Blazer's Edge - OKC 87, Portland 83: Complete CoverageThe ultimate coverage and analysis of the Portland Trail Blazershttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47543/blazersedge-fave.png2013-01-14T02:31:21-08:00http://www.blazersedge.com/rss/stream/36376292013-01-14T02:31:21-08:002013-01-14T02:31:21-08:00Media Row Report: Thunder 87, Blazers 83
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<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 87-83, at the Rose Garden on Sunday night, dropping Portland's record to 20-17.</p> <p>The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 87-83, at the Rose Garden on Sunday night, dropping Portland's record to 20-17.</p>
<p>The Blazers have breathed more than their fair share of sighs of relief over the last six weeks, pulling out overtime victories and last-minute wins in all forms and fashion. On Sunday, the Thunder, playing without starters Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefalosha, played the "just happy to get out of there" role after a disjointed game in which only Kevin Durant, who finished with 33 points, six assists, four rebounds and two blocks on 12-for-21 shooting, and seldom-used DeAndre Liggins provided any consistent offensive success.</p>
<p>The NBA's three-time scoring champion was all smiles after Damian Lillard missed two late threes, after Nicolas Batum missed a lay-up with nine seconds remaining that would have given Portland a one-point lead, and after LaMarcus Aldridge air-balled a contested 19-footer with three seconds left that would have tied the game. Smiles because the Thunder got a tough road win without two key rotation players. Smiles, too, because Lillard was standing and watching on the weakside on the game's deciding possession rather than working one-on-one towards a game-winner as <a target="_blank" href="http://www.blazersedge.com/2012/12/16/3775334/video-blazers-g-damian-lillard-hits-last-second-game-winner">he did against the New Orleans Hornets back in December</a>.</p>
<p>"Glad that Lillard didn't shoot that three at the end," Durant told Blazersedge. "He's such a big-game player."</p>
<p>His words were meant as a note of appreciation for Lillard's late-game heroics this season and they were generous on a night in which the Blazers rookie shot just three-for-14, including the two missed threes in the game's final 90 seconds. While not intended as an insult to Aldridge, who had his best game of the season spoiled with his errant, rushed left angle jumper over Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, Durant's words hinted at the general consensus that the Blazers couldn't have done much worse on the game-deciding play.</p>
<p>"I thought it was good and it was bad," Aldridge said of his late miss, after finishing with 33 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. "Bad shot by me. I have to be better.... I thought I was still out further. I was closer. I just missed it. It felt good when it left my hands but it definitely wasn't good when I shot it."</p>
<p>There are plenty of ways to lose a close game but none sucks the air out of a home crowd quite like a badly-missed shot that was rebounded with more than three seconds remaining on the clock. Fans looked left and right. What was that? Really? Aldridge was the play's third option, according to Blazers coach Terry Stotts, after a cutting Wesley Matthews and a curling Batum.</p>
<p>"There were three options," Stotts said. "Nic was setting a back screen on Wes, so you had that option. Nic was coming for a hand back to an open court. We didn't get the hand back. If the hand back wasn't there, L.A. was going to drive. There were three options on the play and they defended it well."</p>
<p>Aldridge didn't drive, though. After Durant disrupted the potential hand-off, leading Aldridge to conclude that a pass would be too risky, the Blazers All-Star forward took two dribbles to his left and launched a stepback.</p>
<p>"KD kind of jumped the play, so I had to throw the ball further away from where we wanted to catch it," Matthews, who inbounded to Aldridge, said. "That kind of put a little halt. We still got a shot, our All-Star got a shot off."</p>
<p>"That's tough for him," Batum said of Aldridge's aborted hand off. "You have to be sure 100 percent, because if a guy tips the ball, then it's over. That's up to him. I told him, if he didn't feel it, don't do it. We talked about it together on this play, on the hand off. If you don't feel it, don't pass it."</p>
<p>With the ball and the game now in Aldridge's hands, Perkins overplayed his right hand, showing him hard to his left. Aldridge went that way, saying afterwards that he wasn't comfortable doing so and that he wished he could have it back.</p>
<p>"I don't go left often, that's not me," he said. "I took one dribble. I missed it.... When I miss it, I say just learn from it next time. Force myself to go right. He had played me left. Maybe next time jab him left and go right."</p>
<p>Aldridge is shooting 41 percent on mid-range shots this season, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nba.com/advancedstats/player.html#LaMarcus-Aldridge%7C200746;year=201213;season=r">according to</a> <b>NBA.com</b>, but the final sequence felt doomed early. Aldridge was rushing and not milking the clock correctly. He wasn't comfortable with his location on the court or the options available to him. Ultimately, he was content to be pushed where he didn't want to go and where lower-percentage chances awaited.</p>
