Portland (25-7) matched OKC (25-6) even for the first 7minutes. LA played great defense against inferior post players, and OKC was shooting light out on the other end. Tired legs would catch up with the Blazers however. If we were grading Officials tonight, Joey Crawford gets and A+ and Leon Woods gets an F. Woods was terrible, missed goal tend, allowing Fisher to commit offensive fouls and get free throws... It was ugly. Ugly like the Blazers 3 point shooting, on the road, 3rd game in 4 nights, and 2nd game of a back-to-back. LA’s jumper was just soaking wet the 1st quarter (5-6), and his Defense was solid. But Portland couldn’t hit the ocean with a pebble standing in the surf, from behind the arc. Wright is in a Luke Babbitt like slump, where he isn’t giving Portland the 3s they needs from him off the bench, and Mo was right there with him in the 1st half. Meyers also has failed to hit his open jumper in back-to-back-to-back games. I think this is just a function of coming off the bench cold, but these guys need to light a fire under their butts if that’s what it’s gonna take to get some offensive production, like literally. LA kept the 1st quarter in reach (24-30 OKC) with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks (although he should have been credited for 3 blocks) in a very productive first 7 minutes, despite Portland going 1-7 from behind the arc. Durant had a season high for a quarter, 16 first quarter points. An amusing scene took place when Crawford had the audacity to call OKC for back-to-back fouls on their home court. Serge Ibaka got T’ed up. I laughed. Didn’t Joey realize who he was calling those fouls on?!?! OKC came out in the 2nd sending double and even triple teams at Dame forcing 2 turnovers at the start. It’s easy to point the finger when I’m not eye level on the court with those giants among men, but I just want to see Portland react faster as a team to help. The bench shot 0-7 thru 14 min, until Meyers’ dunk at 9:32 in the 2nd. Portland was 1-12 from 3 (8.3%!!!) until finally - Wes MOTHAFKN-MATTHEWS hit 2 from deep after the 6:30 mark in the 2nd quarter. Portland had only scored 5 times on their last 24 possessions at that point. LA scored again, and it was a 4 point deficit (36-40). Portland failed to score in the next 4 minutes, calling 2 time outs. After the 2nd full timeout, an OKC commentator said, “I’m not gonna tell you again. It’s gonna be a KD kind ‘a night.” He was right - sort of. Portland would finish the quarter 3-19 from three (15.8%!?!?!?!), while Durant had 22 of OKC’s 54 points. Last game versus OKC, Portland was 8-23 from deep. Portland left to the lockers only down by 12, having left 48 points in “what could have been” from behind the arc. Rebounds were only an issue at this point because Portland was shooting 36.2% to OKC’s 53.5%. Side note: I caught Leon Woods smile at a complaining Scott Brooks after LA missed his 1st FT after foul. And Woods is officially on my shit list of officials that couldn’t find his face in a mirror. Key moment of the game: LA put his arm around Batum as they came on to the court to play at the half. I’m not a lip reader, but Batum had zero points at that point, and had 15 points and zero turnovers in the 2nd. Portland whittled the lead down to 7 by the end of the 3rd, and making up 5 points, (71-78 OKC). OKC began the 4th on a little 6-2 run. Then it was on. OKC would not score for the next 4:42 seconds, as Portland would force 7 missed shots, and 3 turnovers, and score 10 points of their own. It was now a 1 point game!!!! When it almost fell apart: A 7 point Portland deficit, Blazer ball, and Freeland threw his shoulder into Fisher on a pick, 6 feet above the top of the arc. Turnover. It was only Portland’s 5th of the night. When you’re 7-30 from three at that point, you can’t afford dumb turnovers like that. It was the 1st turnover in the previous 35 possessions. I was worried the momentum might swing. It did not. And Joel would make some MONSTER contests at the rim which would make the blemish more of a running Perkins joke than a reason to stew. Batum finally drained his 1st 3 of the game, with 3:24 to play, on a sweet catch and turn-around jumper. He let out a huge sigh, as did all of Blazer nation as Portland took a lead they would not give up. As Batum capped his 15 point half, he would also hold Durant to 1 point (a made free throw) the entire 4th quarter. Story of the game: You’ve got to make your free throws!!! Portland entered the game vs OKC shooting 81.9% (1st in the NBA), and OKC shooting 81.7% (2nd). Reggie Jackson, a 93% free throw shooter on the season, had missed 1 free throw just minutes before an OKC possession, down 4. Inexplicably, he didn’t pass the ball to Durant on the wing twice. Durant came to him and literally ran into him trying to get the ball and Reggie didn’t give it up. Durant walked toward Scott Brooks