Let me tell you one thing first. I am loving my Blazers right now! The entire team seems to have stepped up and taken the real possibility of a deep playoff run very seriously. The Blazers are going into Washington tonight off a couple dominant performances and winners of 8 of their last 10. Not just 8 wins but wins against the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Mavericks, and Rockets. The Blazers are no "Fluke" my friends. You don't beat all those teams and not feel confident.
Last game against the Wiz was a special game when Aldridge decided to forgo surgery and play through what we all thought might be 7-9 weeks of surgery and rehab. They limped through the previous game against the Celtics losing Batum to a wrist injury and "Bleak' was putting it mildly for the outlook. When Aldridge said "I'm Playing" everything seemed to change. Even with Nic sitting out Lillard and Matthews caught fire and the three of them went for 65 points and with the team shooting a PERFECT 20/20 at the line they earned a nice win against a tough Wizards team. The season seemed to have been saved at that point.
The Wizards are what i feel is a better team this year due to their experience last year getting into the second round and keeping their nucleus together. They might be one player away from being the "Beast" in the east however? No question this team can play defense but they lack one pure shooter that could throw daggers and seal victories for them. They play smart basketball with veteran presence in Pierce, Gortat, Hilario Nene and John Wall is shooting and distributing as well as any PG in the league. If you look at their stat line you see every starter is averaging double digits in scoring. That is something you don't see all the time. If Beal is hitting his shots from mid range this team is tough to beat.
Portland does not usually show effect of B2B's on the first and second game of a road trip. So i expect them to have enough in the tank to play well this game. When we get to the end of this week that might be another matter. They will need to stay active and continue to move the ball at a crazy pace. There were sequences yesterday that were pure poetry. They will need much of the same. The Wiz will hammer Lamarcus tonight. Gortat and Nene are a tough matchup for any team so Guard play will be huge. These guys can keep the pace just as high as the Blazers. So i pretty much think the best defense is going to win tonight. Batum and Paul Pierce is a real good match but i worry about Dame on Wall. John Wall is bigger and so is Beal so switching creates some problems also. Help defense is going to be important.
Bench for the Wiz has changed a bit. They are no longer bringing in Humphries, Martel Webster and Andre Miller. They traded Miller and have pretty much gone with Googen, Butler and Seraphin, Again on this game i like the Blazer bench with the way they are staying with it. The group is playing well for the most part and Stotts seems to be getting comfortable with the guys he has. Kaman has really come back when he is playing 15-18 mins a game. He even looks like it is fun for him to be out there. Watching a guy enjoying playing the game he loves is fun for me.
Pick Tonight is Robin Lopez. No, he will not score the most. He might not have the most rebounds but if Robin plays the kind of game they need out of him to win this then he will deserve the pick.
Go Blazers!
kjironman is a fan!!!
P.S. Nice to see Joel Freeland back in the lineup!
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BLAZERS' OFFICIAL GAME NOTES 