<p>This wasn't Portland's finest end-of-game hour, but Stotts nevertheless defended Aldridge's thought process. "Kendrick Perkins did a nice job," he said. "It's easy to say that [Aldridge should have driven] in retrospect. They pushed the catch out past the three point line. He probably lost a little track of the time. I'm not going to criticize our guys. They played their asses off."</p>
<p>Thunder coach Scott Brooks joined in the praise of Perkins' defense on the last play: "As good as you can do. I thought he had that type of [defense] throughout the game. L.A. is one of the best shot-makers at that spot. He shoots such a high release and he's 7-foot-1. He's so hard to guard."</p>
<p>In one respect, it was nice to see Aldridge actively involved in a final play, given that he's often served as one of the four non-participants when the Blazers go one-four flat for Lillard or watched as Batum was handed the car keys. At the same time, he handled the moment like a player with far less experience than he's accrued during his career.</p>
<p>"That's not my decision," Aldridge said of Portland's regularly alternating crunch time pecking order this year. "The play tonight was made for Nic and if he wasn't open, I'd make the play. He wasn't open, I made the play. I didn't make it."</p>
<p>"He had thirty-something points," Brooks said of the Blazers turning to Aldridge. "Terry knows his team and they've done a great job at the start of the year. They're doing as well as anybody at home. That's a no-brainer."</p>
<p>Aldridge's night nicely mixed interior play with the jumpers that he's relied on more often this year. When the Blazers went ice cold in the third quarter, he was the only Portland player to make a field goal in a nine-plus minute long stretch. "He was hitting some tough ones, some tough shots," Durant said. "LaMarcus Aldridge is an All-Star. He's going to make those shots."</p>
<div>Remarkably, Aldridge shot 15-for-26 while his teammates combined to shoot just 16-for-60. There wasn't a live shot to be found anywhere on the perimeter, as Batum shot six-for-17, Matthews went two-for-eight and Portland's bench combined to shoot three-for-14.</div>
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<p>"I have to carry the ball a lot on offense for 40 minutes and then on the other end I have to carry it on that end," Batum, who played nearly 44 minutes, admitted. "I was very, very tired. The fourth quarter I was very tired."</p>
<p>The Blazers played their best stretch of basketball in that fourth period, though, going small to match-up with the Thunder's preferred smaller lineup. Out went J.J. Hickson, who had no one to guard and who wasn't playing well enough on offense to risk the mismatch, and in came Sasha Pavlovic to match up on Kevin Martin. Pavlovic managed just one missed shot and one rebound in 13-plus minutes but Martin wasn't any better, scoring four points on one-for-eight shooting in 33 minutes. With the wings staging a brick off and Russell Westbrook struggling to a five-for-21 night, this boiled down to a bit of a shootout between Aldridge and Durant.</p>
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<p>"KD, you can't block his shot," Batum lamented. "You can't. You don't know what he's going to do. You know he's going to shoot. You don't know how he's going to shoot, which way he's going to go. LeBron [James], he tries to pass the ball first. KD, you don't know if he's going to shoot a three, go left, go right. He's 6-foot-11. He's taller than L.A. You can't really block his shot, you have to make him work. He's a great player."</p>
<p>Durant's improved handle was on display throughout, as he expertly created space going both left and right, getting into the paint regularly and using his herky-jerky style to get to the free throw line. That handle deserted him in the game's final 30 seconds, though, and he narrowly avoided calamity on a wild exchange thanks to Perkins.</p>
<p>After Matthews stripped him cleanly and Batum cashed in a three to cut the Thunder's lead to one with 21 seconds remaining, Durant expected a forced foul call in the backcourt, which didn't come. Trying to avoid a turnover, he threw an ill-advised pass to Westbrook, who in turn expected a forced foul call, which also didn't come. Both Durant and Westbrook said diplomatically afterwards they would go back to review the tape to see exactly what had happened, but that they expected the foul call to be made by the referees because the shot clock was turned off and the Thunder were still up one.</p>
<p>Amid that confusion, Batum wound up with the loose ball, attacking the basket instinctively, even though he too thought play would be stopped by a whistle.</p>
<p>"We had the steal," Batum said. <span style="line-height: 9px;">"</span>I don't know if I should have attacked or [kept] the ball. [I decided to] try to go, try to draw the foul. I was kind of surprised because I thought they called a foul [on Lillard]. They stopped playing for one or two seconds."</p>
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<div>Batum's foray to the rim resulted in a missed lay-up that he, like Aldridge on the jumper, wished he could have had back. If Batum had converted, he would have given Portland its first lead since the opening minute of the third quarter.</div>
