Trail Blazers’ Shaedon Sharpe increases efficiency in strong week

The Portland Trail Blazers ended their six-game losing streak with a win over the Denver Nuggets earlier in the week, but then fell to the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks to go 2-1 this week.

There were many strong individual performances in a game or two this week, but the standout player was the Blazer of the week, Shaedon Sharpe.

Sharpe scored 27 points and then 25 points against the Nuggets and Spurs, respectively, resulting in a weekly average of 22.7 points per game. He also averaged 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this week while shooting 54.2% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc.

After a hot start to the year, Sharpe’s scoring numbers took a slight dip, but that bounced back this week with two strong performances. His aggressiveness in getting to the rim helped create other opportunities for his teammates to score and gave Sharpe himself the opportunity to take the lead from three-point range or mid-range.

Sharpe has struggled with turnovers at various times this season, particularly when used as the primary ball-handler. However, he only had two turnovers between the three games this week. He primarily played in an off-ball role and was the top scorer in that role.

This week’s honorable mention is Deni Avdija.

Avdija has been an incredibly valuable part of Portland’s rotation this season due to his defensive and offensive abilities. This week he averaged 15.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game off the bench. His ability to serve as a relief valve on offense and as a secondary ball handler makes his game a very important part of the Blazers’ offensive game plan. Avdija appears to have excelled in his role on the bench since joining in early November.

Let us know which Blazers players caught your eye the most in the comments!