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Lowe: Blazers Play Smart And Selfless In Win Over Thunder

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Zach Lowe of SI.com takes a look at the possibility that the Portland Trail Blazers could be contenders. He points to one play from Tuesday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder as being symbolic of the Blazers at their best. ----------------------------------- I especially enjoyed a moment with about 6:50 to go, when Matthews found himself isolated at the top of the arc against Nick Collison on a switch. Guards live for this moment — one-on-one against a slower big guy. Matthews waved away Nicolas Batum’s offer of a pick and appeared ready to attack – before noticing Aldridge had an even better mismatch against James Harden on the left block. Matthews immediately switched course and swung the ball to Wallace, who was calling for it on the left wing, because he had a better angle to toss an entry pass to Aldridge. Smart, selfless offense — the kind of offense you have to play when you lack a top-dog perimeter player. ----------------------------------- Lowe also points out a few statistical anomalies impacting Portland's 4-1 start: Portland is shooting far better than its opponents despite some unusual circumstances and the Blazers have cleaned the defensive glass at a rate not seen in recent memory. jukelike20 looked at a few of those numbers and more in this FanPost. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter