RECAP: Trail Blazers 106 - Pacers 102

[tjansley]

The Portland Trail Blazers have a lot of doubters, especially for a team sitting atop the Western Conference standings. A weak schedule and injuries to opposing teams’ important players have been the most common reasons why most outside of Portland have viewed the Trail Blazers’ start as little more than a fluke.

But with a 106-102 victory against the Indiana Pacers, owners of the best record in the NBA, those naysayers can no longer argue that the Trail Blazers don’t have a signature win against a quality opponent playing at full strength.

RECAP: http://forwardcenter.net/trail-blazers-get-their-first-signature-win-at-home-against-the-pacers/

TWEETS OF THE NIGHT: http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/tweets-night-december-2nd-2013

LILLARD POSTGAME: http://www.nba.com/blazers/video/2013/12/02/dropboxnba8vidprod01Lillardpostg-3062387

STOTTS POSTGAME: http://www.nba.com/blazers/video/2013/12/02/dropboxnba8vidprod01StottsPostGa-3062409

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Doing all this without their 13 Lotto pick.

How much better does CJ make this team? Is he the third scorer the prognosticators think this team needs?

 

[HailBlazers]

Mo. Williams.

 

[dviss1]

I'd say our 1st signature win was against the Spurs. Then our next one was against the Bulls then Warriors on a back to back.

That would make this our 3rd Signature win.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I'd say our 1st signature win was against the Spurs. Then our next one was against the Bulls then Warriors on a back to back.

That would make this our 3rd Signature win.

Signed in triplicate. That makes it binding.

 

[magnifier661]

I'd say our 1st signature win was against the Spurs. Then our next one was against the Bulls then Warriors on a back to back.

That would make this our 3rd Signature win.

But but but.... I keep hearing this shit by everyone else. At least mark stein is on board

 

[EGame]

CJ McCollum. What a curious case here. At one end of the spectrum you have a guy who is very young, our first round draft pick and showed potential as well as nice shooting (not really a PG, though). Would love to see what he could bring. On the other end of the spectrum you have a good thing going, you may not want to allow chemistry issues to fit him as this team is gelling very well.

What say you Blazers fan. Do we play him much when he gets back or do we let him sit and learn since we are doing so well this season?

 

[OneLifeToLive]

CJ McCollum. What a curious case here. At one end of the spectrum you have a guy who is very young, our first round draft pick and showed potential as well as nice shooting (not really a PG, though). Would love to see what he could bring. On the other end of the spectrum you have a good thing going, you may not want to allow chemistry issues to fit him as this team is gelling very well.

What say you Blazers fan. Do we play him much when he gets back or do we let him sit and learn since we are doing so well this season?

They'll find room and time for him.

 

[EGame]

They'll find room and time for him.

I do hope so to, but we have to imagine he will have his rookie growing pains and can we afford that with how we are doing this year? I hope so, but it is Stott's decision not mine.

 

[tester551]

has there been any recent reports about CJ's progress? I know about 2-3 weeks ago he had a follow up xray and things looked good, but haven't heard anything else yet.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

The Portland Trail Blazers have a lot of doubters, especially for a team sitting atop the Western Conference standings. A weak schedule and injuries to opposing teams’ important players have been the most common reasons why most outside of Portland have viewed the Trail Blazers’ start as little more than a fluke.

But with a 106-102 victory against the Indiana Pacers, owners of the best record in the NBA, those naysayers can no longer argue that the Trail Blazers don’t have a signature win against a quality opponent playing at full strength.

Two signature wins. SA counts! They played at full strength too.

 

[dviss1]

Two signature wins. SA counts! They played at full strength too.

Four signature wins. We beat the Bulls and GState on the back to back. Both playoff teams.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Four signature wins. We beat the Bulls and GState on the back to back. Both playoff teams.

The National Media discounted both, because Rose missed the last quarter, and Iggy dnp. I would argue every road win was a signature win too, but that's just me.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Fun fact:

Lance Stevenson @ Portland

Last year 2 pts 3 reb 3 ast 2 to 40 min

This year 2 pts 4 reb 2 ast 3 to 29 min

The Rose Garden just isn't his place.

 

[THE HCP]

And I've seen that guy put up some good numbers this season. Maybe he got tired chasing Wes around.

 

[jlprk]

The 13th pick almost always needs a learning year or two or three, especially when he's behind Wesley Matthews and Mo Williams. He would have gotten few minutes this season.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I think a lot of you guys are over emphasizing the boost McCollum will us. Rookie with basically a summer league of NBA experience. No real training camp because of the injury, and will basically play as a 4th guard.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

What really impressed me is that Indiana brought their A game last night. George had a career night and we made only 5 "3's", yet managed to take it from them.

Portland is playing fabulous ball so far this season.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I think a lot of you guys are over emphasizing the boost McCollum will us. Rookie with basically a summer league of NBA experience. No real training camp because of the injury, and will basically play as a 4th guard.

This.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

This.

I can agree with that; with the team playing as they are, CJ's not going to take Mo's minutes unless we're way up or way down. Not till next season anyway.

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

And I've seen that guy put up some good numbers this season. Maybe he got tired chasing Wes around.

