Feb 12, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) shoots over Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Sasha Pavlovic (3) during the second half at American Airlines Arena. Miami won 117-104. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

I grew up in the Northwest, and because of that I’ve been a Blazer fan for as long as I’ve been aware of the NBA (second grade). I’m pretty old, meaning that when I was in elementary school Portland was in the NBA Finals a couple times. One of those times, the time that I remember best, they lost to the Chicago Bulls and one Michael Jordan.

I hated Michael Jordan. I hated everybody that liked Michael Jordan. I hated that Michael Jordan was the most well-known player on the Dream Team (and not Clyde Drexler). And more than anything I hated that Michael Jordan was so clearly the best player in the NBA that no matter how much you wanted them to, not even your favorite player would say different.

So what did I do? I refused to watch the Bulls. I refused to care about Michael Jordan. I refused to join everybody else on the bandwagon.

Certainly I missed a lot of the greatest basketball every played, and much of my knowledge and memories of the best NBA player ever to play is second-hand and anecdotal, but I maintained my allegiance to the Blazers and with it my personal integrity. As a basketball fan in elementary school, my team was more important to me than the Golden Age of the NBA, even if my head in the sand approach left me on the short-end of the historical narrative.

I’m here to tell you, nothing has changed. Well not exactly nothing. The name of the principal villain has changed, but my personal devotion to the Portland Trail Blazers has not.

I wrote in my preview to Tuesday’s game that LeBron James has risen to the level of best player in the league. He was there last season, and probably the season before, his first NBA Championship only served to prove it. This season, though, he’s not only the best player in the league, he’s the type of player that everybody around the country (and probably the world) feels an obligation to stop and watch.

I too can be charged with stopping and watching LeBron James. He’s basically the personification of perfect basketball. Kevin Durant has the handle of a point guard, the length of a center, and the touch of a three-point specialist. But LeBron can’t be described in basketball terms. He has the size and strength of a locomotive. He has the speed and athleticism of some sort of wild animal. He has the skill and touch of something both incredibly skillful and absolutely deft.

LeBron James is so good that hyperbolic similes are basically worthless. And I hate him.

Not every night, mind you, not on nights when he’s not playing the Blazers (and not on nights when he loses to the Blazers), but on nights like Tuesday, I hate him.

The Miami Heat are probably going to win the NBA Championship this season (I say probably because anything is possible). LeBron James is having the best stretch of play in the history of professional basketball. Portland is on the wrong end of a four game losing streak. With a Houston win and a Laker win happening on Tuesday night, the Blazers are slipping further and further away from the Playoffs. The Blazers are in serious need of a win. And Tuesday night, they were within sniffing distance of their biggest win of the season (or yet another one of their biggest wins of the season).

And that’s why I hate LeBron James. Tuesday, James went 11-of-15 from the field for 30 points, his sixth straight game with at least 30 points while shooting at least 60% from the field, and produced a number of bring-the-house-down dunks that will certainly lead off SportsCenter. Every thing he did was perfect. He collected nine assists and six rebounds and turned the ball over once. LeBron James owned Tuesday night’s game, from start to finish.

But there’s another reason why my hatred for LeBron James reached new heights Tuesday. James was unbelievable against the Blazers, but this game was by no means a blow out. Portland was in it all the way, trailing by double figures, then leading by double figures, then getting down by double figures again, and then taking a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter. And down the stretch, LeBron wasn’t scoring.

In fact, in Tuesday’s final 12 minutes, James contributed only five points. LeBron had a free throw that cut Portland’s lead to 95-93 with eight minutes left (a rather meaningless bucket). And then he had a dunk with 4:56 to play (giving the Heat a 101-99 lead), and then another dunk with 2:38 left in the game (icing Miami’s win). It was almost as if LeBron was toying with Portland Tuesday night, letting them think they were close enough to win before stepping his game up just enough to shut the door on their dreams.

I’m not an elementary school student anymore, so I’m not so insecure that I can’t watch and enjoy LeBron James, I don’t pretend he doesn’t exist like I tried to do with Michael Jordan.

