Jan. 23, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Will Barton (5) shoots the ball over Indiana Pacers shooting guard Lance Stephenson (1) and Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) during the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Garden. The Blazers won the game 100-80. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

I haven’t been around the NBA for that long, longer than some, not nearly as long as many others, but in the time I’ve spent covering the Portland Trail Blazers, I’ve learned a couple of things. First, very few players ever go off script when talking to reporters. They’re trained well, they’ve dealt with media since before they started high school, they know the drill inside and out. I’m not saying that some of the stuff NBA players tell reporters after games isn’t genuine, I’m just saying that only the very best (or sometimes luckiest) beat writers ever get that much out of a post-game interview.

The second thing I’ve learned, though, flies in the face of the first thing I’ve learned. Regardless of how many “we played well, executed our sets, made our shots, played defense, got the win,” answers or spouted, the difference between the attitude in a winning locker room and the attitude in a losing locker room is about as stark as you can get.

For the last two weeks, the Blazers just have not been able to win. Losses at Golden State when Damian Lillard pours in 37 points and at home against the Thunder can be excused, but after dropping close ones to Washington, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, Portland’s post-game locker room was quiet as a crypt.

Players addressing the media did so in hushed voices. There was no laughing or joking around. The whole affair seemed perfunctory, like neither party really wanted to be there but for the sake of duty had no choice.

The locker room Wednesday night, though, following Portland’s very impressive 100-80 over the Indiana Pacers was anything but sombre. Addressing the media on this night seemed like anything but a chore. Certainly it’s only one win in their last seven, but it’s pretty safe to say that the Blazers were happier about this win then they’ve been about any other win for quite awhile.

And they had plenty of reasons to be happy Wednesday. Head coach Terry Stotts said to open his post-game presser that he thought Wednesday might, operative word might, have been the Blazers’ best 48-minute effort. Before he finished his sentence, veteran Portland Tribune writer Kerry Eggers interrupted Stotts to say that there is no might, Wednesday was this team’s most complete game of the season.

Wednesday night, Portland won three of four quarters, losing only the third quarter by one 27-26. None of the Blazers’ starters played more than 39 minutes. Every guy on Portland’s bench finished with positives in the plus/minus column. The Blazers shot 56% from the field while holding the Pacers to 38% shooting from the field and 26% from three. There were no lead changes in the second half, and Portland’s lead never dipped below 11 in the fourth quarter. That’s about as thorough of a win as any team can hope for, let alone a team on the wrong end of a six-game losing streak and facing probably the best defensive team in the league.

With All-Star reserve ballots already in before game-time, LaMarcus Aldridge couldn’t do much to further his chances of getting invited to Houston with his play on Wednesday. Too bad, since he was about as good against the Pacers as he’s been all season. LA led all scorers with 27 points, shooting a super efficient 12-of-17. There were stretches Wednesday night when LaMarcus couldn’t miss. In the second quarter, LA hit seven of his eight shots. His 14 points in the period were one less than the entire Pacer team scored over the same 12 minutes.

Wednesday wasn’t all LaMarcus though, as Pacers’ coach Frank Vogel was kind enough to mention after the game. If the second quarter belonged to LA, the second half was all Damian Lillard. Dame finished Wednesday with 20 points and eight assists, and 16 of those points and four of those assists came in the second half. Lillard didn’t make a three on the evening, and spent much of the night attacking the rim. The three is great, and it’s the weapon that separates Lillard from a few of his contemporaries, but if Dame can get to the rim on the regular basis, the way he was getting to the rim over and over and over on Wednesday, his ceiling goes way up.

There’s certainly a chance Portland won on Wednesday because they knew their backs were against the wall. With back-to-back games against the LA Clippers, a loss to the Pacers would have certainly meant a nine-game winning streak (I’d like to think Portland can take one of two off the Clips but I’m not sure it’s happening). Doubters will probably say that Wednesday win really doesn’t prove much. I don’t disagree, but if you look at how the Blazers beat the Pacers (the balanced box score, the bench contribution, and the execution on offense and defense) there are takeaways here more than just Portland getting a win when what they needed most was a win.

This might just be a win that can be built upon.

Portland starts their home-and-home against the Clippers on Saturday at the Rose Garden.

Couple of quick things about Portland’s bench.

• Will Barton racked up 20 minutes and 36 seconds of on-court time Wednesday. Will went 3-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line for eight points. Earlier in the season, Terry Stotts said of Barton that he’s never quit sure what he’s going to do on the court. It’s true that Barton is very raw, but you have to love his confidence. He wants to shoot the ball every time he touches it, and he has impact potential. However, as Mike Tokito tweeted, after a certain point, the returns on Will Barton begin to diminish. Oh, and Will Barton’s +18 was a game high.
• Meyers Leonard played 18 minutes, matched Will’s eight points, looked OK for stretches, and finished with five fouls and five rebounds. At one point in the first half, Meyers was pulled aside and given a talking to by Terry Stotts. Portland’s head coach had no comment on what he said to his rookie center, expect to say that he was yelling at Meyers all night. The theory around the press room was that Meyers was probably getting an earful after catching the ball under the hoop and not dunking it for the second time. Meyers had a big dunk in the second half, and contributed the final bucket that made the Portland faithful who stuck around for the final horn happy about Chalupas. All things considered, a pretty nice night for young Mr. Leonard.
• Luke Babbitt played one minute and 57 seconds and didn’t collect a single stat. In the parlance of insider basketball, that’s known as the trillion (a one followed by 12 zeros). Babbitt’s almost two trillion wasn’t anywhere near Will Barton’s 11 trillion against the Wizards though. Especially considering that Barton was a +6 without really doing anything.
• Nolan Smith played one minute and 16 seconds. The only two DNP-CDs went to Victor Claver and Joel Freeland. Freeland has been jumped in the rotation by Jared Jeffries. Jeffries played 10 solid minutes, helping to set the tone defensively for Portland.

Box Score

Standings

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

Jan. 23, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Indiana Pacers point guard George Hill (3) leans in on Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (0) during the first quarter of the game at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

George Hill versus Damian Lillard will be a match-up to watch. Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe you knew this, and maybe you didn’t, but the phrase “just when you thought it was safe…” is the tagline from Jaws 2. It’s meant to terrify movie-goers. “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..” JAWS AGAIN, this time only different.

It’s fitting, then, that the tagline for Wednesday’s match-up between the Blazers and the Indiana Pacers should be “Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Rose Garden…” Why would it be safe to watch the Blazers right now you may be asking. Well, they’ve lost six in a row, so they’re due for a win. That, and all of their most recent losses have come on or close to the last possession, and we know winning close games is mostly based on luck and luck has a tendency to change.

But wait…in three games, Portland has lost to two teams with 20 wins between them, and Wednesday they face the 26-win Pacers who gave LeBron James the night sweats in last season’s Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.  Just when you thought the Blazers were bound to turn it around…THE THIRD BEST TEAM IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE.

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

Pacers Starting 5: PG George Hill, SG Lance Stephenson, SF Paul George, PF David West, C Roy Hibbert

From a pure roster standpoint, Wednesday is a bit of a match-up nightmare for the Blazers. Portland has no center; Roy Hibbert is enormous and scores almost exclusively at the rim. LaMarcus Aldridge is playing great; David West is a bully who tends to beat up on LA when the play. Nicolas Batum is playing like an All-Star; Paul George probably is an All-Star. Wesley Matthews has been clutch and has been knocking down a lot ton of jump shots; Lance Stephenson is a big athletic guard who will give Wesley fits on both sides of the ball. Damian Lillard is Damian Lillard; George Hill is the kind of point guard who can, on a good day, eat Damian Lillard’s for breakfast.

The key for the Blazers will be keeping Hibbert from going off. That’s going to mean J.J. Hickson or LaMarcus Aldridge putting a body in big Roy and keeping him from catching the ball deep in the paint. It’s also going to mean Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews have to attack the rim and try to get Hibbert into foul trouble. Keeping Roy off the floor is the best plan of action, but stopping him is going to be equally important.

As for the back court match-up, Lillard and Matthews have to stay at least equal with Stephenson and Hill. There’s a good chance that Portland will get killed in the paint. If they get killed in both the front court and the back court, they won’t have much of a chance.

The match-up that might be able to swing this game will be Paul George versus Nicolas Batum. Both guys are playing great, and Wednesday could become a flat-out shoot out between the two small forwards. George attacks more than Nic does, so Batum will have to work hard to stay out of foul trouble. I have a feeling that Nicolas is going to be on a mission Wednesday night. Considering that he has disavowed his first career triple-double since it came in a loss, expect Nic to be fired up to an all-time high. I would guess the winner of George vs. Batum will dictate which team wins Wednesday night.

What to Watch For

• Will Portland’s bench be able to hang with Indy’s. There are no bench superstars on the Pacers, but there are bench guys who can have an impact. Tyler Hansbrough, Gerald Green, even Ian Manhinmi can have an impact against what the Blazers bring off the bench. I’m over thinking Portland’s reserves or going to win a game for the Blazers, but I still believe it’s possible for the home team’s bench to not lose a game.
• How into it will the fans be. The start to Monday’s game took me a little by surprise. The Rose Garden was empty. Chalk the slow arrival up to it being a holiday if you like (and I’ll give you that by the time Wesley Matthews hit a three to tie the game, the RG was loud), but the word is out that there might be better ways to spend a weekday evening than watching the Blazers. I’ll be the first to tell you that watching the Blazers is still fun, but it is true that watching them lose is no fun. Indiana is a top level team, but without a marquee star on their roster they aren’t much of a draw. We’ll see who shows up.
• Slow starts. We know how it goes. If Portland starts slow, they’re in trouble, if they don’t…you just never know.

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

March 13, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers center Louis Amundson (17) shoots the ball against Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeated Portland 92-75. Mandatory credit: Michael Hickey-US PRESSWIRE

More than anything, I think this run of terrible play from Portland has exposed what kind of Blazer fan I am. Watching Portland continually chuck up bricks, get beaten for loose balls, and give up on defensive possessions on their way to another embarrassing road loss, this time to the Indiana Pacers, I kept thinking, all this team needs is one guy to step up. Or maybe one stretch of solid defense and offense to get their heads in the game, and turn it around. I kept trying to convince myself that this season’s woes have been more about a couple of bad games, a couple of bad possessions, at not something more.

Clearly, that’s not the case. Tuesday showed yet again that there is something wrong with this team. Something more than just a couple of possessions with poor execution. Something more than opponents playing their best ball of the season. This team is broken. You can tell when they shoot 31% from the field while managing to get a grand total of 64 field goal attempts. You can tell when they give up layups on defensive possession that lack anything resembling defense. You can tell when a loose ball bounces through the lane with two seconds left on the shot clock, and ends up in the hands of Darren Collison for yet another easy lay-up.

The Blazers have 24 games remaining, which is quite a few, and three more on this road trip. They’ve got time to turn it around. They’ve got time to try and catch fire and make their fans believe they care. But if they continue to play like they’re already beaten by the second quarter, the chances that anything good will come from what remains of 2011-12 will continue to shrink.

Will a trade help? Maybe. Probably not. A trade might excise one of Portland’s many roster problems, but it probably won’t have much impact on the end of the season win total. Maybe it will have psychological impact. Maybe if guys know that bad play will get them shipped they’ll try to play better. I feel like that’s unlikely though. These guys know the NBA is a business, and they’re well trained not to take anything personally.

But onto the game, for however long I can take it. Tuesday’s game went a lot like many of Portland’s losses this season. One team cared. The other team didn’t. One team played like they couldn’t afford to lose. One team played like they had no idea how to win. Guess which one was the Blazers.

To be honest, Portland might want to hold on to this game tape if only to watch the Pacers and get an idea of what a team looks like when they’re clicking. Indiana was making jumpers, tracking loose balls, and getting maximum production out of their role players.

No Pacer maximized as much as Lou Amunds0n. The journeyman power forward had probably the game of his season, finishing with a game high 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Nobody really expected Lou to be the difference in this game, and to be honest he really wasn’t the difference, but when I mentioned in my preview that it would be role players that would win or lose this game, this is what I meant.

Nobody on Portland shot well Tuesday night, so it’s unfair to point to one guy and say he had more of a negative impact than any other. I will say this, though. There was a stretch in the first half when Danny Granger, Paul George, and David West were on the bench with foul trouble. The Blazers did nothing to take advantage during that time. Making the most of opportunities is how you win games on the road.

How do you not win games on the road? Shoot 20-of-64 from the field, 5-of-22 from three, and get out rebounded 50 to 38.

Portland heads to MSG on Wednesday for a date with the struggling New York Knicks. Any time would be a good time for the Blazers to pull out a big time win.

Just a couple things:

• Luke Babbitt led all Blazers in +/- with a nice +10. LaMarcus Aldridge was on the bottom end with a -18. Starting lineup change anybody?
• Marcus Camby left the game early on with an injured shoulder, playing only five and a half minutes. No tossing around of a third-string power forward Tuesday night. Bummer.
• The first big trade has apparently gone down sending Andrew Bogut to Golden State for Monta Ellis and others. Portland gets Milwaukee on the first game back in Portland.

Box Score

Standings

Always Miller Time

Email me: mike.acker1@gmail.com

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject