They could not seem to find the same magic two days later against the Mavericks, a team that just matches up too well--Nowitzki matching up pretty damn well no matter who he faces. And towards the end of the month, the Atlanta, Cleveland and Philly losses were all fairly good efforts against solid teams, but the energy and activity around the ball was clearly lacking. I perceived a sea change during the Cleveland game, which the Blazers lost but in which they played extremely hard and held LeBron to mere superhumanism until OT, when Portland's shots and defense went dry simultaneously. They tried their best, but still joined 34 of 35 other teams who came to Cleveland and left with a Cleveland Steamer. (and of course by that I mean a smallish naval trunk popularized in the merchant marine around the Great Lakes. Kind of a gift from the Cavs front office, "thank you for trying so hard!" Yes, that's exactly what I mean.) It was a game that LaMarcus did not play in, due to a concussion. He was still pretty woozy in what became a must-win over the Bucks at the end of the roadie, but his next game back was really when this team fundamentally shifted to another, higher level of basketball. But there was that heartbreaker to deal with first against Philly, hard luck in overtime after some beautiful play to get them into the 5th period to begin with. But LMA was back, leading Portland scorers and rebounders with a sweet 24 & 12, including crucial scoring trips in the fourth quarter that brought the Blazers closer to the all-important tie. You like 24 & 12? How do you feel about 29 & 12, what LaMarcus did to top himself against the Phoenix Suns? Scoring well and playing hard in losing efforts against elite teams is one milestone--beating them is another, and this was a pounding like the Spurs game. LMA just abused poor Matt Barnes all night long, and the Suns couldn't respond. The Blazers were just too fast, too energetic, and too disruptive on defense. Lather, rinse repeat on the Memphis win two days later, and again it was LMA taking charge, with 18 points but also 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and zero turnovers. The Grizzlies wished they had Matt Barnes, is how badly Aldridge took advantage of Memphis inside. And now we have yet another high quality West team coming into the Garden, both teams with the same record and only a few left to play for the jockeying. San Antonio was a step-up moment. So was the L&kers. Also the Suns. Would they follow the pattern against the Jazz. You bet your black and red asses! I could have written that last sentence after just a few minutes of tonight's game, giving the Blazers credit for the win already. The Jazz started out with the early 2-0 lead, but on a classic jumper by Roy the Blazers tied it, and then next trip Blake stole the ball and Roy found LMA for the backdoor semi-oop. Then Deron Williams tried to assert at the hole and had the layup roll out, and LaMarcus made them pay, posting up on the low block and then feeding Blake all alone at the bottom corner for three. CJ Miles took a jumper that was off, and Joel controlled the paint for the bound. LMA got open at the top of the key and took the shot but missed, Batum slapping it back out near midcourt for Roy. LA got it back on the top block this time and drove hard across the lane for the power layup. Boozer hit a nice shot to finally answer back (he was a puzzle the Blazers couldn't really solve in the first half), but then Roy took a quick skip from LA to Blake to himself, and buried the three over Corey Ronnie Brewer. And wouldn't you know it, LaMarcus was there to deflect the inbound, and then got it back on kind of a messed up mini-break and was going to take it up to the hole--but saw Blake clearing behind the arc on the right wing. He kicked it back out, Blake lined it up and drew bloodnet, and suddenly it was 15-4 and Jerry Sloan's veins were bulging like a garden hose your kid steps on to trick you while you're washing the car. Not funny, son. The Jazz clawed their way back to within as little as eight a couple times, but at best they made up a little ground on the second unit and made a secret deal with referee Violet Palmer (Mike Rice chalked it up to lack of a card from the team at Christmas prior). There was no fight, no swagger in Utah tonight. They were going to get their white underwear handed back to them, and they knew it. In one sequence that about summed it up, Brandon Roy found himself open for three at the top of the key, and missed right. Mehmet Okur thought for sure he had the newly subbed-in Greg Oden boxed out, but Greg leapt high and grabbed it with one meaty right hand, and Okur fouled him as he went up (Okur's 2nd, sending him to the bench for the rest of the half.) Oden made one, missed the second--but the Blazers grabbed the rebound, and Roy dropped a floater on Kirilenko for the extra point. The whole first half was a melange of beautiful treys, dunks, alley oops--lots of alley oops; the Jazz kept trying to front Brandon with laughably disastrous results every time--monster putbacks, steals and sweet jams on the break...I couldn't do them all the necessary justice. And it was the result of such great, unselfish play. The first quarter saw more assists than Jessica Alba crossing a busy street with a case of Patron and her sorority alumni directory. There were so many great performances in this game tonight. Nic Batum was deadly from outside and inside, shooting 7-10 and getting 17 points. Steve Blake had 10 points and 9 assists, draining both threes he took. Greg Oden had a whale of a game in just 11 minutes, going 12/8 with two blocks and a whole bunch of changed shots. The whole Blazers interior did a great job just standing up to the Jazz, literally speaking. Time and time again, Utah's bigs would get to the rim and find...someone in their way. And Portland played it perfectly, going straight up and down, staying well in control and at the ready for the drive, not drawing the foul. Joel had his customary physical game inside, picking up 9 rebounds and blocking a shot in 25 minutes before being ejected defending his honor at the hand of Carlos Boozer. Boozer had been called for the charge on Joel, and intentional or not dropped the ball on the fallen Gorilla. Joel did not like that, and while no blows were thrown, both men kept jawing until the men folks in grey had had enough and tossed them. This is a changed team. They don't repeatedly get caught flatfooted after a miss. They move the ball around and don't get stuck with Roy iso's all night long. They help defend! They run the break, and seem able to live with the increased turnovers in exchange for dagger baskets in transition. They play tough inside, and rotate well enough to at least get a hand near the perimeter shooters the large majority of the time. Nobody, nobody wants this team in the playoffs. If they should finish with a 4 seed or better (and they're now only 1 game from 2nd seed after setting a franchise record for Garden wins with 31), their first round matchup has to scratch their heads and think, "How the HELL are we going to steal one in Portland, and make sure we don't slip up at home ourselves at the same time?" Four Garden games looks pretty intimidating right about now. These have been stern tests, and not only are the Blazers passing them with victories, they are making statements about who they are as a team, contra the rep given them by historians and Barkleyites. They are tough, they will crush you if you can't play defense, and if they play as a team, few teams have the consistent answer for them. I no longer think "automatic first round exit" is the money play on this team. When asked to step up and elevate their game, they've done so, and done it emphatically. Why think otherwise now? Bravo, Blazers. Bravo. |
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