asking why he can’t get the ball. Jackson drove, and was fouled, and proceeded to miss his 2nd free throw of the night. Four of the five trips OKC took to the charity stripe, they split free throws. Portland was 10-12. Mo missing both of his was frustrating, but it’s law of averages for me and I give him a pass coming off the bench lukewarm. ● OKC made 23 FGs in the 1st half and only 13 FGs in the 2nd. ● It was OKC’s biggest blown lead of the season (16 points). ● Durant, who had 36 points in the first 3 quarters, scored only 1 point in the 4th (0-5 from the field, 1-2 from the free throw line) ● Lillard (21pts/11ast) and Aldridge (25pts/14reb) both finished with a double double, and Lopez, Wes, and Batum all finished with double digit scoring. ● Tonight's 98 points means the Blazers streak of 100 point + games ends at 18. ● Portland improves to 7-2 in the 2nd of back-to-back games, and OKC loses it's first game to a team on the 2nd of a back-to-back. ●OKC was 20-1 taking a lead into the 4th and 7-1 in games decided by 4 points or less. Portland doled out another loss to both. ● Portland is now 16-3 in games decided by 10 pts or fewer, best in the NBA. ● LA was interviewed on NBATV (as this was a Fan Night picked game). Asked if he was surprised OKC has Perkins guard him, “Nah, they always do that. They think he’s gonna beat me or make me tired. That might have worked like - 6 years ago." [audible laughter around the set] Better luck next time Perk. Have a drink. I’m going to. It was the 1st time OKC has lost on New Year's Eve. (queue open laughter) HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! GO BLAZERS!!! P.S. Don’t feed the trolls.
That's awesome. He was on NBATV after the game, and told them he was going to Dallas to see his mom with the kids. They joked about it being a "franchise player" perk. After 10,000 points in a Blazer Uniform, you're bound to have a few frequent flyer miles.
This is probably what HCP is saying (he's so clever I can't understand him sometimes) but i guess I won't need to read the recaps on Homer's Edge anymore!
Everyone knows Golliver doesn't do away game recaps, right? I think it has something to do with looking a distant species of the extinct dodo bird, and crossing state lines in flight. Like a liability issue for the Blazers. How could you know that though if you've have never frequented Homer's Edge? In fact, I believe Wright is poking fun at Golliver's webbed feet in the picture above for low-balling the Blazers so piss poorly, after preseason.
How sweet was that win?!!!! The excuses keep piling up, and the "experts" keep wrealing in shame. Barkley guaranteed and OKC win. The excuse everyone gave for the OKC loss in Portland was they were playing a back-to-back. Portland can't play defense, but Portland's defense shut OKC down in Epic season-record-setting fashion when it mattered. Every NBA team loses games. It's hardly unexpected. All I do expect is that the team leaves it all on the court, and gives themselves a chance to win. The Blazes do that better than any team in the NBA despite being the unpopular kids. Those kids are getting older, and the High School reunion is coming at the end of the season!!! It's gonna be fun.
I have to apologize to Violet Palmer for disparaging her officiating before the game the other night. Leon Woods is in fact the worst official in the NBA, not Violet. We should have an awards ceremony the next time he's in town. I estimate the home cooking in that OKC game was worth about 20 points to the Plunder. That and we couldn't make a three, and even missed free throws in crunch time, and I'm still scratching my head wondering how we won. I credit two things, primarily: while turnovers cost us the Miami game, the lack of turnovers helped keep us in position to win last night. And of course, the team didn't give up on playing defense, and found the legs and the drive to crank it up in the fourth. I love this team. RE Mo: Other than missing a wide open Damian on one particular possession (leading to a scoreless possession and a score on the other end, as usual), and missing the two clutch free throws (that won't happen again), I thought he pretty much gave us a decent game off the bench. I'm not going to bag on the guy like some did in the game thread: no one on the team was without miscue in that game. While I think Mediocre Man is wrong about Meyers Leonard, he was dead right about Lamb. The Blazers should have picked Lamb instead, as Mediocre Man said before, during and after the draft. I just wish my pal mm wouldn't hold it against Meyers.
This is why Blazer fans are so disparaged by the nation, and even by their own fans. Twenty points?!?!?! Don't be ridiculous. It's closer to 18. Mo is Mo. Some people just expect every player to be LeBron, or the player they created in their video game. Just consider the source and move out smartly.
