| Trivia question to start you off: how many NBA arenas do NOT carry the name of a corporate sponsor? Answer: just four--the Palace at Auburn Hills, the New Orleans Arena, and the two "real" Gardens left...Rose, and of course Madison Square. There used to be a Boston Garden; now there is a TD Banknorth Garden, which I think is about as real as Macy's Yankee Stadium, so they don't qualify anymore despite clinging to the word. Yet, I wonder how many come up for renewal this recession year, and how many go back to being named after a town or an owner due to budget cuts. Ahem. Trivialities aside, the Blazers snuck the brooms by the Knickerbockers in the Rose Garden tonight, completing the Garden Cup Sweep with a pretty hair-raising (and thus damned exciting) 109-108 win. No cookie for that lads; 50 wins means you have to do things like that to lesser teams--but it's nice to see it anyway and it's a good confirming sign of a team that is still working with properly screwed on heads, and enough talent to take out most teams most nights. Can't ask for a whole lot more than that. The rest is just the same bounce of the ball that makes each year's titlist a surprise at the ultimate. From the media report by Blazer's Edge Ben, the mood in the clubhouse was actually quite somber, either through exhaustion or intensity and refusal to be satisfied with an effort that could still benefit from improvement. He says he would have predicted Nate would carry the same kind of mood postgame, but instead reported that coach was in a "take it and run" mood, accentuating the positive to great degree. I have to say I don't disagree with Nate on this one; I think it's a much more valid win than say, New Orleans, and it was a damn sight better than the effort against OKC. That was putrid--Portland clearly took a personal day for that game, and they seemed to realize it afterwards and redouble their focus for the Knicks. Instead of playing like ass for 2-3 quarters and mounting a major comeback to make it interesting at the end, against New York the Blazers played hard, plus basketball for those same 2-3 quarters and suffered through minimal (very) low spots. And after every such low, they held their poise as if they had felt in control the entire game. They did what you hope they do every time they're close with a little time left--make almost every time down the floor, and get good defensive stops. Whereas against OKC those trips were turnovers or bad jumpers, and they gave up makes with poor coverage at the other end, against New York everything clicked, and suddenly they were the same team that could not miss to open the game. {more, below} |
Most folks will zero in on the collapse from 17 down, obviously, but I think there was a more subtle "save" by the Blazers, towards halftime. With 8:47 left, Sergio drained a three and it was 41-29. Less than 3:20 later, it was tied at 42, Duhon finally finding his stroke for the tie. Seeing a pattern repeat from the first halves of the previous three games, in the liveblog I wrote "2-12 in the 2nd quarter. Jesus, it's the same damn pattern again. Got to turn this around NOW. " Someone was listening, and I think it was Greg Oden (Sergio had apparently already heard the voices). He began getting medieval on David Lee, who otherwise had a fantastic, soft game. It's such a trip to watch Beast Oden appear for a game; he can bust heads all right. In successive trips after the tie he hit a short jumper over Lee, then backed Lee down and just disposed of him for the O-reeb and putback, then blocked Jeffries and fed Sergio to start a scoring break, then walked down Lee and drew the foul, making both FT. It was 53-44, a 9 point lead they would hold to halftime. Run snuffed. During the half I commented that it was a very strong one for Portland, and that sequence explains why. Everything was right--a strong focus on playing to the bigs for inside moves on weaker opponents at the position, second chance points, points off D, fast break makes, open looks. There were two notable problems--foul shots and turnovers--but the D was actually fairly good, and the offense...well, let's say that 88% for the first quarter and 59% for the half is...decent. The Blazers extended their lead to 77-60 with 5:43 in the third. My in-the-moment take on what was probably the most fun part of the game (although obviously the end was more exciting): Roy drives and misses, Oden follows and JAMS with authority. Very nice movement! Awesome. Travel on the other end. Roy runs into traffic baseline late, but he finds LA afor his shot, yes! 69-56. Oh, sweet block by Oden, Sergio makes a great pass to Batum but he fumbles it on the way up. Duhon misses again, he's way off. Galinari rebounds thought. Duhon tires to reverse and Oden blocks again. Aldridge from Sergio, bounce pass down the lane and BAM! Knicks take time, 7:53 in the third, 71-56 Blazers! You see here who the stars of the game were (and it's not my typing teacher), despite Roy's awesome game winner and Outlaw's clutch 23 off the bench. Greg Oden was changing shots or just saying NO to them, and Sergio was either feeding jams or tickling twine from Treyland. At this point the bottom fell out for Portland, they let up some, yes--but mostly their pregame strategy bit them in the ass the way it always had the potential to. No matter what, Nate instructed his charges to secure the paint at both ends, and let the perimeter take care of itself. With the Knicks a good or at least prolific 3-shooting team, that strategy had risks. With Oden you saw the payoff, with Nate Robinson you saw the pain. Except that whole time he and Tim Thomas were combining for 16 of the first 18 Knick points in the third, on 6-7 shooting in 8 trips, that was all they were doing--getting hot. On a couple of shots, notably Robinson's with Outlaw on him, yes there was open real estate for the shooter. Thomas had better coverage, usually LA, but made tougher shots anyway. Beyond that, and Portland getting a little cold and a little sloppy, there wasn't some major systematic breakdown. The team that shoots a buttload of threes started hitting, made easier by some poor coverage at times, but also over hands in the face deep. And that was really it. Beyond those two stretches, as I said Portland played plus basketball with generally good execution. They certainly did what the coaching staff instructed them to, from what I can tell and understand. And they overcame their flaws and executed almost flawlessly under pressure. I personally thought it was a great win, one they had to struggle to obtain but which is to my mind more a credit to the Knicks than a slap to the Blazers. There was no major deficit suddenly whittled down; that Thomas trey to put them up 12 at 100-88 took place with six minutes left. With over three remaining, the Blazers had brought it down to 6 at 105-99. Travis and LMA made all 11 points in the run, the former on a couple sweet threes and a foul; the latter on two solid bread and butter distance jumpers (17,18). It was slow but methodical, and the Blazers again showed the ability to recognize what was working--and keep working it. The final stretch was all Travis, Roy and Oden. Roy had a gorgeous spin move in the lane on a clearout play, 101-105. Harrington got what proved to be their last points on a three over a late LMA, 108-101. Sergio missed a jumper, but Oden was there for the board and the tip, 108-103. Then Oden got back and blocked David Lee, and on the ensuing trip Outlaw got open for three left wing, but faked his man up and stepped in for a two that drained, 108-105. Lee missed again, after Batum had done a great job denying Duhon, and Roy drove but missed, Oden tipped but missed, and the ball went out of bounds to Portland. The inbounds came from Rudy to Travis breaking open near the right block. He elevated like the floor was on fire and was fourth quarter cash on the barrelhead, 108-107. Harrington started at the top of the key and tried to go to the hoop strong the whole way to the baseline. LaMarcus followed him every step of the way and denied entry. Travis took the timeout frontcourt, and Roy did his magic, game over, 109-108. Notice how it all clicked on BOTH ends. Oden blocks, LaMarcus denies, Batum denies, and on the offensive end Roy and Travis took over as they are wont in such circumstances. No fear, seemingly no concern--but a palpable urgency. Every game seems like a test of will and mental toughness, and this one was stronger than a lot this season. Most times it's not the imperfection of the success but the success over imperfection that matters, because finding a way to turn turds into china is indeed a skill. It involves focus and execution on both ends. The Blazers had that in spades when it counted, when the game was slipping away twice, and when it was desperately needed for the game. I repeat: can't ask for more than that. |
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