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The Blazers were led by Damian Lillard, but the majority of his points came from free throws. Over half the Blazer shot attempts were three-pointers, and they made just over 25% of them. It was that kind of night.
Greg Oden started for the Heat tonight, playing on the same court as the Blazers for the first time since his career-altering December 2009 knee injury.
First Half: The Blazers had 7 turnovers (all via Miami steals) vs. 1 for the Heat, so they'd seem to be in trouble. Doubly so when they missed the majority of their three-pointers. Only Miami continued their struggles offensively, and Portland hit enough shots to somehow keep a lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second, the Blazer bench out-shined Miami's to take a 6 point lead, but they continued to miss handfuls of three-pointers in a row, shooting 5-19 in the first half. Miami used the extra chances to take the lead in the final minute of the half. But on the bright side, there were all kinds of nifty dunks, including this one from Lillard:
Miami 46, Portland 42
Both teams playing D-league ball with the odd glimpse of allstar class. Anyone’s game [in the] second half.
by hellofromengland
Second Half: The Blazers came out of the locker room in "dumb mistake" mode, with stupid passes and dropped balls leading to repeated turnovers. When they did something right (fouling Oden, who missed two free throws), they allowed LeBron James an open lane for the tip in. When the Blazers weren't turning the ball over, they were missing more three-pointers, while Bosh hit two straight. An Oden dunk gave Miami a double-digit lead, forcing a Blazer timeout. Portland hit enough shots from there to hold the game to a standstill, with Miami leading by 11 after three.
Let's all gather at the airport the next time the Blazers come back to PDX, like when people do that after big playoff wins. Except this time, we’ll all be holding copies of the same sign: "DO NOT PLAY MEYERS LEONARD"
by Corwin71
In the fourth, Lillard, Matthews and the Blazer bench stunk out loud, and Miami jumped ahead by 17 in two minutes. Portland made the obligatory push, using a few Miami mistakes to slowly chip away at the lead through the rest of the quarter. A Batum fadeaway three cut the Miami lead to 2 with 44 seconds left. The Blazers stole the ball on the next Miami possession, and Mo Williams was fouled. He hit both to tie the game with 30 seconds left.
LOL. This team wants to make sure the fans suffer as much as possible when we finally lose
by DP0
You guessed it, LeBron hit a layup to win the game, while the Heat blocked Lillard's attempt at the other end.
Portland is left hoping for a bounce-back game tomorrow night after another rough night.
What's Next:
The Blazers head up the Florida Turnpike to Orlando, where they play the Magic tomorrow night. But in the meantime, stay tuned for Dave's extended analysis of tonight's game.
Gameday Thread Comments of the Night:
Thanks to everyone who participated in tonight's Gameday Thread! As always, here are the most popular comments, based on the number of Rec's from their fellow fans: