The Portland Trail Blazers currently rank fifth in the NBA in offensive rating, at 107.1 (via NBA.com). The Blazers have two of the most dynamic backcourt scorers in the NBA in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, and the addition of Jusuf Nurkic at center gives them a more than capable interior presence on the offensive end.
Entering Monday night’s game against the Raptors, who boast the league’s second best defensive rating at 96.1, Portland had not scored fewer than 18 points in a single quarter this season (the second quarter against the Pelicans) and hadn’t been held under 103 points in a single game.
The two teams got off to a hot start, ending the first quarter tied at 29-29. Then, the wheels came completely off for the Blazers as they went the first 14:55 of the second quarter without a field goal and finished the quarter with a grand total of six points, while Toronto scored 25. Portland’s box score for the quarter is truly something to behold.
Evan Turner’s bucket at the very end of the quarter was their lone field goal, while Lillard added four points via the free throw line. As a team, they shot 5.9 percent from the field (1-of-17) and missed three free throws. Four players lodged minutes and failed to record a single positive stat (a trillion, as Mark Titus made famous).
It’s a truly stunning box score considering how good Portland is offensively. The Blazers, of course, ended up losing the game 99-85, unable to fully recover from their second quarter meltdown. However, the good news for Portland is this isn’t some historical mark. Since 1954, 47 teams have managed to score six points or fewer in a single quarter, most recently done by the Miami Heat on April 13, 2016 against the Celtics when they were outscored 25-5.
The all-time record for fewest points scored in a quarter belongs to the Dallas Mavericks, which posted two points in the third quarter against the Lakers on April 6, 1997.