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<div>"I should have kept the ball," he said, after some reflection, indicating that he thought he should have held up so Portland could have milked the clock for a final play. "Twelve seconds, get the last shot, wait, down one, get the last shot."</div>
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<div>Instead, he missed the lay-up and Perkins, who is much-maligned in Oklahoma City as the weak link among the Thunder starters, cleared the rebound and made one of two free throws to set up Aldridge's doomed final possession.</div>
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<div>"Perk did a great job," Durant said. "Once we turned that ball over up one, he came and contested the shot and got the rebound and made the free throw to give us a cushion. Came down and played defense on Aldridge. You can't ask for more from your big man. He was unbelievable tonight."</div>
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<div>After <a target="_blank" href="http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/1/11/3861924/media-row-report-blazers-heat">winning four straight coinflips</a> against the Miami Heat, another miracle here was probably too much to ask for the Blazers. "I think things even out," Stotts said of his team's overall shooting woes in their last three games, but that assessment could be applied to Portland's recent fortune too.</div>
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<div><b><u>Random Game Notes</u></b></div>
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<li>The Rose Garden was announced as a sellout. A fair number of Thunder jerseys were in the crowd and there was some Seattle SuperSonics gear as well. It didn't get all that loud until the very end and it's hard to remember the place going from ecstatic to funereal as fast as it did following Aldridge's miss.</li>
<li>Blazers president Chris McGowan executed <a target="_blank" href="http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/1/13/3874438/blazers-president-chris-mcgowan-announces-second-round-of-lay-offs">another round of layoffs</a> but says that this will be it for now. The general reaction, albeit from a small sample, was: "It could have been worse."</li>
<li>DeAndre Liggins, thrust into the starting lineup for the first time in his career, went three-for-three from downtown on his way to 11 points. Prior to Sunday night, he was zero-for-five on three-point attempts in 30 career appearances for the Orlando Magic last season and the Thunder this year.</li>
<li>As mentioned, LaMarcus Aldridge had a nice night overall. The highlight probably came when he recognized a mismatch with Perry Jones III guarding him, quickly and easily beating the rookie with a spin move to the hoop.</li>
<li>Former Blazers center Hasheem Thabeet didn't receive a standing ovation in his Rose Garden return and he didn't do much, scoring just two points and grabbing two rebounds in 16 minutes. That said, his block of a Damian Lillard drive just before halftime was beautifully timed and located.</li>
<li>Speaking of nice blocks, Will Barton had a chasedown block of DeAndre Liggins. Often you hear chasedowns get called off for "pinning" the shot on the backboard but, in this case, the shot wound up literally pinned (wedged) in between the rim and backboard, forcing a jump ball at center court. That was neat. <a target="_blank" href="http://nba.si.com/2013/01/12/video-hawks-fans-half-court-heave-rests-perfectly-on-rim/">Not as neat as this though</a>. </li>
<li>Here's the perpetually bland Russell Westbrook on Damian Lillard to Blazersedge: "He's good. He's talented, man. They have a good team here. He runs the team well and there should be some good things in the upcoming years." </li>
<li>Westbrook said he had no particularly defensive strategy against the likely Rookie of the Year. "Nothing. Just come out and defend."</li>
<li>Lillard and Stotts both credited the Thunder's pick-and-roll defense but also said that Lillard's three-for-14 shooting night was simply missed open looks. Lillard: "I don't think it was [Westbrook]. It was me just missing shots. A lot of shots I missed he wasn't even there to contest them sometimes because of the screens. Because of the situation on the floor. Shots just didn't fall for us as a group."</li>
<li>Of all of Lillard's shots that didn't fall, none topped his ambitious one-hand put-back dunk. One of those missed dunks that was almost good enough to make the highlight reel anyway.</li>
<li>Westbrook had some success taking Lillard into the post but launched 13 shots from outside the paint on the night, making just two. Scott Brooks still had nothing but good things to say about his point guard: "Russell makes big plays he didn't shoot the ball well tonight but he had nine assists and he always makes big free throws. I thought his floor game, his defensive game, was at a high level."</li>
<li>Batum with some praise for Matthews' work on Durant: "We know what he's done on James Harden, LeBron a couple of days ago. He's one of the best defenders in the league."</li>
<li>Brooks on Aldridge's All-Star chances: "He's an All-Star for a reason and he probably will be one again this year."</li>
<li>The kids continue to get creative with the sign routines on the jumbotron. This time, one boy had a sign that read, "Don't worry, I'm a Blazer," and he stripped off his Thunder jersey to reveal a Blazers jersey underneath once the camera was put on him.</li>
