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Considering the recent failures against Philly and the let down loss in Washington DC on Monday, this game left me with a bad feeling all day.
In Portland just a few weeks ago, these 76ers came in and dominated the Blazers. Elton Brand and Allen Iverson looked fresh, they were scoring at will with little to no defense, and Portland just got outworked losing 104 to 93.
Despite the loss of Brandon Roy in the first half of tonight's game, Portland overcame runs by Philly and ended up winning on the backs of Andre Miller and Jerryd Bayless. Bayless had 14 of his 18 points in the 4th quarter. He attacked the basket at the right times, hit a few jumpers and used his youthful exuberance to keep an aging Iverson off balance.
Andre Miller was also tremendous. Whether it was him getting back at his old team or wanting redemption for the loss on Monday, Miller was stellar throughout. His change of pace from controlling the temp up-top to posting up down low was more than Philadelphia could handle.
Andre and Jerryd filled in for Brandon and finished this very important win. The bottom line- it was good to see Bayless back on track and confident, and also seeing the Blazers success without Roy bodes well for the near future.
I also noticed a few things that I just remember bursting out with, "what was that??" In a good way of course:
- After a sluggish start offensively, Aldridge had Dalembert on the block sometime in the 1st quarter. LA turned middle like he was going to shoot another fadeaway jumper. But instead on this possession, he spun back, went left, right at the body of Samuel. He drew the foul and made the shot. It was that beautiful variation of a drop step that we all want him to do more often. Opponents are giving it to him, he just needs to take it.
- Sometime in the 2nd quarter, Steve Blake caught a pass in the right corner looking to take a three. His defender closed out quickly and Blake went around him towards the key. Then, something amazing happened. Blake drove right to the 6 to 8 foot spot in the key, stopped and proceeded to shoot and swish a fade-away jumper. Holy cow was I impressed.
- Again early on, the Blazers had a 2 on 1 fast break. Bayless received the pass up ahead of the defender looking to go in for ridiculous dunk. Just as he was at the rim, he wised up and went with the finger roll as opposed to attempting a possible badly missed dunk. I don't see that too often. Heady play by Bayless.
- Last but not least, Andre Miller canned an open three. I know he's made them before, but once I started looking for in-game anomalies I had to count this one. He didn't just make it, it was dead solid perfect. Although I suppose with the trajectory of his shot and the lack of jumping, the ball can only go in a small window of places. Good game all around Andre.
There were times in this game where Portland could have easily pulled away. They had large single digit leads multiple times but every time Philly would sneak back in the game. It showed a lot of positives that the Blazers continued to fend them off on their home floor. With the possibility that Brandon Roy could miss the next two road games at the very least, this is major confidence boost for Portland.
On a sidenote, I have a major beef with a call that happened at least twice tonight. In the first half their were two instances where a Blazer player was behind a Philly guy on a rebound. When the shot came off and the Portland player got the rebound, they were immediately called for a foul. Basically the refs are trained to call any foul if you're within 4 feet of the back of another player. Maybe they had a hand on the guy but there was not a foul at all in either case. I hate the way NBA officials call certain things so wrong. Back to basics zebras!
Box Score
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- Roy reinjuring his hamstring and being out possibly the next few games.
- Martell had a horrible shooting night, it's been the first in awhile so no big deal.
- The Philly organization putting the radio and tv guys about 40 rows up from the floor despite the lack of fans. Philly failure
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- LaMarcus Aldridge was key, scoring 23 points and grabbing 9 important rebounds.
- Bayless scoring 14 of his 18 points in the 4th, propelling Portland to victory.
- Andre Miller's excellent all around game, 24 points and 7 of 7 from the line.
- Rudy starting to get acclimated again, 2 three pointers and sick dump off pass to LaMarcus late in the game.
- Portland only committing 7 turnovers on the game, tremendous effort.
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