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The Blazers spread the scoring around evenly tonight, with Nicolas Batum (14 points, 18 rebounds), Mo Williams (15 points, 5 assists), Damian Lillard (12 points, 6 assists), Robin Lopez (12 points) and LaMarcus Aldridge (10 points) all scoring in double figures.
First Half: Terrible, terrible, terrible. And finally, I'm not talking about the Blazers! The Hawks did their impression of the Sixers by having little offense to speak of, hitting 25% of their shots and 14% of their three-pointers. Without Paul Millsap and Al Horford, they were weak in the middle, and Batum pulled down 13 rebounds in the half. The Blazers didn't look like world-beaters in this game either, but they showed enough energy, and hit enough three-pointers, to comfortably settle into the driver's seat.
Portland 56, Atlanta 38
I don't even think we're playing all that well. Atlanta was just that bad in the first half
by axel360
Third Quarter: Atlanta tried to make a quick run to make it a game, but before they could catch their breath, the Blazers took over. When Batum and Lillard hit three pointers, the lead reached 22 and Atlanta called timeout. The rest of the quarter followed a very similar pattern, and as the Blazer bench arrived, a late run punctuated by a CJ McCollum bank shot gave Portland their biggest lead of the night.
Portland 79, Atlanta 55
Would it really have been THAT hard to do this to the Lakers?
by RipCityLifer!
Fourth Quarter: Bring in the benches, as Will Barton and McCollum hit nice shots to prevent the Hawks from thinking about a comeback. Soon, Meyers Leonard got into the dunk with a dunk, Victor Claver got into the action, and everyone on the East Coast continued to snore. The Blazers picked up an expected win before their schedule suddenly gets much tougher.
Oh, and Kyle Korver's 127-game three-pointer streak ended. He seemed ok with it.
With 4 minutes left, it does not appear that Kyle Korver will get back into the game, ending his streak at 127. pic.twitter.com/tMWsglVpN1
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 6, 2014
What's Next:
The road trip begins. The Blazers fly to Dallas tomorrow for a Friday night game.
Tonight, Dave will have more analysis later, and stay tuned overnight for Ben's Media Row Report.
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: