LaMarcus Aldridge battles Carl Landry on one of the more forgettable nights at the Rose Garden. Photo courtesy of the AP.

You kind of had to see this one coming. Portland has dragged themselves out of the gate now four nights in a row, and for three of those four nights they’ve been able to get hot for just long enough to win. The Blazers have had the advantage of playing bad teams, and although they came into Monday’s contest winners of five straight, they haven’t played all that well over the month of January. It seemed inevitable that one of these nights Portland would spend too much time trying to get going, and end up losing to a bad team that gets hot and sees opportunity. The lucky team was the Kings, but it could have very easily been the Pacers or the Clippers before them.

Here’s basically what happened with Portland. The Blazers set the throttle to cruise control, or maybe idle, and just hoped that Sacramento would do enough wrong over the course of 48 minutes that they wouldn’t win. Here’ what happened with Sacramento. They came out and played hard, though not remarkably well, and they made all the big plays down the stretch. In the last two come-from-behind affairs at the Rose Garden,it’s been Portland coming up with the big shots and the big stops. Monday, the Blazers looked sloppy handling the ball, inefficient getting hoops late in the fourth, and absolutely uninterested on defense. It’s not the end of the world, losing at home to a nine-win team, but it isn’t really something you love to see, especially given that the last game in January and the first game in February are against two of the best teams in the league.

There were a few positive takeaways from Monday’s loss, and I’ll start with those. Andre Miller played a nice game, coming back from a stomach ailment that apparently landed him in the hospital. Dre scored 18 and handed out five assists. When Portland was still in the game, right at the beginning of the fourth quarter, it looked like Andre might be able to lead the charge. He blew by rookie power forward DaMarcus Cousins for a layup that cut the deficit to four with eight minutes to play, the sixth point of an eight-point burst from Miller, but in the end Andre’s play wasn’t quit enough. When Cousins was replaced by Samuel Dalembert, who did a great job on LaMarcus Aldridge and just guarding the rim in general, all Blazer action at the rim stopped. Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum also played pretty well considering the games ultimate outcome. Matthews looked good shooting and going to the hoop, finishing with 21 points, and Nicolas provided a good all-around effort, scoring 16 and pulling down nine rebounds. The nights Wesley and Nicolas had were both good and bad though. Good because they are both showing increased consistency. Bad because it showed that although the Blazers need those guys to show up in order to win, the combination of a good night from Nic and a good night from Wesley doesn’t necessarily mean a victory for Portland.

Which brings me to the negative from Monday night. LaMarcus Aldridge. I hate to say that, seeing as LA has really been showing up lately, but Monday he wasn’t there. Not even old LaMarcus showed up. After the game he was asked if getting all the attention lately, especially the Western Conference Player of the Week honors, has finally gotten to him. LA said no, it hadn’t, and let’s all hope that he was telling the truth. I can take an off night from LA, especially given the way he was defended by Samuel Dalembert, but it’s a really bad thing if LaMarcus is about to get in his own head about getting national recognition. He needs to play at a high level every night, and he’s begun to achieve that. Now he needs to learn if he can perform on a high level while being recognized for performing at a high level. He’s got two big tests coming up. He bettered both of the young power forwards that were looking to jump him for dominance in the Western Conference, in case you forgot I’m talking about Kevin Love and Blake Griffin, but coming into Portland over the next week and change are two of the best power forwards ever. Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett helped to define the four position, in such a way that a player like LaMarcus Aldridge probably doesn’t exist without them. If LA wants to get into the All-Star game, and the player of the week honors makes that outcome seem more and more likely, good performances against Duncan and KG are a must. Good performances against those guys become even more important if LA is suddenly having to deal with confidence issues.

Other than LaMarcus, there was plenty of awful play from the Blazers to go around. Here’s just a taste. Rudy Fernandez: 1-of-10 from the field, 0-of-7 from three, three turnovers, 2 points, 25 minutes. Team turnovers: 17. Points in the fourth quarter: 16. Bench points: 15 (in comparison, the Kings’ Carl Landry came off the bench and scored 16 points). Shooting percentages: 35% from the field, 33% from three. King’s shooting percentage: 50% from the field, 56& from three. You get the point, right? Too many Blazers played poorly, canceling out the work of the few that played well.

So that brings me to this final thought. Portland’s five-game win streak put them five games over .500. Thursday the Boston Celtics come to Portland, owners of league’s second best record at 33-10, and then next Tuesday the San Antonio Spurs hit the Rose City, owners of the league’s best record at 37-7. Portland then goes on the road to face the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. If the best case scenario is Portland gets a split in their next two home games, then wins the games they should on the road, Cleveland and Indiana, that’s a push, still five games over .500. If, however, they can’t overcome Monday’s loss in time to get one of two at home, and then lose more than one on the road, Portland is looking at .500 once again.

I guess what I’m trying to say, in a roundabout fashion, is that Monday’s loss means something. If Portland wants to make any headway in the second half of the season they have to win games against bad teams. If they lose games against bad teams, they have to move on in a hurry.

One quick thought:

• Michael Jordan was in the house Monday night, no doubt in town for something Nike related, and when he was shown on the big screen the Rose Garden crowd gave him a huge ovation.

Box Score

Standings

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject

Nicolas Batum's play helped lift Portland over the Kings in Sacramento. Hopefully Nicolas will continue his offensive excellence in the with Marcus Camby out for the forseeable future. Photo courtesy of the AP.

I’m going to try and keep my post game reaction short tonight. There really isn’t a whole lot to take away from Wednesday’s win in Sacramento. I could chastise the Blazers for playing down to an inferior opponent, which they did. Or I could congratulate Portland for absorbing yet another tremendous blow handed down by the the fates of basketball and gutting out an important win, which they also did. I feel like those two modes have been all but done to death. Instead, here’s what I’ll do, I’ll look at what happened in Wednesday’s game, and try to give an assessment of what it all means going forward now that the Blazers are going to be missing yet another major component.

Let’s start with LaMarcus Aldridge. Losing Marcus Camby takes away the every present and dangerous high-low combination, and Wednesday night LA was having to work hard to get his shots, harder than he has to work when he’s got a seven-footer lobbing him passes at the rim. LaMarcus was hounded all night by the ageless Samuel Dalembert, but did manage to net an impressive 23 points. What LA seems to know, and what is becoming more and more obvious, is that he is going to be the only consistent option on offense. That means he’s going to have to keep working, regardless of whether his shots are falling or not. Wednesday, for the most part, his jump hook across the center of the lane left him. He kept at it though, and scored some very important buckets down the stretch. One thing LA needs to work on going forward is identifying who is guarding him, and switching up accordingly. Against the T-Wolves there wasn’t a guy on the opposing team that could guard LA in the post, and he killed them for it. Wednesday, Sacramento’s bigs were not leaving the paint on defense. A few more jumpers from LaMarcus would have opened up the lane nicely.

Moving on. Nicolas Batum had a great night. Portland could really use Nic to start rolling on offense. He looked great coming around picks and slashing to the hoop. If Nic can get his consistency up from the three-point line he might be the best bet for a second offensive option. Camby going down has an impact on Nic too, leaving him as the only real shot blocker the Blazers have. Nicolas and all of the Blazers need to work on their help defense. It didn’t happen often, but there were a few times when a player would come to help, leaving their man uncovered, and it ended up in an easy hoop. If an inexperienced team like the Kings can make that extra pass and get those easy buckets, imagine what a good team could do. Back to Nicolas. He finished with a team-high 24 points, which was also a season high, and provided a ton of energy and a pivotal rebound in the overtime period.

Another Blazer that looked good on Wednesday, and one that will continue to be a HUGE part of the offense, was Andre Miller. Dre is now the only elder statesman on the court for Portland, and his leadership skills are needed more than ever. Wednesday Andre led by example, providing huge buckets and a calming effect every time the Blazers need one or both of those things. The key to victory Wednesday was playing within an offensive set when the Kings were hellbent on turning the game into a free-for-all. Andre is as cool as they come, and Portland will continue to need that calming reserve as more and more teams try to break them from their rhythm.

Rudy Fernandez was key yet again, providing energy off the bench. Rudy ran himself ragged at the end of the game, and his effort yielded at least one game-saver. Portland needs Rudy now more than ever, good thing he’s till around.

Ok, I’ve covered the basic positive aspects of Portland’s performance Wednesday night. Now on to the few things that didn’t work so well. Wesley Matthews, Dante Cunningham, and Patty Mills didn’t contribute. I know it seems odd to say that three guys not contributing could be the difference between a win and a loss, but at this moment, three guys falling flat is more than Portland can afford. DC starting attacking early but then stopped, Wesley Matthews was ice cold, and Patty Mills didn’t really play enough minutes to be effective. Wesley contributed on defense, and brought energy in the overtime period, but he needs to really try and limit his off-nights on offense. DC and Patty need to work on being consistent. For every Blazer, even Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson, this is a time to show what they’re made of. There are going to be plenty of minutes to go around, and Portland can not afford to have guys out on the court that aren’t contributing.

Taking a look now at Portland’s depleted roster and the box score from Wednesday night, it’s hard to feel anything but relief that the Blazers leave Sacramento with a win. Losing Marcus Camby doesn’t mean the season’s over, just like losing all those other guys over the last two seasons didn’t either. Portland is now super thin at the middle, as they have been all year, and is without one of their most valuable and vocal leaders. The Blazers will go on, and if that means the second half of the season is full of gut-wrenching overtime victories, and wire-to-wire slug fests, then so be it.

Portland returns to the Rose Garden to take on the LA Clippers Thursday night. Love vs. Aldridge wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Aldridge vs. Griffin likely will be.

One quick though before wrapping it all up:

• Joel Przybilla will be the immediate beneficiary of Marcus Camby’s newly vacated minutes. Joel is on the comeback, and being on the court will likely speed up the recovery process. Pregame the talk was that Joel could expect to see the court for in the neighborhood of 20 minutes. He nearly hit the 30-minute mark. Joel collected 11 rebounds and didn’t score a point. Considering what he’s been through, his performance was pretty excellent Wednesday night. Joel’s offense is atrocious, but with more reps he’ll likely begin to fell more comfortable with the ball in his hands. One thing that everybody saw Joel do, that won’t make a stat sheet anywhere, was completely take DeMarcus Cousins out of the game. Cousins started yapping at Joel in the second half, and Joel got in his head, ending any effectiveness the rookie may have had. Cousins, who is volatile and a bit of a wild card, finished with five points, and was on the bench at the end of regulation and into overtime.

Box Score

Standings

Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject