After going up by nearly 20 points early in the second quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers seemed to be on their way to a blowout. Instead, the Magic fought back and then some, but the Trail Blazers were able to turn it on late, per usual. They are now 29-8, and have their best record through the first 37 games of the season since 1999.
Recap
It was weird: the Trail Blazers were ripping and rolling, playing as comfortably as they have all year. There was nothing they weren’t getting within their offense… it really didn’t even look like they were trying, and they found themselves up 19 with seven minutes left in the first half. Meyers Leonard was going off, Nicolas Batum was blocking anything within a 50-foot radius, and the Magic were getting nothing outside of Nikola Vucevic (who had an incredible 34 and 16 on the night).
Then the Magic picked up their defense. As often happens when the other team gets in the Trail Blazers’ collective grill, things started getting a little sloppy. They couldn’t wing it around the perimeter anymore. The passing lanes narrowed. Within a span of nine minutes, the 19-point lead had vanished, and the Trail Blazers found themselves down four points early in the third quarter.
They would not lead by four points again until six minutes through the fourth quarter on a Damian Lillard three, and even then the Magic closed the gap again. A flurry of Trail Blazers baskets in the game’s final minutes demoralized the flagging Magic, and the Trai Blazers somehow pulled a double-digit win from their hat, 103-92.
Players
LaMarcus Aldridge might be impervious to slumps: he hasn’t scored under 20 points since Dec. 13, and (until tonight) hadn’t had fewer than 8 rebounds since a full month before that. His 25-6-3 line isn’t a bombshell for Portland’s franchise player, but it is cear that the offense still rotates around him.
Damian Lillard had “just” 16-5-5 with four turnovers, marking his second-straight game in which he’s finished shy of 20. Knowing Lillard, he will take every opportunity to make up for it when the Trail Blazers travel to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers tomorrow.
Wesley Matthews (who is closing in on history… read more below) went 4-6 from deep for his 18 points, but perhaps more importantly had eight rebounds, three assists, and four steals. He’s never had a line like that in his career (we checked), and while he wasn’t overwhelming in any one area, he seemed to be on all parts of the court in all moments of the game.
We should probably give up trying to figure out Nicolas Batum and just appreciate what he brings, when he brings it: tonight it was seven points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks, three of which came in the first half. He was a monster down low, playing the as-yet created “Small Center” position for the Blazers tonight. It was pretty cool to watch, but it’s not likely to work against many other lineups.
Chris Kaman had 10 points and two blocks in 20 minutes as a starter, but only three boards. Not great, not bad, but he was charged with fouls early and had to sit large portions of the game against Head Coach Terry Stotts’ usual rotation to prevent him from fouling out.
Meyers Leonard got the post-game interview for his big first half, finishing the game with 11 and six. He still makes some questionable plays on defense, like opting to bring his arms down on people when he’s defending the rim… but his offense is really coming alone. He had posted up on the right block, took a few dribbles, and turned to hook it over his shoulder, off the glass and in. It was a clean move, one we haven’t seen from him much, but it was encouraging.
Thomas Robinson had seven points in six first-half minutes, and I was surprised that he didn’t go back in at some point. The Trail Blazers could have used his energy. He also had a really nice lob early in the game, and a dunk on the following play. Jumpy jumpy.
Notes
- Matthews is just eight threes from holding the Portland Trail Blazers franchise record for threes made. Woo!
- The Trail Blazers have allowed 95 or fewer points 20 times so far this season. They only did that 19 times all last season.
- The Trail Blazers were not blocked all game. That’s happened three times this season so far. The last time they had three games in which they weren’t blocked was in 2008-09.
The Blazers get no rest as they travel to Los Angeles to face a now Kobe-fied Lakers team tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. PST.