My son and I attended the game today and I thought I would share some of my thoughts from Phillips Arena.

Arrived about an hour early but not early enough to see the Blazers work out.  Jack was the only one on the floor and he was getting quite a bit of play from the fans who fondly remember his Georgia Tech Days.  Kevin Pritchard was pounding away at his Blackberry (wouldn't you love to see some of those missives!).

Game under way and the starters looked like they had lead in their shoes.  Atlanta was very aggressive both on the defense and the offensive ends of the court thus the early lead.  We went to the zone defense late in the first and you could see it changing the course of the game.  Things still didn't look good for the good guys.

Second quarter was all about the reserves.  Travis hitting, Sergio driving and taking a page out of Roy's book, by being patient and taking what was given him, including shooting!  Jones was hitting, Channing looked better than he has in a few games and the zone defense confused Atlanta except for Tyronne Lue.   Balance restored at halftime with a Blazer lead.

Comparing the Atlanta crowd to ours really isn't a comparison.  I can't remember any extended cheers from the home crowd even when the Hawks were playing well.  All (and I mean All!) of the chants, cheers etc... were brought on by prodding from the Jumbtron operators.  Made me appreciate the Rose Garden even more.  Also the graphics in and around the arena were dismal compared to the Rose Garden.  Be very thankful of what we have, it is amazing!

Second half started just like the first.  The starters were half a step slow, Martell couldn't hit from the broad side of the barn and Lamarcus continued to be abused by Josh Smith.  I wonder if Lamarcus has hit the Rookie wall (I know he isn't a rookie, but he missed so many games last year and wasn't a factor in quite a few others).  Seeing Josh Smith in person is quite a treat.  He needs work on his shot, but he really got into Aldridge's head and blocked quite a few of his shots.  His hustle was great as well as evidenced by his 17 rebounds.

Martell found his stroke at the end of the third and we crept back into the game.

Fourth quarter and the white unit lead by Sergio (yes I said Sergio) took control of the game.  Roy was Mr. 4th quarter with some strong drives and the game was ours to take.  3:50 seconds to go and we are up 94-87 (I think) and the fans started to leave.  Yes they started to leave.  Even when we were up 100-96 they were still leaving.  This isn't a bad young team and they weren't playing that bad, yet they seemed to know their fate!  I didn't and was having Toronto flashbacks....Atlanta ties and we are in overtime.  

Travis takes over and we jump out quick.  The fans in front of me were amazed at Travis.  Super Trout to the rescue!  But then Josh Smith rebounds like a fiend, they pull ahead and it is back and forth.  When Travis got the ball, I was a bit surprised, but I knew he could do it (really I was thinking he would).  He did and we win!

Stayed after the game for a bit and my son was able to get Mike Barrett and Mike Rice's autograph.  Both were very gracious and commented on Sergio's strong game.  We thanked them and headed home with the sweet taste of victory guiding us through the nightmare of Atlanta traffic.  Another beautiful day!