could take the biggest strides.

Portland Trail Blazers- Ball and Player Movement

The Blazers may not be playing for all that much for the rest of the season and the roster could look very different in the next week, but regardless of who they send out and bring in, they require a recommitment to moving the basketball in the half court. They are dead last in the NBA in assists as a team, averaging 22.5 per contest. Some of that comes as a result of having young players on the roster and having ball dominant scorer Jerami Grant having to create his own shot at the end of a possession, but they need to come up with more efficient ways to get their shooters and cutters into better spots. This will be something to watch the rest of the year and into next season, as many around the NBA are curious to see if Scoot Henderson can take the next step and add in more playmaking to compliment his freakish athleticism.

Utah Jazz- Transition Defense

The Jazz have been winning games and playing cleaner basketball of late. They still lead the league in turnovers per game, but that number has decreased as they have settled on their rotation. The transition defense is still a big issue though. They are often beat down the floor, even after scoring on offense, putting that much more pressure on their offense. Will Hardy has the team playing better, but it is clear that this team wants to out-score their opponents instead of holding them under a certain threshold of points. While this strategy isn’t uncommon in today’s NBA(hello, Indiana Pacers), it doesn’t carry much weight when applied in a postseason context. If the Jazz maintain their roster through the trade deadline, they are going to have to figure out how to get back defensively or they are going to get knocked off no matter how much they score.

Denver Nuggets- A Bruce Brown-less Bench Mob

If the NBA entered some magical period where every team’s players were in their primes, then the Nuggets would have a good case to make for being the league’s top team, with All-Star Deandre Jordan and a solid-as-they-come Reggie Jackson coming off their bench. Alas, they don’t have that luxury. Jackson has continued to be a steadying force, but outside of him, the bench has suffered through inconsistency. It may not be the biggest problem for a team of Denver’s caliber, but they are hoping that one of Christian Braun, Peyton Watson or Julian Strawther steps up into the role that Brown held last year. Don’t get it twisted though, the Nuggets are still the favorite to come out of the West and will continue to be as long as Nikola Jokić suits up for them.

Minnesota Timberwolves- Consistent Play in Clutch Games

Clutch games are common in playoff atmospheres, from play-in games all the way into the NBA Finals. Teams that have success almost always have one or two players they can give the ball to and set a screen for in the last minute of a game and be confident that the possession will end in a made shot or trip to the line. Younger teams tend to struggle to find the player who is ready for that spotlight. A team like the Oklahoma City Thunder, for example, are very lucky to have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fill that role. The Timberwolves are still waiting for that player to make himself known. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns have both had the ball in their hands in clutch situations and have failed to shut the door effectively. The season is long, but the Wolves are running out of time to find out who their closer is going to be. Their offense and defense is good enough to win a title, but a few clutch games going against them could send them home as soon as the first round.

Oklahoma City Thunder- Rebounding, Rebounding, Rebounding

It’s not tough to find what the Thunder are not good at, despite their top record and elite play so far this year. Gone are the days where Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka dominated the boards on both ends and anchored the team while Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook orchestrated the offense. This team is young and wants to run whenever they can, but doing so often leaves the glass bare and teams have feasted on second-chance opportunities against them. It’ll be interesting to see how general manager Sam Presti goes about solving the problem. Does he make a trade for a more traditional center to add some rebounding or will he trust presumptive coach of the year Mark Daigneault to convince the team to recommit to crashing the glass? Young teams rarely find success in the postseason, but if this Thunder team can figure out how to rid themselves of these rebounding woes, there’s no telling how far they could go.