FanPost

STOP THE PRESSES! Game 68 (Atl) Overreactions

PORTLAND ALWAYS ALMOST ALWAYS COUGHS UP THEIR BIG LEADS

True, until today. One of the recurring themes of this season has been the Blazers' failure to hold onto or build on leads. They have been a human demonstration of physics: for each action (a lead) there has been an equal and opposite reaction (blown lead). This has been true against good teams and weak sisters. When Portland has had a great first half you KNOW that there will be a stinker of a 3rd quarter.

When the Blazers followed up on their surprising win over the Spurs by blowing the doors off the Hawks in the first quarter (40-18) everyone KNEW what to expect. And Atlanta did make some headway early in the 2nd. That happens in almost every NBA game. The difference this time is that Portland pushed back and still had a 17 point lead at the half. The Hawks DID shave off another 5 points in by the end of the 3rd quarter, but they didn't ever come close to getting back in this game. For one of the few times this year Portland held a large lead throughout the game. On the road. Versus a play-off team. Oh wondrous days!

PORTLAND'S ROLES AND ROTATIONS ARE SET

False. Obviously factor #1 was Evan Turner returning from injury. The roster is now intact for the stretch run. But roles are still being sorted out.

One of the key factors today was the return of scoring from the forwards: Vonleh had has 2nd straight top-notch performance with his 10-11 double/double. Harkless added an efficient 12 points on 5-7 shooting, and Aminu added 8 more. Finally we saw some offensive contributions from the forwards. Vonleh's progression from token starter to productive player has coincided with 2 huge wins and speaks well for the future. Leonard may be the odd man out on minutes.

Turner obviously wiped out Napier's PT. Evan can be excused his 1-9 shooting as rust; he did chip in 8 rebounds and 3 assists. At this point of the year the message from Stotts is clear: IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO PLAY MINUTES. IF YOU WANT TO KEEP PLAYING THEN YOU BETTER PRODUCE.

NURKIC WATCH

Obvious this is a different Dwight Howard than we are used to. He is averaging 13 and 13 per game. Dwight is the type of guy who has just over-powered Portland in the past. Howard was productive (14, 10 and 3, with 5 steals as well) but he was not dominant. Jusuf nearly matched, with 12, 9 and 6, with 5 huge blocks. For Nurkic to match a physically dominant veteran is a huge step in his development. This is the big guy's 3rd game with 5 or more blocks in his short Blazer career. Portland's soft underbelly has gotten a lot tougher.

FINAL GRADE: The race for 8th is heating up. Neither Portland nor Denver is going to back into a play-off spot. The Nuggets are within 2 games of .500 before tonight's game with Houston. Portland is now 3-1 on this road trip, setting themselves up for a big run with the home games coming up. I loved Dame's impact on this game. He scored to get the team going. He got some assists as the teams held serve in the 3rd, then he scored again in the 4th when Portland put the game away. Rather than forcing shots throughout the game, he allowed this to be a balanced attack. One of the reasons Chris Paul is considered the top point guard in the game is his knowledge of when to attack and when to get others involved. Dame will never have Paul's defensive impact on the game, but this team will be its best when their are lots of weapons. For the 2nd night in a row - A+