I’m not even that angry that Damian Lillard (33 points while shooting 10-of-18 from the field and 10-of-11 from the line Tuesday night) and LaMarcus Aldridge (29 points while missing only seven field goal attempts) are nothing but window dressing in the LeBron Show (I mean I’m kind of angry but not apoplectic).

I’m not above a moral victory every now and then, especially when Damian has the type of bounce-back game he had Tuesday. I just wish LeBron James wasn’t so damn good at basketball.

One quick thing courtesy of Craig Birnbach and Twitter:

Luke Babbitt is shooting 36% overall and 35% from 3, that is not good enough for a guy whose only skill is shooting #Blazers

— Craig Birnbach (@CBirnbachKATU) February 13, 2013

Feb 12, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers (left) fouls Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (center) as Heat power forward Udonis Haslem (right) defends during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score

Standings

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Jan. 10, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) drives to the basket on Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum (88) and Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (0) during the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Garden. The Blazers won the game 92-90. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

What are your guesses for LeBron’s total tonight? I have at least in the 40s.

— Sean Highkin (@shighkinNBA) February 12, 2013

We’ve reached a kind of apotheosis moment with LeBron James, and that it’s happening isn’t what should really shock NBA fans. What’s most interesting about the rise of the LeBron (the Decision et al. notwithstanding) is that James has become the best player on the planet while there is already an active best player on the planet.

What am I talking about? The NBA is built on superstars, but it’s also a league that has proven to succeed at its highest level when there is one single player who stands out above the rest. A player who can represent the league to everybody. A player who can be the unchallenged best of the best.

There are a few major downsides to the one-above-all method of super-super stardom: because that one player’s excellence is not to be challenged, some great players are relegated to spending their lives in the shadows; because that one player can never be moved back down the ladder of greatness, he either has to win all the time at all costs, step away from the game before he may be ready, or drag his team down with him as his body and skills start to head south; and because the transfer of power HAS to be generational, there is often a skill vacuum and period of overall confusion after the older ubermensch has retired and before the new guy is ready for the spot-light.

And that’s why the Era of LeBron is so fascinating. Kobe Bryant is still arguably the most popular basketball player on the planet.  He’s probably the second-most recognizable basketball player on Earth (second only to Michael Jordan who is basically a synonym for the NBA). But for at least a few seasons, depending on how you break it down, he hasn’t been the best player in the NBA. You could argue, even, that right now, Kobe Bryant (who despite how terrible his team is playing is having an absolutely phenomenal season) is behind both LeBron James and Kevin Durant as far as best player in the league is concerned.

Kobe’s narrative is much stronger in 2012-13 than LeBron’s (the Heat have, almost without incident, jumped out to the best record in the East and the only story they’ve carried with them this season is why aren’t they winning every game), and that’s keeping him relevant. But LeBron’s supremacy has reached a point where it is unchallenged. It has happened while Kobe is still relevant. (The Lakers are three and a half games out of the LAST spot in the Western Conference playoff race and in a total tailspin or kind of a tailspin depending on the day of the week, and ESPN still dedicated an entire segment to talking about how nobody wants to see LA in the first round of the Playoffs and journos in the City of Angles have basically said the Lakers are a lock to make the post season. Don’t be confused by Dwight Howard or Steve Nash, that’s all Kobe Bryant.)

And that makes the end of the Era of Kobe and the beginning of the Era of LeBron maybe the first ever conflict-less transfer of power in the history of the NBA.

Blazers Starting 5: PG Damian Lillard, SG Wesley Matthews, SF Nicolas Batum, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C J.J. Hickson

Heat Starting 5: PG Mario Chalmers, SG Dwyane, SF LeBron James, PF Udonis Haslem, C Chris Bosh

For years, starting when I was about 21, I played on a city league basketball team. In case you don’t know, Portland is a basketball town. It’s not Seattle, mind you, but there are plenty of great ballers of all ages living in the Rose City. I’m not an amazing basketball player. I spent nearly as many hours playing basketball in college as I did doing homework and reading (I did lots of both in case you were wondering), but even at the absolute top of my game, I would put myself second-tier at best with regards to city league players. I played with a bunch of guys who were about the same.