<li>The Blazers had to like the results on both ends during the fourth quarter with the Lillard/ Matthews/ Pavlovic/ Batum/ Aldridge lineup playing most of the minutes. The Blazers out-rebounded the Thunder 13-7 in the final quarter, forced five fourth-quarter turnovers, and held OKC to 19 fourth-quarter points, eight of which came at the free throw line, including some forced fouls at the end.</li>
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<p><b><u>Terry Stotts' Post-Game Comments</u></b></p>
<p><b>LaMarcus Aldridge's final shot</b></p>
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<p>There were three options. Nic was setting a back screen on Wes, so you had that option. Nic was coming for a hand back to an open court. We didn't get the hand back. If the hand back wasn't there, L.A. was going to drive. There were three options on the play and they defended it well.</p>
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<p><b>Wish LaMarcus Aldridge would have driven the ball?</b></p>
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<p>Kendrick Perkins did a nice job. It's easy to say that in retrospect. They pushed the catch out past the three point line. He probably lost a little track of the time. I'm not going to criticize our guys. They played their asses off. They were in a position to win the game or at least put it into overtime and we came up short.</p>
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<p><b>Going small in the fourth was match-ups</b></p>
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<p>Defensive match-ups mainly. It helps our offense. It just felt like defensively we match up with them better.</p>
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<p><b>Wesley Matthews switching onto Kevin Durant</b></p>
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<p>Wes and Nic have done that throughout the year, changed things up. It was effective. They talked among themselves to do it. Wes did a nice job with him those last few possessions. Gave him a different look, was physical with him.</p>
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<p><b>So they decided to switch?</b></p>
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<p>I give them latitude on the match-ups. I'm confident with Nic, but Nic had four fouls. Durant had scored some. What happened I think was that there was a pindown and they switched the pindown, which is fine, and Wes defended him well on that possession so we just stayed with it the next time.</p>
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<p><b>Damian Lillard</b></p>
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<p>I thought he had some good looks. He probably had better looks than he had in Golden State. They bottled up his pick-and-rolls pretty well. They corralled him, didn't let him drive, and stayed attached and didn't give him good looks off the pick-and-rolls. They did a nice job of containing his pick-and-rolls.</p>
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<p><b>Shooting under 40 percent again</b></p>
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<p>Well we've played three good defensive teams. That's part of it. I think things even out. We've had some shots that we can make. We shoot under 50 percent in the paint, 15-for-36 in the paint. Generally people like to say we take too many jump shots. If we're not shooting the ball well in the paint, it makes it tough. Shooting percentages usually even themselves out but I'll give credit to the defense in the last three games as well.</p>
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<p>-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/blazersedge" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
https://www.blazersedge.com/2013/1/14/3873900/media-row-report-thunder-87-blazers-83Ben Golliver2013-01-13T22:07:44-08:002013-01-13T22:07:44-08:00Thunder Defense Rattles Blazers
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<p>On a night where they all but wilt under Oklahoma City's defense, the Blazers play scrappy basketball in the fourth period to claw into striking distance, but then scrappy play loses an "s" in the decisive offensive possessions.</p> <p>You have to hand it to the Blazers. 87-83. They almost did it.</p>
<p>You have to hand it to the Blazers. They almost did it on a night when they shot 36% from the field, 28% from the arc.</p>
<p>You have to hand it to the Blazers. They almost did it with only two players scoring in double figures.</p>
<p>You have to hand it to the Blazers. They almost did it in spite of Kevin Durant pasting 33 on them in an offensive tour de force.</p>
<p>You have to hand it to the Blazers. The Thunder tried to. But the Blazers wouldn't accept.</p>
<p>More on that in a minute.</p>
