LaMarcus Aldridge reaches milestone as Blazers best Pistons

In a game when a 20-point win would have been nice, the Portland Trail Blazers never quite shut the door, but leaned on LaMarcus Aldridge and a strong showing from the bench to beat the Detroit Pistons, 98-86. The Trail Blazers are now 17-4 on the year and are riding a 5-game win streak.

Recap

Detroit made it competitive early in the game, taking a 15-9 lead, but the Blazers got their act together and them some, taking a lead 33-22 after one. Portland kept their double-digit lead intact for most of the second quarter, but Caron Butler and Greg Monroe kept the game from becoming unglued for the Pistons. The Trail Blazers coasted into halftime with a 55-46 lead.

The lead ballooned to as many as 16 points late in the 3rd, and it was starting to look like the deep bench was going to get some run, but the Pistons treaded water just enough to keep from drowning, and the Trail Blazers were up 76-62 after three.

The Pistons must have grabbed their snorkel between quarters, going on an 11-0 run early in the fourth to cut the lead all the way down to four, and you could feel the energy in the building pick up in a collective aria of hope. A pair of Aldridge buckets restored order and quieted the crowd, and from there it was a lot of back-and-forth, with Aldridge and perimeter shooting keeping the Pistons at bay. The game was rarely in question and the Trail Blazers emerged handily victorious.

Players

LaMarcus Aldridge joked with Trail Blazers announcer Mike Barrett the other day about Barrett jinxing his consecutive 10+ rebound game streak. Upon missing his 10th rebound late in the game, he turned and had a few friendly words for Barrett. On the Piston’s last shot of the game, LMA pushed Robin Lopez away to keep the streak alive (it was later noted that an earlier rebound was credited to him that probably shouldn’t have been). Aldridge also passed Terry Porter to become the Trail Blazer’s 2nd-leading scorer in franchise history (11,347 points)… oh, wait, his stats for this game? Just 23 and 11 with an assist, a steal, and a block. No biggie. And he was 1-1 from deep.

Wesley Matthews had another solid shooting night, going 3-6 from downtown and a blistering 8-12 overall for his 19 points. He also had five rebounds, five assists, and a steal. The Blazers don’t need that from him every night, but it sure is nice!

There was a recent Oregonian piece  about Chris Kaman suggesting that his recent mini-slump (in which he’s averaged just 8 points and 4.6 boards over the last 5 games) was due to anxiety over the expected birth of his first son. He doesn’t want to miss his first moments of fatherhood. Who can blame him? But for whatever reason, maybe the matchups were just right or maybe the article allowed him to breathe a little easier with it out in the open, he went ape-stuff off the bench, pouring in 14 points with three boards, two assists, and two blocks on 7-10 shooting. Maybe the media should write an article about Kaman every game day.

Nicolas Batum melted into the background, but at least he hit a few threes. He tallied eight points and five rebounds with a lone assist. Not a very Batum-like game, as he’s usually playmaking even in the absence of his shot.

Robin Lopez had 11 rebounds like Aldridge, one assist like Aldridge, and two blocks like Aldridge, but had a more Rolo-like six points, shooting just 3-9.

Allen Crabbe had tied his career-high with nine points, all in the first half, and shot 4-5 with a few assists, a board, and a block. Nice work.

A thought: It’s hard to feel anything but optimism for the Trail Blazer’s bench given Kaman and Blake’s steadiness and Crabbe’s development, especially when C.J. McCollum comes back. It’s also tough for Head Coach Terry Stotts to find time for everyone who wants to play: Meyers Leonard, who filled in so nicely earlier in the season, is nowhere to be found. Thomas Robinson may as well have fallen off a cliff. And while Will Barton has been sick, you don’t see easy minutes for him or Dorell Wright. However; it’s nice to know that the Trail Blazers do have some reasonable players to fill in if injuries were to rear their ugly head.

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