Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Miami Heat.
Make that the LeBron James-less Miami Heat. Did you hear that LeBron left Miami to return home to Cleveland? I’m not sure if they’ve really mentioned it in the media that much, so it might come as a bit of a shock.
It must have surprised the schedule makers, too, because for some reason this game is on the national TNT broadcast. Not to say that the Blazers don’t deserve the spotlight—it’s only a matter of time until they change the name of Greenwich Mean Time to Lillard Time—but the Heat’s bandwagon is so empty that even Detroit fans are embarrassed.
The Heat were without the services of King James the last time they were in this building, though it didn’t matter one bit—Chris Bosh went supernova in the fourth and downed the Blazers with a deep rainbow three. This current Heat team isn't nearly as good as last season's, obvious reasons aside, but they're still battling for a playoff spot. Then again, every team in the East not named the Knicks is battling for a playoff spot.
PRE-GAME:
There’s a bit of breaking news today, as Neil Olshey has officially signed an extension with the team. He’s guaranteed an additional three years on his contract, and will now be the President of Basketball Operations on top of the General Manager. Not only is it well deserved, it’s further stability for the franchise after the Kevin Pritchard / Rich Cho carousel of a few years ago.
On top of that, the Blazers reportedly have interest in veteran big man Jermaine O’Neal. (Cue that Skylar Grey.) It makes sense given how many injuries the frontcourt is currently dealing with, and O’Neal was still serviceable for the Warriors last season. But something about the Blazers seeking help from an old, oft-injured big man seems wrong—his knees will probably turn to dust the second he steps on the court, Germany PRP-treatment or no.
Speaking of bad knees, Wesley Matthews is going to suit up tonight. He was questionable coming into the game with that scary hyperextended knee, but he threw a brace on that sucker and is good to go. Whew.
FIRST QUARTER:
9:49 - Well, the Blazers still haven't scored. I blame Lillard. He decided to get all dressed up tonight and is rocking a headband, and it has clearly thrown the whole offense off. 4-0 Heat.
8:53 - Aldridge finally got the Blazers on the board. They're now shooting a robust 20% on the night. 6-2 Heat.
6:32 - Lillard with his first bucket on the night, easily driving past Mario Chalmers and putting it in at the rim. Calling it now—Dame is going for forty tonight. National TV + Headband = Total Destruction. 9-8 Heat.
5:19 - Danny Granger is both alive (?) and in this basketball game (?!?). Well okay. 13-9 Heat.
4:53 - Dame for a deep three. It begins. 13-12 Heat.
3:47 - The Heat over-helped on trying to contain LaMarcus Aldridge in the post, and somehow Thomas Robinson ended up with the ball behind the three-point line after a couple of perimeter passes. With two quick dribbles, Robinson blew by his man and threw it down with both hands. Nice to see him both getting some early run and being aggressive. 16-14 Heat.
2:15 - Great defense, better offense. Bosh did all he could to defend Aldridge in the post, but Aldridge was still able to get the fadeaway up and in over him. 18-16 Heat.
0:00 - Eighteen points? Eeeesh. That's not going to do it. The defense looks fine, but once again the Blazers are struggling to put points on the board. It still feels weird that Portland's defense is the better unit. 23-18 Heat.
SECOND QUARTER:
11:16 - After missing a three to start the quarter, Wesley Matthews made up for it by grabbing a loose ball rebound away from Bosh and taking it down for the easy layup. 23-20 Heat.
10:27 - That was a quick timeout for Miami after that last Portland possession. The Blazers looked like their old selves—driving, collapsing the defense, whipping the ball around the perimeter, driving, then kicking to the corner for an open three. Dorell Wright had his triple rattle off the rim, hit the backboard, and eventually find its way home. 25-25 Tie.
9:28 - Back to back three-point plays for the Heat. Ugh. 31-27 Heat.
8:31 - The Blazers have 6'9" Dorell Wright on 7'0" Hassan Whiteside, and it's going about as well as you'd imagine. I'm surprised Stotts is sticking with this lineup rather than giving Meyers Leonard his first run of the night. 35-31 Heat.
7:45 - After six straight from Whiteside, here comes Meyers. I might as well just get down there and coach, right? 37-31 Heat.
6:28 - Danny Granger was trying to guard Blake with a flat tire. He opted to just rip his shoe off instead, ditching it to the sideline. Too bad Portland wasn't able to convert—Steve Blake got around the socked one, but the Blazers missed the shot he created. 41-33 Heat.
5:08 - The offense is stagnant once again. After a couple of empty trips, Portland is shooing just 38% from the floor and have dug themselves a nice little hole here. 43-33 Heat.
4:06 - Maybe Dame can get an assist for that air balled three that Aldridge collected and put back in? 43-37 Heat.
3:41 - Another offensive rebound for Aldridge off of a missed three, another put back. 43-39 Heat.
1:08 - It's been almost an entire half and I haven't mentioned Joey Crawford's name once. You know what that means—he's dropping seven technical fouls in the seconds. 48-41 Heat.
0:30 - Oh no. Wade and Dame collided at half court. Dame is down and clutching his back, unable to get up and join his team on the offensive end. He's moving slow. Not another possible injury. 48-43 Heat.
0:00 - Dame is up and moving. He's not out of the game, so that's a good sign. Hopefully that was just a scare more than anything. If Wade hurt Dame, this place might riot. 48-43 Heat.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:14 - Dame is back out here, but he's moving pretty gingerly. Hopefully he just needs to loosen that back up a bit after sitting during the half. 48-44 Heat.
9:09 - Matthews with his first bow and arrow celebration on the night. That never gets old. 50-49 Heat.
8:33 - I'll say Dame is feeling fine. Deng had him on a switch in the post, and Dame did a great job of standing Deng up and forcing a jump ball. Dame won the jump ball against the much taller Deng, then sunk a deep triple on the other end to give the Blazers the lead. 52-50 Blazers.
6:17 - Chris Kaman is having himself a nice little quarter—he has a quick six points, giving him ten on the night. 58-51 Blazers.
5:08 - Wade with a great play, collapsing the defense and somehow passing around three Blazers to find an open Deng in the corner for three. That was pretty. Contrary to popular belief, Wade isn't dead yet. 60-54 Blazers.
4:15 - Blake to Dame for the alley oop. Yep, the back is fine. 64-56 Blazers.
2:38 - The Heat have opted to go small, with Danny Granger as the nominal power forward, and LaMarcus Aldridge is feasting. He beat Chris Andersen on a nice move, and no Heat players rotated over to help out on the drive. On the next possession, Aldridge took it to Granger on the left block and picked up an easy foul. 68-58 Blazers.
1:00 - Matthews beat Wade down the court off of a made layup. Good to see that Miami transition defense is in fine form. 72-61 Blazers.
0:00 - Dame had the ball knocked out of bounds with 1.8 on the game clock. The Blazers ran a play to get Dorell Wright a look in the corner, and he sunk the long fadeaway two as he fell out of bounds. That was pretty, and a fitting cap to a 33-16 quarter for the Blazers. 76-64 Blazers.
FOURTH QUARTER:
11:36 - It sounds like Wade might be hurt and out of the game for good tonight. Time to call this one, yeah? No more injuries. 78-64 Blazers.
10:21 - Nope, Wade is back in. And after a Chris Bosh triple, the Heat have a little life left in them. 78-69 Blazers.
9:38 - So much for that. Matthews embarrassed Wade, faking him out of his shoes and hitting a step-back three in his face. On the next possession, Matthews drove past Bosh and found Allen Crabbe behind the arc for another three. Timeout Miami. 84-69 Blazers.
9:14 - Oof, not the best sequence for Wade. He threw it over the backboard on one end, then lost Matthews on a baseline cut for an easy layup on the other. 86-69 Blazers.
7:47 - Aaaand Wade dribbled the ball off of his own foot out of bounds. He's out there looking like me in a pickup game. The dribbling the ball off your foot out of bounds move is my move! I invented that move! 86-73 Blazers.
6:52 - After the Heat gave up two offensive rebounds in a row to the Blazers, the second resulting in a Meyers tip in, it feels like this one is done. Miami timeout, and I'd be surprised if we see their starters much longer. 90-73 Blazers.
5:54 - Wade may be killing his team on defense, but he's still getting those superstar calls on offense. He tried to hit a fadeaway, but pivoted right into Meyers Leonard's chest. And Meyers picked up the foul for, you know, standing there. 92-74 Blazers.
4:40 - Time for Stotts to pull his starters. Dame hit the deck trying to stop a fast break with his team up 23—no need for anyone to get injured, especially with Dame and Matthews both hurting already. 97-74 Blazers.
4:19 - There we go. Both teams have full bench squads in. Sorry, America, but this one is over early. 97-78 Blazers.
2:25 - Will Barton passed at the rim! It's a thing just happened! The People's Champ drove the lane, spun around the defense, and dished to a cutting Thomas Robinson for the easy layup. 99-80 Blazers.
FINAL: 99-83 Blazers. After a somewhat lackluster first half, the Blazers came out firing on all cylinders to start the third quarter and didn't look back. They exploded for 56 in the half, that number deflated a bit since the last five minutes were held down by the back of the bench. More impressively, though, was that they held the Heat to 35 total second half points. A commanding victory was a welcome sight after the dud Portland (almost) laid against the Lakers on Monday.
