Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers welcome the Golden State Warriors. Depending on how Houston and Memphis fare this evening, the Blazers have a chance to punch their dance card for the playoffs, their third trip to the post-season in as many years. But first they'll have to get through the pesky, offense-heavy Warriors, who have nothing to play for except bragging rights for being the best team in Northern California.
And hey, look at that! Arvydas Sabonis was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Now is as good a time as any to fall down the YouTube rabbit hole and watch old highlights of him doing work. Had he not been broken (which, can you believe that a center for the Trail Blazers had their career cut short by injuries?!) Sabas could have been one of the greatest centers of all time.
Instead, he'll go down at the greatest player ever to have a towel thrown in his face by Rasheed Wallace.
PRE-GAME:
Despite picking up a few steals here and there, the Warriors really are a terrible defensive team. Bad rotations, bad closeouts, bad everything. Those in the crowd here for the free Chalupas are going to go home happy.
Which is why the Blazers need to slow the pace down, ugly this game up, and focus their energy on stopping the three-point assault of Golden State. If the Warriors are able to turn this into an uptempo shooting match, Portland is going to die by the jumper. They just don't have enough firepower to turn this into shootout, especially one against Steph Curry and Monta Ellis.
So far the season series has been split one to one, but this is a different Blazers team than the one from December when those first games happened. With the addition of Gerald Wallace and the emergence of LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers should be able to rack up points in the paint with ease, especially with rookie Ekpe Udoh and David "Allergic To Defense" Lee attempting to man the middle.
Tonight has no business being a close contest, but after handling Oklahoma City and Dallas in their last two games, Portland could very well come out flat against an inferior opponent. With a playoff berth on the line, though, the Blazers should be popping champagne before the night is over.
FIRST QUARTER:
11:15 - How's this for an opening sequence? First, Andre Miller drove on the smaller Curry but missed the layup in the paint. Camby secured the offensive rebound, and then tried the spinning alley-oop to LaMarcus Aldridge play, who was fouled before he could dunk it. The next play saw a wide open Wesley Matthews cut to the hoop for an easy layup. Yep, that sounds about right against the Warriors. 2-0 Blazers.
8:28 - So many steals, so many broken plays. Good thing the fast-break is going to be there for the Blazers. After a Gerald Wallace steal, the Blazers completed about the easiest three on two fast-break they're likely to see, and the end result was an uncontested Andre Miller layup. Yay, defense! 9-7 Blazers.
7:18 - Dorell Wright just passed up an open three to drive to the hoop. I didn't know he knew how to do that. 9-9 Tie.
5:23 - While it's no 19%, the 44% from the field the Blazers are shooting feels a lot lower than it is. Maybe that's because Golden State now has the lead. 11-9 Warriors.
3:15 - Ah, there's the spinning alley-oop from Camby to Aldridge play. Even though everyone knows that's coming, it's still tough to stop. The Blazers uncharacteristically have five turnovers early on, which is why this is only a tie game thus far. I'd credit the Warriors' defense, but my laptop might explode from typing those words. 15-15 Tie.
1:53 - Camby is down. He hit the deck hard, and then David Lee fell over him. It's hard to tell what is hurt at the moment, but here's to hoping it was just a hard fall (knee to the head, maybe?) and not a leg/knee injury. Camby got up and walked off the court on his own accord—while the crowd chanted "Marcus Camby"—and seems to be okay. Hopefully so, because Camby is an integral part of Portland's playoff hopes. 17-15 Blazers.
0:00 - Monta Ellis knocked down a jumper to finish the quarter. As he does. Both teams scoring under twenty in the first quarter was not something I would have predicted. 19-19 Tie.
SECOND QUARTER:
10:04 - Okay, shooting 36% from the field against the Warriors is almost as bad Butler shooting 19% last night. Almost. Portland is looking flat, despite being down by only four. 25-21 Warriors.
7:15 - At least Portland is picking up their misses, grabbing seven offensive rebounds off of their numerous misses. Those second chance points are keeping them in the game right now, especially since it seems Monta Ellis and Steph Curry are starting to heat up. They have seven of Golden State's nine points this quarter. 29-28 Blazers.
5:37 - LaMarcus Aldridge just emphatically destroyed a Steph Curry layup. Based on the crowd's oohs and aahs, that may have been his best block this year. 33-32 Blazers.
3:39 - The Houston Rockets lost tonight, which means the Blazers have officially clinched their playoff berth! Alright, game's over. Bring in Luke Babbitt. 39-36 Blazers.
3:03 - Gerald Wallace, earning his Crash nickname. After a near steal, Wallace went to the deck to pick up the loose ball between two Golden State players. That guys just doesn't stop. I wish I had that kind of energy. I had to take a ten minute nap just to make it through the second quarter of this live blog. 41-39 Blazers.
1:34 - The word on Camby is that he has a neck strain and is questionable to return this evening. A neck strain sounds painful, but the Blazers caught a break that the injury wasn't a knee. Camby sounds like he'll be ready to go in no time. 43-41 Blazers.
0:00 - Again, at the end of a quarter, Monta Ellis nailed a twenty-foot jumper. He amassed an impressive seventeen points in the half, mostly coming off of long jumpers. The Blazers had seven seconds left in the quarter—hello, Mike D'Antoni—and were able to rush down and even the score on an Aldridge jumper. 47-47 Tie.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:21 - Nicolas Batum started the second half for the injured Marcus Camby. He calmly knocked down his first shot of the quarter, a three pointer with the shot-clock winding down. He now leads all Blazers with thirteen points on the game. 50-49 Blazers.
9:02 - That's six points for Steph Curry in the quarter, raising his total to seventeen for the game. That kid is real crafty, and has a gorgeous jump shot. He's made outside shots, gotten to the rim with ease, and even pulled a nice Dream Shake at one point. Remember when the Wolves passed on drafting him to grab Jonny Flynn? Yeah, me too. 57-56 Blazers.
6:26 - Oh man, Curry just knocked down a rainbow three with a hand in his face. That should have counted for four points. 65-60 Warriors.
4:43 - And that is the biggest lead of the game. After a couple near misses, including a blocked Batum dunk at the rim, Monta knocked down a transition three that put the Warriors ahead by seven. There was no doubt that shot was falling as soon as it went up. The Warriors are playing with confidence, and Portland is going to need to lock down a bit on the defensive end. 72-65 Warriors.
4:08 - Patty Mills is in the game, most likely to try and stay in front of Curry. It makes sense—both are small and quick—and Patty is usually a shot in the arm for Portland when they're floundering. Except when he missed that wide open three. And when that miss was followed by a Monta Ellis three in his face. Oh, well. It was a nice try. 75-66 Warriors.
2:56 - The Warriors are rolling. After a Brandon Roy miss—he's now one for six on the night—David Lee drove a wide open lane and picked up the and one. Portland is getting out-scored in this quarter 31-19. 78-66 Warriors.
2:15 - Portland, meet momentum. After Roy airballed a ten foot jumper by about two feet, David Lee picked up another easy two driving to the rim. 80-66 Warriors.
1:16 - Roy had a wide open lane, caught the nice pass from Batum, and had his shot demolished by David Lee. Wow. This is shaping up to be a twenty point loss. 82-68 Warriors.
0:00 - Monta Ellis, Steph Curry, and David Lee have a combined seventy points. The Blazers have a combined sixty-eight. If only this game were five on three. 84-68 Warriors.
FOURTH QUARTER:
10:50 - Were Brandon Roy a horse, he'd be glue by now. 2-11 shooting on the night, and most of those misses have been way off by multiple feet. Why he is still playing, I do not know. 88-72 Warriors.
9:10 - Golden State just picked up two offense rebounds on one possession, and are both out-hustling and out-working the Blazers. After a Rudy Fernandez three rimmed out, Portland's average from distance is a Butlerian 12%. 90-72 Warriors.
7:55 - And there's the twenty point lead the Warriors have been flirting with. Considering the tepid half Portland has put together, I'm guessing they heard at halftime they had clinched their playoff spot. 92-72 Warriors.
5:33 - David Lee has twenty-nine points and eighteen rebounds. That is not okay. 94-76 Warriors.
5:03 - This might be a new record for fans heading for the exits, and there are a ton of people leaving. I do not blame them, as this is worse than ugly. 97-76 Warriors.
3:27 - Armon Johnson, Luke Babbitt, Patty Mills, and Chris Johnson are all in the game. Finally, something to cheer for. 101-80 Warriors.
1:36 - Rudy just missed a corner three off the side of the backboard. He is now 1-9 for the game, and 0-6 from distance. Yep. 106-84 Warriors.
0:00 - So, all that talk about how this game was going to be a pushover? About how the Warriors are allergic to defense? Yeah, sorry about that. The Blazers, after trading baskets with the Warriors in the first half, came out in the third looking incredibly flat. They just simply laid an egg, which happens from time to time. On the plus side, with Houston's loss the Blazers are in the playoffs!
FINAL SCORE: 108-87 Warriors.