<p>You could tell this was going to be a long night from the opening tip. Kevin Durant announced his return to Portland by slicing and dicing his way to 9 points in the opening 6 minutes of the contest. Inside or outside, he made a mockery of Portland's defense. But it was going to be a long night for Durant as well. As the game progressed two players worked tirelessly to make sure he didn't have a career night. Nicolas Batum got destroyed every time Durant caught it on his watch. So he went to the adulterer's defense: deny, deny, deny. It worked pretty well. After that opening flurry up until the half Durant caught and shot late. Russell Westbrook also did his part, hoisting his way to 5-21 shooting in lieu of Durant's pristine percentage. Between Batum and Westbrook, Durant stayed muffled.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the Thunder played great defense on the other end. You cannot say enough about this. At times this season we've said the Blazers have played "great". Oklahoma City showed tonight that the correct definition there was, "great, for Portland". If you want to see truly great, watch what the Thunder--the best <i>offensive</i> team in the league--did to the Blazers on the defensive end tonight. The few open looks the Blazers got came from deep. Those shots almost always missed.</p>
<p>LaMarcus Aldridge played like an All-Star throughout this game, feeding Portland bucket after bucket in their time of need. Even his most heroic efforts were not enough to keep the Blazers afloat. Portland's prospects floated away in a slow, consistent leak as Aldridge's teammates struggled. Nicolas Batum got hot in the second, winning back the margin late in the half. Portland actually led by 1 going into the break. But then the Thunder knuckled down, populating the third period with a succession of amazing defensive stands. The Blazers got obliterated in the quarter, scoring only 16. Meanwhile the Thunder remember that Durant, you know, existed, He scored 13 in the period as the Thunder recouped their deficit with interest, leading by 9 as the third quarter closed.</p>
<p>At that point it looked like lights out but once again Aldridge surged, followed by Batum. Together they were enough to counter the 9 more Durant scored in the final quarter. With Portland down by 7 with 4:40 remaining, LMA and Nic scored 11 straight points. Wesley Matthews switched over to Durant late in the game and forced a steal with 26 seconds remaining, leading to Batum's final three-pointer, pulling the Blazers within 1, 83-84, with 21 seconds remaining. Instead of intentionally fouling Portland forced a second turnover as Damian Lillard poked away the ball from Westbrook. Prone on the floor, Lillard flipped the rock to a streaking Batum. Nicolas drove but Durant swooped in like an eagle, making him change to a looping, left-handed layup attempt which missed badly. All the air came out of the arena at once. The moment was <i>THERE</i> but the Blazers couldn't convert.</p>
<p>Matthews alertly fouled Kendrick Perkins on the rebound. True to form, Perk missed 1 of 2, leaving the Blazers down 2 with 8.5 seconds remaining. After the timeout they got the ball to Aldridge, defended by Perkins. I was under the impression that no shot could look more awkward than the layup Batum had just attempted but Aldridge's semi-turn-around 19-footer with a second remaining put that theory to rest. It was a poor game-tying attempt, a reminder that:</p>
<p>A. Oklahoma City plays both ways. And...</p>
<p>B. Nobody in this starting lineup outside of Lillard--and that means <i>nobody</i>--has any kind of one-on-one attack off the dribble.</p>
<p>For all the poor shooting throughout the game, the Blazers never lost contact or hope. They actually played pretty well in most areas. Only in the last 9 seconds of the game did we see Portland collapse under Oklahoma City's pressure. Sadly those were the 9 seconds that decided it.</p>
<p>Normally we spend our time talking about the opponent in the preview and the Blazers in the recap, but let me just state again how incredible the Thunder looked on the defensive end tonight. It was a brilliant showing, the kind you'd expect to win playoff games with. This could well be the difference between the best and second best team in the West this year.</p>
<p>Portland also did well defensively, particularly with Batum's ball denial and team rebounding. I'd say Westbrook caused about half of the difficulty Oklahoma City's offense faced tonight but the Blazers didn't make it easy on them either.</p>
<p>Had Portland been able to hit a reasonable percentage on the handful of open threes they got, this game might have gone differently. But great teams don't give you many chances. If you don't grab the ones you get, forget it. Oklahoma City played like a great team tonight. The Blazers created opportunities but ultimately let them slip through their fingers.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b>Individual Notes</b></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The Blazers made 31 field goals tonight. LaMarcus Aldridge was responsible for 15 of those makes, roughly half. He went 15-26 on the evening. The rest of the team shot 16-60. Aldridge added 11 rebounds and 2 blocks to his Durant-matching 33 points. Most of his damage came on the face-up jumper, making a lack of free throws the only negative to his offensive game.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Nicolas Batum shot 6-17, 3-8 from distance on a night when he had...errrr...other duties. Whatever Durant looked like against Batum in the highlight reel--and Batum got burned multiple times so you'll see the clips--remember that nobody on the Blazers could stop him for long and that Batum actually did really well keeping the ball out of his hands. Batum also hit the critical three and a couple other improbable ones. The wide-open shots? Not so much. 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The story was similar for Damian Lillard. Put him under pressure and take his mind out of the equation and he'd make a great shot or pass. His wide-open looks missed. he shot 3-14 on the evening, drawing only 2 free throws. He scored 9 with 9 assists. His defense was passable tonight. His individual defensive look is getting better. The whole scheme thing sometimes eludes him still.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Wesley Matthews had the NICE stand late against Durant, some solid defense otherwise, but shot only 2-8 for 7 points plus 4 assists.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The Blazers once again tried to set up J.J. Hickson early in this contest. Once again it turned out to be a poor idea. He's just not as good when he's the focus of the offense as opposed to getting his looks off rebounds or on the move. That experiment ended early and Hickson ended up having a decent night with 9 boards, 5 foul shots drawn (the most of any Blazer outside of Batum), and 7 points. The big problem was the lack of offensive rebounding. Hickson only got 1 on a night when Portland missed 55 shots.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Portland's bench was not good in this game. Joel Freeland and Jared Jeffries had 3 mostly so-so rebounds each. Will Barton had an ENORMOUS come-from-behind block in the first period, the kind that sent shock waves through the crowd. That was about it. Six bench players combined for 53 minutes, 3-14 shooting, 6 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, and 4 personal fouls.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Now the Blazers get to stare down the Nuggets in Denver. It's a reminder how ugly this little stretch is in terms of quality of opponent. After Tuesday, though, it's four straight home games against reasonable opponents. While it's not as exciting as playing the hottest, brightest, and best teams in the league all in a row, it will be a relief.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/1/13/3874034/final-okc-rains-upon-portland-87-83" target="_blank">Timmay's recap</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400278274" target="_blank">Boxscore</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.welcometoloudcity.com/">Welcome to Loud City</a></p>
<div style="text-align: left;">Your <a href="http://blazersedge.urbanishment.com/scoreboard.php" target="_blank">Jersey Contest Scoreboard</a> (yes, we'll get the Golden State thing fixed) and the<a href="http://blazersedge.urbanishment.com/gameform.php" target="_blank"> form for Tuesday's game</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<p style="text-align: left;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.tiqiq.com/nba/portland-trail-blazers-tickets?pubid=1011040">Portland Trail Blazers tickets</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<p><b>Update: </b>People are talking about Aldridge's game-tying attempt in the comments so let's cover that a little more.</p>
<p>With the Blazers down 83-85 and 8.5 seconds left Portland came out of a timeout needing a bucket. Inbounding from the left sideline they spread the floor, then ran a diagonal screen for Aldridge to come out and receive the inbounds pass. He did, catching about three feet behind the three-point arc, up high, left side. Batum ran a curl above him, coming across the ball, prepared for the hand-off. Batum was well-defended on the cut but it also looked like Aldridge had already made up his mind to keep the ball. He lifted it out of Batum's way, waited until the cutter cleared, wheeled around with the left-handed dribble, going diagonally away from the bucket. This forcedhim to shoot back across his body for a well-defended 19-footer that airballed. It was an ugly attempt and an uglier result.</p>
<p>I don't blame LaMarcus for this entirely though. The way Aldridge was shooting tonight I'm totally on board with him taking the crucial shot. I just don't think this was his kind of play.</p>
<p>Objection #1: Even if you're on board with the Aldridge isolation look, why would you have him catch it 25 feet from the bucket? That's not scoring position for him. He has to move in order to become a threat and he's not good off the dribble, let alone off of the 4-5 dribbles it would take him to get in range.</p>
<p>Objection #2: Every key shot in recent memory (save the single-second prayers hoisted by Batum) has been taken by Lillard. I'm not arguing Lillard should have taken this one, but you know the opponent's scouting report has Damian's name circled in red in this situation. During this set Lillard was standing on the opposite baseline, hands down at his side, immobile. His only purpose was to keep a defender (in this case, Westbrook) over by him. Wouldn't you want to at least use him as a decoy in this situation? The set all but telegraphed where the ball was going and where it was staying. Why wasn't Aldridge posting and Lillard entering the ball, for instance? Or why didn't they have Lillard move <i>somewhere</i>, making the Thunder think about 2.5 players instead of the 1.5 they had to cover? The Blazers seemed to lose an opportunity for misdirection here.</p>
