All good things must come to an end, and the Portland Trail Blazers had their 9-game winning streak snapped at home by a well-oiled Memphis Grizzlies team by a final margin of 112-99. The Blazers fall to 12-4 on the year.
Recap
After a number of recent slow starts, the Trail Blazers came out of the gates spitting hot fire. All five starters had scored and were shooting 63% collectively before the fans even had time to buckle in, and a 15-6 deficit forced Memphis to call time.
While the Grizzlies were trying to get their jabs in by feeding Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, the Trail Blazers were sharing the ball, darting around, setting screens, and finding creases in the defense so small that you’d miss them if you blinked. But the Trail Blazers’ 12-point lead was trimmed to six. Terry Stotts called a timeout of his own. Suddenly, the Trail Blazers’ basket had a lid on it, as great offensive rebounds and multiple chances at the rim didn’t lead to any points. After some bricks, a shot clock violation, and a Wesley Matthews airball, the Trail Blazers had just a 25-23 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter started with the benches going at each other, including a kerfuffle between Steve Blake and Kostas Koufos that led to offsetting technicals. The Trail Blazers’ free-wheeling offense ground to a halt, the game’s pace starting to favor the Grizzlies. The Trail Blazers, led by Matthews, sensed that pushing the pace might be in their best interests, but the Grizzlies were having none of it.
Midway through the quarter and with Damian Lillard struggling, Memphis was up 38-35 and Stotts had to call time again. Unfortunately, not a whole lot changed. While Portland was putting the effort in on defense, Memphis’ backcourt was able to get past Portland’s and penetrate enough to disrupt the Trail Blazers’ and kick it to an open man. Unlike the Trail Blazers, the Grizzlies shots were falling. Despite an incredible fast break behind-the-back pass from Lillard to LaMarcus Aldridge, Memphis went on a run right at the end of the half. The Trail Blazers slumped into halftime shooting just 38% to Memphis’ 55%. Portland faced a 52-43 deficit, and to put a sad but comical end to a poor 2nd quarter as Robin Lopez and Aldridge slammed into each other trying to secure an offensive rebound.
With the Trail Blazers shooting just 2-12 from deep in the first half, you knew they needed to start hitting some threes if they were going to pull this game back, if not for the points than simply for the threat. Nicolas Batum did indeed lead with a three to start the quarter, but it was long, and the Grizzlies went up double-digits on the other end. Things weren’t looking so hot as the Trail Blazers gave up consecutive turnovers, and even a Matthews three (finally!) couldn’t make much of a dent… wait, another turnover? Really? And with the crowd in stunned silence, the Trail Blazers were down 65-50. The quarter wasn’t even half over.
As if summoned by pure force of will and desperation, the Trail Blazers finally found their stroke from distance, and Matthews’ third three of the quarter cut the once-daunting lead to just seven… but three more misses right at the rim on three consecutive possessions punished Portland, and the Memphis lead was pushed once again to double-digits. There is nothing more discouraging than clawing back over a few minutes, only to have it turned right back twice as quickly. The third quarter ended with the Trail Blazers down 83-70, and struggling to find a way forward.
Matthews snapped a three to start the fourth quarter, but the Trail Blazers got two quick fouls within 30 seconds. Memphis answered with two buckets of their own. Down 87-73 with 10 minutes to go, things looked pretty grim. Of course, Goonies never say die and neither do the Trail Blazers. Chris Kaman‘s gamelong aggression paid off in the form of a bucket and an and-one that trimmed the lead to single digits. Yet ANOTHER Matthews three got it to 89-83, Kaman had a pair of blocks on the other end and a Kaman/Lillard pick and roll trimmed it to just four points as the Trail Blazers were on a 10-0 run.
The Grizzlies, as expected, punched back, and were the beneficiary of a pair of questionable calls, but more missed Trail Blazers shots right at the rim were heartbreakers, and the lead puffed back to nine with six minutes to go. With more missed shots and a rare missed free throw from Lillard, nothing about the Trail Blazers’ offense exuded confidence. Kaman fouled out with 3:30 to go after a heroic game. It would have taken some kind of miracle to get the win, and the Moda Center was fresh out of pixie dust. The Trail Blazers resigned to their fate, and sagged their way back to the locker room with a 112-99 loss and their first loss in nearly three weeks.
Players
Damian Lillard struggled early, but turned it on a little as the game progressed. But he also missed two free throws, an indicator of how out of sync the Trail Blazers were offensively, and was just 1-6 from three en route to 20 points, nine assists, four boards, and three steals.
LaMarcus Aldridge didn’t look like his usual dominant self. Not all that surprising given how well Memphis plays team defense. He had 19-10-2 with two blocks and two steals, but needed 19 shots to get there.
Wesley Matthews sparked a key third-quarter run that pulled Portland back into the game and maybe prevented a blowout. He was absolutely scorching from distance, hitting 7 of his 12 threes. He finished with 26-4-3. Another excellent night from Matthews.
Nicolas Batum faded into the background. His three-point struggles continued (0-5), and he is now shooting 26.0 percent on the season. Six points and four boards sums up his difficulties.
Robin Lopez fended off the Grizzlies on rebounds, but wasn’t able to help in many other ways. Six points and seven rebounds with no blocks.
Chris Kaman‘s aggression led to some buckets early in the fourth when the Trail Blazers needed something, anything. He also had some timely blocks that were most welcome, and by the time he fouled out he had become the hero of the game. 16 and 11 with two blocks doesn’t even tell the tale of how much he was impacting the game.
Notes
- The Trail Blazers were brought back down to earth after a 9-game winning streak against the best team in the NBA. Nothing wrong with that.
- Matthews went 7-12 from three. The rest of the Trail Blazers? 1-16. Yowza.
- The Trail Blazers needed a whooping to remind them that if they want to be an elite team, they need to stay competitive against other elite teams. The game felt further away than the score ever indicated.
The Trail Blazers go back to playing crummy teams when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves this Sunday Nov. 30 at 6:00 p.m. PST.