Every so often we’d win games. Most nights, we’d run up against a group of dudes with a little more polish than we had and a little more actual basketball skill. Those nights, we’d hang around for the first 15 or 20 minutes (20 if we were super lucky and making jump shots, more like five if we weren’t), and then end up losing by 40. On paper, that’s how the match-up between the Miami Heat and the Blazers should play out.

So we should all be pretty damn shocked that Portland beat Miami the last two times these teams played, and we should not expect a similar result Tuesday evening when the Heat host the Blazers and try not to get swept.

Can Portland beat Miami again? Sure. They did it once, they can do it again. Will the Blazers win Tuesday? Very unlikely. LeBron James is on a historic streak of scoring and efficiency. That in and of itself should be enough to convince you that Portland’s chances Tuesday night are far from great. Add to that that I’d be willing to bet every member of the Heat thought they should have beaten the Blazers in Portland, and based on motivation alone, this game should be a blowout in favor of Miami.

What can the Blazers do to get a much-needed win against a far superior opponent? Try to keep the scoring low, try to keep LeBron off the free-throw line, and make their shots.

Portland, as they have been much of the last 10 seasons, is a jump shooting team. When the shots aren’t falling, they can’t beat anybody. Conversely, when the J’s go down, they’re in every game. If the Blazers want to have a chance on Tuesday, they need to make jumpers. And by they, I don’t just mean LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, and Damian Lilllard, I mean every single Blazer who steps on the floor in Miami needs to hit their jumpers.

Apart from hitting shots, Portland needs to play some defense. And by defense, that means keeping everybody on the Heat not named LeBron or Dwyane from going off. It also means limiting the number of free points allowed. James will get to the rim at will against Portland. Wade probably will too. Letting those guys get two points instead of three each time they attack might be able to keep the Blazers in Tuesday’s game.

What to Watch For

• Will Damian Lillard be able to recover from his performance in Orlando. Lillard had an awful game against the Magic. Everybody has bad games, even super talented rookies like Damian. The key to a rookie’s development is how well he recovers from the stumbles and hurdles that he inevitably encounters during his first professional season. That Dame has to have a bounce-back game against probably the best team in the NBA is just bad timing. The serendipitous thing about the timing though, if Portland wants to beat the Heat, they’re going to need to get a ton of scoring from Lillard.
• Can the Blazers get a big game from somebody unexpected. If Portland really wants to have a chance to beat Miami, they’re going to need to get some big performances from the end of the bench. That means somebody unexpected stepping up. I doubt it will be Meyers Leonard, although he’s basically the only true center on either roster, but Victor Claver has been played better as of late, and Joel Freeland had a nice run against the Magic. Luke Babbitt also might be able to have an impact on Tuesday’s game. Babbitt has the ability to score in bunches (his shots are worth more after all since they should all be from three-point range), and scoring a lot in a hurry is important as we all know. Sasha Pavlovic and Ronnie Price are back, so head coach Terry Stotts will have plenty of guys to throw out there.
• Will Portland be able to keep it close. Miami had a big lead in Portland that got away from them. If the Blazers can keep the Heat within arm’s length, anything is possible.

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Jan. 10, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) drives to the basket on Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum (88) and Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (0) during the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Garden. The Blazers won the game 92-90. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

The game of basketball is strange, to say the least. Thursday the Blazers got a huge win 92-90 over the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat. That in and of itself is strange. But you take a look at the final stats and the play-by-play breakdown of Thursday’s game, and it doesn’t get any less strange.

Take for instance the fact that nobody on Portland’s bench played more than 11 minutes and four of the Blazers’ five starters played at least 40 minutes. Or how about the fact that Portland shot 38% from the field (30-of-80), 33% from the three-point line (9-of-27), and 77% from the free throw line (23-of-30). Or better yet the fact that Miami shot 46% from the field (35-of-77).

That the Blazers beat the best team in the Eastern Conference while being out-shot is a miracle. That all of Portland’s starters survived a very physical game against a defensive minded stalwart long enough to get enough stops to tie the game, then hit a three to get the lead, and then hold that lead through the game’s final possession is basically beyond miraculous.

But for my money, the very oddest thing about Thursday’s game is this: the final box score counted four lead changes, and three of those came in the first quarter. On Thursday, Portland lead 2-0, 4-2, 10-8, 12-8, and 12-10 all before the 5:46 mark of the game’s first period. Miami grabbed the lead at 14-12 on a driving lay-up by Dwyane Wade with 4:35 left in the first, and the literally would not give it up for the rest of the game.

The Blazers’ would not reclaim the lead until a step-back 24-foot three-pointer from Wesley Matthews made it 91-90 in favor of the home team. This bucket came with 26.9 seconds remaining in the game, meaning that over the course of a 48-minute contest, the winning team lead for a few minutes at the game’s outset, and for two possessions at it’s end.

There’s no doubt that Portland fans and the Blazers themselves will be against calling what happened on Thursday “stealing a win,” but I can think of nothing better the call it. And you know what, I can see absolutely nothing wrong with that. Beating the best teams in the league is tough, if it weren’t tough those teams wouldn’t be the best teams in the league. Portland had no business beating Miami. They certainly had no business coming back on them like they did. But they did it anyway. They made the comeback. They got the stops when they needed them. They got the buckets when they needed them. And they made just enough free throws in the fourth quarter to stay connected enough so that they could win on a crazy, step-back three from a bad angle with no time left on the shot clock.

And unfortunately, that’s it. Thursday was a great win, stolen or not, but it was only one win, and worst of all it was the kind of win that is both not replicable, it is the kind of win these Blazers should try very hard to not replicate ever. Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Damian Lillard can’t play 40-plus minutes a night, not if they want to finish a season with anything left in the tank for the Playoffs (I’m talking about some future season). Portland can’t continue to get absolutely nothing for their second unit (Thursday Miami’s bench outscored Portland’s 26-8). And the Blazers can’t continue to rely on lucky breaks and lucky bounces to win close game.

There are serious issues with the sustainability of this team. Thursday’s win spoke to those issues. At least addressing them in a win is better than addressing them in a loss. That the win came at the expense of the reigning best team in the league makes it that much more important.

I know that maybe it sounds like I’m taking some of the joy out of the best night of the Blazers’ 2012-13 season, but that’s not really my intention. Thursday night was great. I’ve been in the Rose Garden for some crazy games, and Thursday’s was up there with the very best of them. I’ say that my attitude right now is cautious optimism. Being cautiously optimistic about the rest of this season is how I suggest other Blazer fans also proceed. Beating three of the top teams in the league (the Knicks, the Grizzlies, and the Heat) is nothing to scoff at, but it also doesn’t this team has accomplished anything. At any moment the bottom could fall out. We need to be prepared for that possibility.

Let me break it down for you like this. I have a friend who played college tennis at University of Portland and then spent some time coaching tennis with elite level high school kids. Part of this coaching included showing his charges video of professional tennis players from which to watch and learn the best techniques etc. He told me once, when we were talking about tennis, that he never ever showed his players video of Roger Federer. Why not show young players video of the very best tennis player of all time? Because Rodger Federer doesn’t do anything wrong. He’s too good to learn anything from.

My point here is this. Thursday was a fantastic game. It was great for Blazer fans, it was a huge confidence booster for a young team that thinks they belong in the Playoffs, and it’s the kind of thing we’ll all remember for awhile. But like Roger Federer is too good to learn from, Thursday’s game is such an outlier, such a unique occurrence that there really isn’t much to do with it.

Besides celebrate of course.

Portland travels to Oakland to play the Golden State Warriors on Friday. Golden State is the fastest rising team in the Western Conference. The Blazers never play well at Oracle, but in reality it matters very little considering how this Heat game ended.

Just two quick things:

• J.J. Hickson struggled on Thursday. He got stopped at the rim more often than not, had a couple very bad turnovers, and continued to show he has no idea how to throw the ball out after an offensive rebound. I like J.J. More accurately, I like the way he’s playing right now. That being said, it will be beneficial in the short-term of this season and in the long-term of his career for J.J. to play just a little smarter, there’s no doubt he can’t play any harder.
• Standings Watch: Portland at seven is back to fractions of a point ahead of Denver at eight and half a game behind Houston at six.

Box Score

Standings

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Jan. 10, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Wesley Matthews (2) celebrates with Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) as the buzzer sounds to end the game at the Rose Garden. Matthews scored 18 points as the Blazers won the game 92-90. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports