Morning Blazer: Portland beats the Spurs, begins challenging basketball week
This morning, we’re thinking about Damian Lillard’s nagging injuries, the Trail Blazers’ tough schedule ahead, and booing LaMarcus Aldridge.
Good morning, Rip City! Welcome to your Monday Morning Blazer, where we chat for a little while about our Portland Trail Blazers.
What’s going on? Ready for your first full work week of the New Year?
At least today is better than last Tuesday (the first work day after the holiday season), right?
Right …
Well, let’s get moving.
The Week Ahead for the Trail Blazers
Speaking of full work weeks, the Portland Trail Blazers have a hella one ahead of them. (And their work week really began Sunday night with a win against the San Antonio Spurs. More on that in a bit.)
Here’s what the Trail Blazers week looks like:
Tuesday at the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wednesday at the Houston Rockets.
Friday at the New Orleans Pelicans.
Sunday at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
For those of you keeping score, that’s five of the top eight teams in the Western Conference (including Sunday’s tilt against the Spurs) in one week.
Like I said: Hella.
Spurs vs. Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers beat the Spurs Sunday night in a hard-fought contest, 111-110. The difficulty in putting San Antonio away – despite the fact that they were missing four key players – is a testament to the Spurs system.
RCP contributor Jack Rieger took a deep dive into the “Gregg Popovich School of Basketball” and argues that the Trail Blazers should emulate that style. Check it out here.
Injuries
For the Trail Blazers, Lillard sat out with a calf strain; it’s the same leg as the hamstring issue that recently waylaid him for five games. Lillard says he thinks the calf and hamstring injuries could be related, which raises an obvious question: Should he have sat out more games than he did?
The Spurs played without Kawhi Leonard, Rudy Gay, Tony Parker and Danny Green.
The Blazers got solid minutes from Jusuf Nurkic, Maurice Harkless and Shabazz Napier. And CJ McCollum scored 25 points, including the eventual game winner.
LaBoooocus Booooridge
Will Rip City ever stop booing LaMarcus Aldridge? A lot of fans act like jilted lovers whenever he makes an appearance at the Moda Center.
There’s apparently something about Aldridge that makes him more boo-able than some other players, I guess. Lillard, for example, has also expressed a desire to stay in Portland. Will fans boo him if he ever decides to seek his fortunes elsewhere? I doubt it.
I wish Aldridge was still a Portland Trail Blazer, too. (He had 30 points and 14 rebounds Sunday against his old team, by the way.) But I don’t boo him; I think people have a right to change their minds.
I also think people have the right to boo, and I don’t get upset by people booing Aldridge. But I agree with the person whose voice you hear at the end of that Pinwheel Empire video linked above: Get over it.
Get Over It, Rip City
Things athletes say in interviews are not etched in stone, and sports fans should probably stop pretending they are.
Furthermore, players don’t owe NBA fans anything other than max effort on the court. And Aldridge always gave the Trail Blazers that.
Next: Trail Blazers finish game strong, beat the Spurs 111-110
Still, Portland fans – boo birds or not – did have something to feel satisfied about in Sunday’s game: Not only did the Trail Blazers win, but Aldridge missed the final shot, which would have given the Spurs the victory had it gone in.
Winning makes everything better.