| You knew there was going to be SOME comedown from the Clippers, right? It was not going to be all beer and skittles on the road against a strong conference opponent, not when that opponent was on its own 8-game home win streak, and have been brutal on the Blazers in the "Toyota Center" for some years now. Still, it was hard not to be disappointed by the loss, despite knowing it would be a tough game for any team to play, much less one without a key piece like Oden that would have added a significant boost against the Rockets in particular (and the Spurs tomorrow as well, a game Oden will also not play in). If you look at the boxscore, the totals are nearly even--Portland actually outshot the Rockets by %.1, 44-43.9, and they're just inches behind in 3PT%, FT%, OREB, TO, REB, AST...it's not that they were dominated by any stretch. What made it most difficult for me was the way the game started--beautifully. The Rockets--particularly Yao Ming, on a 1-6 start--were not going to shoot that badly the whole game, but the Blazers were very high energy to begin with, and were moving the ball smartly and going right after the painted area. It looked like LaMarcus Aldridge was on his way to another really super game offensively, totally overmatching Luis Scola. They weren't running per se, but they were moving quickly and keeping Houston from getting totally set. And Brandon Roy was abusing Shane Battier like a puppy at Mike Vick Charm School for Dogs. He had 9 points with about 5 and half left in the first quarter, and the Blazers up 17-11. He had buckets on three straight trips, including a great O-reeb and putback on Yao of all people, and an And One on Aaron Brooks. Then two things happened. {what happened? what happened? Look below} |
So, the two things. Well, one had just recently happened, and the other happened after Roy made the third of three. Two minutes before that, LMA had been hit with his second foul, an offensive on Luis Scola that had a bit of the Fosbury to it. (It didn't really cost them the game tonight, but the Blazers really show their inexperience when it comes to working the refs. On at least a couple of occasions Blazers got retaliation fouls after Rockets like Scola had elbowed them out of the way.) And after that last Roy bucket, Rick Adelman decided that Battier was battered enough, and raised the stakes: Ron Artest. Artest is a lot of things, many of them negative. But he's a pretty tenacious defender, and while few if any can truly stop Roy, Artest can slow him down and make him pay for every bucket--and for the rest of the game, he did. Roy got his 24, but the last couple were garbage time and he took a lot of shots to get there. Meanwhile, all of the energy coming from the tall forward position got sucked off the court when LMA went down. Channing Frye, the "Eat Bubbula" poster child, was sadly not up to the task of handling Scola and Ming and Battier. Neither was Shavlik Randolph, who came in when Frye picked up 3 fouls in 2 minutes. He was perhaps a little more game at it, at least getting three boards and a block in his short time on the court. Nic Batum continues to be one of the better defenders on the team and did his usual yoeman's work, but when he had to rest Travis Outlaw was...unsurprising in his effort and execution on the defensive end. And he was also cold as ice shooting to start. All of this--Brandon Roy suddenly finding things much less comfortable, and Joel left on an island and unable to cover everybody over 6-6 in an iso--was pretty much what precipitated the Rockets' 20-2 run. And for most of the rest of the half and into the third quarter, the Blazers treaded water. Artest was killing them, not necessarily on shots (he was 5-13) but by drawing contact from late defenders, making his foul shots--and then feeding scrubs like Von Wafer and Chuck Hayes for easy buckets of their own. Rudy missing a nobody-else layup as the 1st quarter expired about said it all for the change in fortune, and when the half ended at 60-43, it was clear the more savvy team had taken control. And I suppose what makes the loss hard is not discovering that the Blazers are playing a more savvy team on the road and are going to lose, but that you know inevitably the Blazers are going to claw and scratch and absolutely refuse to give up, and get within reach of a victory with just a couple more key buckets. The truth is that most teams would just walk out with a bunch more 10- or 15-point losses in situations like that, while our guys just won't lay down, and try to give themselves at least a chance to steal it. Good teams steal games like that every once in a while, and I suppose the fact that the Blazers lead the league in 4th quarter comebacks makes you think they can do it at will. But it can't happen every time, and the better the team the less likely it is to occur. It's tantalizing to see those near-comebacks, because it means that strictly speaking the Blazers can play with anyone in this league. Houston is really not that much better. Portland found a way to limit Yao, and I think they gave as good as they got--witness both Yao and Artest taking timeouts to wipe away the blood. They were outmuscled tonight (and outhustled frankly), but they were not pushed around. And the defense of the Rockets, I'm sorry to say (although happy from a long-term competitiveness standpoint), was not the big difference tonight. Portland got open looks aplenty; they just didn't bury them tonight. In particular, late when there was a real chance to nip this one with some key buckets, the Rockets missed or were forced into six bad trips in a row--but Blake, LMA and Outlaw all missed shots they could have made. Just one of them falling, and the situation would have gone from needing to foul, to straight up. I have to give Nic Batum some serious love for most inspirational game; he kept them alive in the third. In a six minute stretch he went three, three, dunk, three, layup And One (FT made). He continues to gain confidence down the stretch, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see him become a real impact player in March and April. His defense is already up there with Joel and LMA (and Blake, who has played some great D since he's been back), and if his offense becomes more consistent he will make the Blazers very, very difficult to handle most nights. This was one of those nights where some folks will say "if they only had paid for some veteran PF help in place of a Frye or an Outlaw, they'd have been more prepared for this kind of game." And that could well be true. But since it's not a win-the-title year, this is just one of those games that has to be sacrificed on the altar of inexperience and execution. It wasn't one you should have been circling on your calendar as a W in the first place, and there is another chance to win in Houston--and capture the season series, which IS important--on April 5. The team is a game and a half out of first in the division, just a half game back of Houston now for fourth. Sucks, coulda woulda--but I won't toss and turn. |
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