Trail Blazers' Micah Nori Has Counter for Teams Hunting Damian Lillard, Ja Morant

The Portland Trail Blazers are not going to stop teams from trying to hunt Damian Lillard and Ja Morant defensively. Micah Nori already knows that much, and Portland's answer may be less about avoiding those matchups than making opponents waste time creating them.

“If teams are spending 14, 15 seconds trying to manipulate that matchup, then good for us,” Nori told The Athletic.

That could become one of the more interesting wrinkles in Portland's defense this season. Opponents can spend possessions trying to drag Lillard or Morant into the matchup they want … but if it takes more than half the shot clock to get there, the Blazers have already made the advantage harder to exploit.

Nori has acknowledged the obvious concern that comes with playing two smaller guards together. Portland will have to protect them at the point of attack, especially against teams willing to repeatedly screen until they manufacture the switch they want.

The Blazers have spent training camp working through those answers. Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III can play in drop coverage and protect the paint, while Portland can also show at screens, switch out of certain actions and try to hide its smaller guards on players who are less involved offensively.

None of that completely eliminates the mismatch — and that does not appear to be the expectation.

Instead, Portland can make teams work for it. Every extra screen, reset and attempt to manipulate the matchup burns another second … and leaves less time for the offense to actually take advantage once it gets there.

That is where Toumani Camara and Clingan become so important. Camara, a 2024-25 NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection, gives Nori someone capable of taking the opponent's toughest perimeter assignment. Clingan gives Portland another layer behind him around the rim.

Nori pointed to both while explaining why he believes the Blazers can survive defensively while playing smaller.

There is some evidence behind that confidence, too. Portland posted a 109.3 defensive rating after last season's All-Star break, third-best in the NBA over that stretch.

Lillard and Morant change that equation. Portland is betting on more offensive creation while asking the rest of its defense to absorb some of the problems that come with playing smaller.

Those problems are not going away.

Teams are going to hunt Portland's guards. They are going to run screens, force switches and search for isolations against Lillard and Morant whenever they can.

Nori's goal may simply be making sure that by the time they finally find one … there is barely enough time left to use it.