Trail Blazers evaporate Lakers 107-77
107. 34. Final. 77. 20
Fresh off an embarrassing collapse in their last game, the Portland Trail Blazers faced an embarrassing collapse of a franchise in the Los Angeles Lakers, doing more than enough for the 107-77 blowout win. Sure, the Trail Blazers grew and blew leads like they were going out of style, but the game was never in doubt. The Trail Blazers were ahead by double-digits when it was 22-12, and the lead never again dipped below 10.
With the Trail Blazers’ win and the loss elsewhere by the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight, the Trail Blazers have secured the Northwest division, their first division title with 1999 and their first in non-lockout season since 1992. With the division comes the guarantee that they can fall no further than fourth in playoff seeding; however, they will not earn home court advantage in the first round unless they finish with a better overall record than the West’s fifth seed.
Recap
Go back to your hometown, and find the elementary school you used to go to. If it doesn’t exist anymore, pick the next-closest one that’s still standing. Hop the chain link fence and walk onto the playground. Don’t forget to take a friend. Check out the slide… remember how big it used to be? It seems so much shorter now. Then walk over to the see-saw. Both of you take a seat on either end. Then… start teetering.
Up. Down. Up. Down.
Got that feeling? Of being really high up, then coming back down? That’s a little like how the Trail Blazers played tonight. They jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead (up), then were trailing 4-6 (down). But then they dominated, jumping ahead 41-18 (way up) before finishing the half with their lead “just” 52-39 (down… sort of). Then they went up 70-51 (up) but by start of the fourth the lead was 74-63 (down-ish).
So, maybe not so much like a see-saw as a see-saw with one 2nd grader and one much-larger 5th grader, where the ups and downs aren’t really equal. The Trail Blazers were always up, but the lead did fluctuate.
Whether that should be cause for worry evaporated as the 11-point lead ballooned to over 30 in less than six minutes. Failing to score a bucket, at that point, until there was just 4:51 to go, the Lakers had no more teeters to totter and no more sees to saw as newly-signed Trail Blazers guard Tim Frazier checked in.
Pretty quick with an eye for tight passing lanes, Frazier was composed and played within himself for the five minutes he was on the floor. He gives the Trail Blazers a much different (and rawer) look than Steve Blake, and while not nearly as polished, Frazier proved he can do some things quite well. The needle-threading did not reward Frazier with an assist, but he saw lines rarely seen, perhaps out of wisdom than for lack of skill.
It will be interesting for Frazier to get looks in the season’s waning days; let’s hope there are more lopsided Trail Blazers wins that allow him a chance to get some run.
Players
With Dorell Wright out for at least a month, players like C.J. McCollum need to step up yet another level; this after being asked to do more in the wake of Wesley Matthews‘ season-ending injury. McCollum was up the task and then some, pouring in a career-high 27 points off an array of moves from threes to drives to stepbacks. Adding three dimes, six boards, two steals, and never committing a turnover, it was his best, most complete game of his young career, and most productive game from a Trail Blazers sub since Jamal Crawford in 2012, according to the Trail Blazers’ PR department.
Damian Lillard played less than 30 minutes but still managed 20 points, three boards, five assists, and a few steals of his own. He shot over 50% from the field and 4-8 from deep, looking relaxed and grateful to have a game that he didn’t have to grind through and struggle against.
Arron Afflalo continues to gel, and tonight he contributed 17 points on 3-5 three-point shooting. He has shot over 50% from deep in each of his last four games. It’s pretty clear now that he can’t replace Matthews, but it’s also clear that he grows more comfortable every day. The more Afflalo plays his game and knows his teammates, and the more his teammates know Afflalo and his strengths and how to look for them, the more the Trail Blazers can expect him to contribute, and the better off the team will be.
LaMarcus Aldridge enjoyed his night off from playing hero: less than 30 minutes brought him 14 points and eight boards. He didn’t need to do more; in fact, he could have gone scoreless and the Trail Blazers still would have won by 16.
Robin Lopez had a game-high +35, but had just 10-and-4 with a few blocks.
Nicolas Batum scored but seven points, but had 10 boards and four assists. The Trail Blazers didn’t need any more from him either, but, unlike Aldridge, Batum shot poorly: just 33% from the field and 20% from three.
Playoffs
With seven games to play and the Oklahoma City Thunder 7.5 games behind, the Northwest Division (and the West’s fourth seed along with it) have been sewn up by Portland, but there’s still plenty to do. Though they’re guaranteed no worse than the West’s fourth seed, the Trail Blazers won’t necessarily have home court advantage in the first round. To do that, they need to finish the year with a better record than the West’s 5th seed.
The Trail Blazers are 0.5 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for fourth place and home court advantage in the first round, and 2.5 games behind both the Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies for second place.
If the playoffs started today, the fourth-seeded Trail Blazers would face the fifth-seeded Clippers, but the Clippers would have home court advantage for their better overall record.
Notes
The Trail Blazers swept the Lakers for the first time since 1994. They have also never beaten the Lakers so badly in the Lakers’ house, ever. That’s ever. Like, in 45 years ever. Finally, the 77 Lakers points were the fewest they’ve scored against the Trail Blazers ever. Again… ever.
The Trail Blazers now fly home quickly to meet the New Orleans Pelicans tomorrow in Portland at 7:00 p.m. PST.