Sahal Arwo

Excited to share that I’ll now be contributing to the Portland Trail Blazers On SI! Thank you to everyone who has followed and read my work or supported my content in any capacity. It truly means a lot to me, both as a writer and as a person. Looking forward to covering this team all season! #RipCity

Robert Williams III is a player that you have such high expectations for and he still surpasses them. Resigning him was an A+++ this offseason. #RipCity

Blazers are looking good but the Lakers—specifically Austin Reaves—are making them look even better. Loving the offense in this second quarter, night and day difference between what we were seeing last season. #RipCity

Portland are up going into the second quarter but would hope the margin was a little more with the Lakers being 0-of-12 from three point range. Blazers up 9, 29-20. #RipCity

Portland opens the game 6-of-11 from three point range, a huge reason for the early double digit lead. Jrue Holiday is now shooting 11/16 (69%) from three in his last four games. #RipCity

Chris Youngblood enters the game to complete the first five off the bench. Full bench lineup on the court orchestrated by Jrue and anchored by Williams III. #RipCity

Scoot Henderson re-enters the game for the minutes that Vit Krejci would have. Lillard and Avdija also having longer minutes than usual so far. Interesting adjustment to the rotation. #RipCity

Portland lands the first punch, 10-4 run to start the game and force a Lakers timeout. Nostalgic three pointer from Lillard there. #RipCity

Damian Lillard is taking the least shots of his entire career. Even less than his senior year at Weber State. But Portland is on top of the western conference with a 6-1 record while Lillard is playing the easiest basketball of his life. “If you think of the solar system like you think of the sun, gravity and all that, that's the way he is. He just pulls everything together.” My latest on Damian Lillard and the Blazers scorching hot offense. #RipCity si.com/nba/trailblazers/onsi…

For Blazers fans making mock trades to fill the holes left by Morant and Krejčí’s injuries, I have bad news. Since 2000, I’ve found only six trades made within the first 10 games of an NBA season and 14 within the first 20 games. It is quite unusual to see trades being made before the unofficial opening of trade season in December. Portland will likely have to navigate this stretch using two-way players or by picking up a free agent. #RipCity

Portland’s simplest yet most deadly action is a Lillard/Avdija DHO. It embodies the exact form of offense that we envisioned before the season began and, as you can see below, can be absolutely devastating. Lillard’s gravity and Avdija’s downhill force get to go hand in hand for a “pick your poison” form of attack. If the defense doesn’t get its communication and switching down perfectly, Avdija will exploit them, whether by finding Dame or getting to the rim. #RipCity (Wanted to make my debut analysis video on this, but I broke my microphone. Please reply with any recommendations for a new one.)

Micah Nori on rotation after Krejci injury: “Chris Youngblood will step into those minutes, and then we'll probably either bring up Tonje or Kent. I'll talk to Joe and see what he wants to do there, and then we'll go from there.” #RipCity

Micah Nori has confirmed that Vit Krejci has suffered a fracture in his lower leg. #RipCity

cheers mate

Portland Trail Blazers continue their impressive start to the season, 5-0 on the road and 6-1 overall. Deni Avdija: 21pts, 7reb, 12ast Donovan Clingan: 24pts, 11reb, 1stl, 3blk Damian Lillard: 25pts, 3reb, 5ast Robert Williams III: 9pts, 8reb, 2stl, 3blk Sidy Cissoko: 7pts, 4reb, 4ast, 2blk Jrue Holiday: 15pts, 4reb, 0ast, 1stl Toumani Camara: 11pts, 4reb, 2ast Blazers will look to close their road trip undefeated against Luka Doncic and the Lakers in the NBA Cup opener. #RipCity

There are three GLeague Ignite draft picks in tonight’s game between the Blazers and Suns. Two of which were drafted in the top-3. Yet the player who has impacted winning the most was the one selected in the second round, Sidy Cissoko. Tells you everything you need to know about why that program was shut down so quickly. #RipCity

The Portland Trail Blazers have the best backup center in the league and its truly not even close. Almost like someone called that out already. #RipCity si.com/nba/trailblazers/onsi…

Trail Blazers confirm Vit Krejci (L Ankle) will not return tonight against Phoenix. #RipCity

Vit is in a lot of pain as he makes his way to the locker room, can’t put any weight on that right leg. Hopefully he’ll be alright. #RipCity