I overheard on Sport Center or NBATV (I forget) talking about Stevenson like he was a triple double threat every night. TWO points? That was so terrible that I remembered it happened last year too, so I looked it up. And then I thought, why not also check game Portland lost in Indy. You'll never guess...

TWO POINTS! LOL Wes has that guy's number. So funny. Three games vs Portland... 6 points.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Doing all this without their 13 Lotto pick.

How much better does CJ make this team? Is he the third scorer the prognosticators think this team needs?

I don't think he gets much PT. I think we were all thinking he'd nudge out Matthews. But Matthews is playing incredibly well on both offense and defense. I still say he duplicates Lillard (and Mo) too much: good scorer, mediocre PG skills, poor defense. We need a backup backourt defender. He was an odd pick, especially with Steven Adams available. My guess is he gets minimal playing time unless we trade Mo or we get a major injury to Lillard/Mo/Matthews.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

And I've seen that guy put up some good numbers this season. Maybe he got tired chasing Wes around.

Or maybe Paul George went black hole. It's hard to score when you take a total of THREE shots (to George's 30).

 

[blue9]

I think we were all thinking he'd nudge out Matthews.

Not all of us!
I'd like to see him play this season. BUT, I really want them to bring him back very slowly. If the doctors say he's cleared for full-court scrimmages I'd like to see the team give him another 2-3 weeks of strength-training before putting him on the court. Then 3 weeks of full practices so he starts to understand how he fits in on the team. And only then bring him into actual games - give him 10m+ vs teams like UTH, but maybe no minutes vs teams like IND (unless he's previously shown that he can be effective).

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Don't know if this has been posted, but for those who can't get enough of last night's game:

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Indiana Pacers, 106-102, on Monday night in what might have been the best single game of the 2013-14 NBA season to date. Here are five reasons why this particular matchup of conference-leading beasts was so awesome, and so worth reliving:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...-pacers-perhaps-best-game-165151981--nba.html

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I think we were all thinking he'd nudge out Matthews.

Uhhh.. Speak for yourself..

 

[Draco]

I don't think he gets much PT. I think we were all thinking he'd nudge out Matthews. But Matthews is playing incredibly well on both offense and defense. I still say he duplicates Lillard (and Mo) too much: good scorer, mediocre PG skills, poor defense. We need a backup backourt defender. He was an odd pick, especially with Steven Adams available. My guess is he gets minimal playing time unless we trade Mo or we get a major injury to Lillard/Mo/Matthews.

He was picked before we signed Mo. Neil had CP3, Mo and Eric Bledsoe so he is fine with duplicate players if they are all contributors on the court. Neil is all about drafting the best player available. I’m very glad management is following that gameplan. Who knows if CJ will end up being a better player than Adams; but if they thought CJ was the superior prospect then that’s who you take. Idiots like John Nash draft based off need and to validate previous years picks.

Mo will be a free agent after this season and very possibly leave. Between Lillard, Wes, Mo, Batum, Wright I would expect one of them to miss some time with an injury during the year. Hope for the best but realistically over 82 games its very unlikely they all play every game. When that happens if CJ is healthy he can get those minutes this year. Then next summer the team can evaluate if CJ is ready for more of a role as the primary guard off the bench.

 

[Spud147]

What really impressed me is that Indiana brought their A game last night. George had a career night and we made only 5 "3's", yet managed to take it from them.

Portland is playing fabulous ball so far this season.

Exactly! The Pacers were playing well and really wanted that game. I loved that this was not a "lucky" win for Portland. It didn't seem like it at times, but if you look at the box score the Blazers won all but the 1st quarter. Held Indiana under their average scoring, scored 20 more points on them than the rest of the NBA averages, and eventually made key defensive plays down the stretch to hold them off when their superstar is having a career night. That was a great win. There were clearly two very very good teams on the floor last night fighting tooth and nail to the final buzzer.

 

[blue9]

Exactly! The Pacers were playing well and really wanted that game. I loved that this was not a "lucky" win for Portland. It didn't seem like it at times, but if you look at the box score the Blazers won all but the 1st quarter. Held Indiana under their average scoring, scored 20 points on them than the rest of the NBA averages, and eventually made key defensive plays down the stretch to hold off them off when their superstar is having a career night. That was a great win. There were clearly two very very good teams on the floor last night fighting tooth and nail to the final buzzer.

The way I saw it, we won the game because LMA and Lillard took the ball to the basket late in the game. It was SO nice to see us attack the hoop! I really hope that this is something we continue to do. Maybe lull the opposition into guarding us on the perimeter for 3 quarters, then take it to the hoop in the 4th?
It seems like Terry likes to wait until the 4th to make his major adjustments - smart thing to do, if you're able to hang to that point. Switching Wes onto George in the 4th was an interesting move - though not unexpected since Nic had picked up his 4th (5th?) foul in the 3rd. It didn't exactly work - but then you probably could have had Bowen, Battier and Artest on George at the same time and he would have hit those shots. Despite his career night I think we did a good job of defending him.

 

[tlongII]

It was a tremendous game last night. Best one I've seen in years! And Indy did want it bad too. Their bench was very engaged in the action. There was a lot of whooping it up on the concourse of the Rose Garden and outside just after the game. Even on the Max ride home. It was awesome!