9.) Christmas Miracle
The Blazers came into this game 12-20. Despite the back to back, Cleveland came into Portland on the heels of an emotional loss to Golden State, with all of America assuming that they would take their frustrations out on a young Portland team struggling to find their identity. Also going against Portland, a five game losing streak and no Lillard. So yeah, Portland fans weren’t looking forward to this game.
Instead, Allen Crabbe turned in a career night and the Blazers rolled to one of their best wins of the season. Not only did Crabbe and the rest of the offense explode to a 34-12 first quarter, the Blazers’ defense held Lebron James to his lowest point total of the season, and held the Cavaliers to 76 total points.
In a game that saw Portland dominate without their leader, it truly was a testament to the hard work put in by all of the unproven role players that would become so important later. Every starter for Portland registered a +24 or higher against one of the best starting lineups in the game today. The best part, our starters had a combined 60 starts last year out of a possible 410..
8.) Champs or Chumps?
In another blowout that no one saw coming, Golden State came into Portland fresh after sending three of their players to the All-Star game. On the other hand, the Blazers had a week to think about the NBA’s disrespect towards their leader and eventual All-NBA second team selection (more on this later). So needless to say, despite the surprise of the outcome, it makes sense when you think about how cocky Golden State was in comparison to how pissed off the Trail Blazers were.
So what did Portland do? Forced 20 turnovers, turned in a 36-17 third quarter and held Golden State to 39.1% from the field. Oh, and Lillard dropped a career high 51 points against the MVP Stephen Curry.
This game was significant not only because it was one of the only regular season losses for the Warriors, but because of all of the drama that surrounded All-Star weekend in terms of Lillard. The resilience shown by the young kid from Oakland was astounding. Think about it, not only did he drop his career game against the best team and the best player, but he did it after the world (once again) told him he wasn’t good enough. What else does this guy have to do to earn respect?
Next: Moments 7 & 6