<p>Objection #3: I'm also fine with Batum factoring into the play, but his participation was underwhelming for a couple reasons. First, all he did was curl around Aldridge and Perkins. Nobody screened Batum's defender. Batum made no other motions except the curl. It was as basic as you could imagine, and thus as easy to read. The Thunder would have had to fall asleep to make the thing work. Second, the curl finished with Batum and his defender on Aldridge's right side when LaMarcus turned around, totally cutting off the possibility of Aldridge dribbling towards his right hand when he turned (the natural direction for a jumper when you're on that side of the floor). Batum and his defender were camped in Aldridge's path if he would have chosen to go towards the middle. Therefore when Aldridge spun he had only one direction to go: left, back towards the sideline...away from his shooting hand and the basket both. There was no chance to advance towards the hoop, no chance to draw a foul, no chance to make any kind of move except a straight dribble.</p>
<p>Given all this, the kind of weak, defended fade-away that Aldridge ended up shooting was hardly a surprise. But the final shot itself wasn't the real issue. Aldridge's position and that of his teammates--plus reasonable defense by OKC--set up that bad attempt.</p>
<p>The question is, was this the designed play or did something go wrong? It's hard to imagine a team with so much success in this kind of situation diagramming a play that ended up like that. That said, everybody but Aldridge and Batum looked like they did their jobs correctly. Perhaps Matthews, the inbounder, could have set a screen on Batum's man. Best guess, though, is that it was designed this way. If so, maybe it shouldn't have been.</p>
<p>--Dave</p>
</div>
https://www.blazersedge.com/2013/1/13/3874418/portland-trail-blazers-vs-oklahoma-city-thunder-2012-2013Dave Deckard2013-01-13T20:29:12-08:002013-01-13T20:29:12-08:00Final: OKC Rains Upon Portland, 87-83
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Portland Trail Blazers gave it all they had, but Oklahoma City eventually held on for a very close win, despite the absence of Thabo Sefalosha and Serge Ibaka.</p> <p>The Blazers were led by LaMarcus Aldridge, with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Unfortunately, he missed the game-tying shot. Nicolas Batum scored 21 points with 7 rebounds, and unfortunately, he missed a late layup that would have given the Blazers the lead. The rest of the Blazer lineup was quiet tonight, with Damian Lillard adding 9 points and 9 assists.</p>
<p><b>First Half:</b> The Blazers did a nice job of staying close to OKC to start the game. Aldridge's shot was falling, so Portland relied on him heavily. They would fall behind by 5, close with within one or so, and then would be down 5 again. Lather, rinse, repeat, until the first quarter buzzer, when they were down 3. This continued through the second quarter, until the sixth minute mark, when the Blazers went on a 10-0 run, aided by a (probably wrong!) foul call on a missed Batum three-pointer. OKC called timeout, down 4. Despite a number of boneheaded Blazer plays down the stretch, they still led by 1 at the half. OKC clearly suffered from the lack of their defensive anchors, combined with poor shooting.</p>
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<p><b>We're ahead. Game over. Good game.</b><br>by <b>jenstcy</b></p>
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<p><b>Third Quarter:</b> Before you could say, "I really don't like playing this team," Oklahoma City was back in the lead. As the Blazer shots continued to bounce off the rim, that lead quickly reached double-digits. The misses continued from Portland, but the lead didn't grow, as OKC was struggling to make things happen as well. They led by 9 at the horn.</p>
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<p><b>LMA has even started rebounding really well now... seems consistent and well worked for.</b><br>by <b>bowdown</b></p>
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<p><b>Fourth Quarter:</b> The Blazers made a run. In the first four minutes, they broke down the defense for a few good shots, and had a nice dunk on the break to cut the lead to 5. However, the fourth quarter fouls started to add up, and when Russell Westbrook hit a three, the lead was 10 with 3:30 left. Aldridge and Batum combined to cut the deficit to 4 with 2 minutes left. Then the same with 1 minute left. Batum hit a big three pointer, then the Blazers got a back-court steal. Batum went to the rim on the break... and missed a soft layup. Perkins was fouled with 8 seconds left, and made one of two.</p>
<p>With 8.5 seconds left, the Blazers suddenly had the ball, down by 2. They handed the ball to Aldridge, who airballed a jumper. Westbrook sealed the win with free throws.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" style="color: #d80000;" href="http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400278274">Box score</a> | <a target="_blank" style="color: #d80000;" href="http://www.tiqiq.com/nba/portland-trail-blazers-tickets?pubid=1011040">Portland Trail Blazers tickets</a> via TiqIQ</p>
<p>Stay tuned for more analysis from Blazer’s Edge later tonight. In the meantime, check out the <a target="_blank" style="color: #d80000;" href="https://www.blazersedge.com/#schedule_tab">upcoming Blazers schedule</a>. -- Tim [<a target="_blank" style="color: #d80000;" href="mailto:blazer.timmay@gmail.com">blazer.timmay@gmail.com</a>]</p>
https://www.blazersedge.com/2013/1/13/3874034/final-okc-rains-upon-portland-87-83Timmay!2013-01-12T19:52:21-08:002013-01-12T19:52:21-08:00Uh Oh, Here Come the Thunder
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<figcaption>Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Fresh off a win against Miami and a close road game against the hot Golden State Warriors, the Portland Trail Blazers now draw Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and the best team in the league...the Oklahoma City Thunder. Will the Blazers step up? What kind of plan will give them a chance in this game?</p> <p>The best team in the league (to anyone who's not a Clippers fan) comes to town tonight as the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Portland Trail Blazers in a game televised on CSNNW and beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Blazers clawed their way past the World Champion Miami Heat on Thursday night, came up short against Rising Team of the Year Golden State on Friday, and now get to match up with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. These are the times that try men's souls. These are also the times that determine whether the Blazers are serious about making a run at a playoff seed or whether they're just kind of taking the season as it comes.</p>
<p>The Thunder bring the best offense in the league with them. They score more points per game than anybody and do it more efficiently. Houston scores almost as many as OKC but nobody is close in that efficiency metric. They're scary. And they do this without a credible post scorer, averaging the 16th most points in the paint in the league. They make up for it by scoring on the break and by hitting every shot they throw up, especially from the three-point arc. Nobody is better from range. Only San Antonio and Miami are better in overall field goal percentage. Only the Lakers draw more foul shots per game. (Imagine!) They're only average on the offensive glass but come on, who needs offensive rebounds when you can score like that? The only true flaw in their attack is a propensity to turn over the ball, but most nights this goes in the "oh well, we'll just get it back in a second" category.</p>
<p>Remember how we said the Thunder like to score on the run? Well, they're not fair at all. They're one of the best teams in the league at getting back and defending in transition. How many teams in the league turn games into a track meet both ways? Oklahoma City has the dedication to prevent that. They're decent at defending the paint as well. Denying easy buckets allows them to force you into a mid-to-long-range contest...a battle they're going to win. They're 2nd in the league in field goal percentage allowed. They're less concerned with stopping the three, choosing to watch the key instead. If you can score more than their 106 ppg average shooting from the arc, more power to you.</p>
<p>Ready for some more bad news? Kevin Durant has been on a tear lately, pasting 42 on the Lakers in their last outing and game-high totals of 26 and 29 in their two previous games. He's averaging 28.5 ppg on 52% shooting. This isn't a center. Dude takes 4 three-pointers per game and spends lots of time on the perimeter. He's shooting fifty...two...percent. (41% on those threes.) Add in 9 free throws per game, a 90% free throw shooting clip, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. You just have to shake your head.</p>
<p>Russell Westbrook is not too shabby himself at 22 points, 8.5 assists, and 5 rebounds per game, though his 41.5% shooting clip (36% from the arc) looks licentious next to Durant's averages. New shooting guard Kevin Martin has found a comfortable role with this team: shooting threes. Half of his attempts come from distance and he makes over 44% of those attempts. In addition to the usual nice defense, shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha is also taking half <i>his </i>attempts from the arc and making 41% of them. Serge Ibaka shoots 57% from the floor. Are you starting to get the idea that this is a good offensive team yet?</p>
<p>If there's a disappointment on this team so far it's center Kendrick Perkins who's playing less than he did last year, rebounding and scoring worse, shooting poorly. Dude is there to play some semi-average defense and not disrupt OKC's roll. That's about what he does. Reserve big man Nick Collison has stepped up his game even more than Perkins has slid in his, though, so the Thunder might actually be ahead at this point. They've even got Hasheem Thabeet playing something resembling basketball. The rising tide floats all ships.</p>
<p>What are the Blazers to do about this? First, come with intensity. Second, rebound hard. The Thunder are only average on the boards...plenty good enough but you need to try and exploit them somewhere. J.J. Hickson and LaMarcus Aldridge need to show them what big men are supposed to do. Third, they've shown historically that they can absorb a ton of Durant shots as long as they do not also let Westbrook go off. They'll almost certainly hide Damian Lillard on a shooting guard and use one of their wings to watch Westbrook. It has a chance as long as they manage to keep the Thunder from easy shots off the break and as long as they force Durant to the outside. Finally, they need to move the ball and hit the shots they know they can hit. Obviously the Golden State game was an aberration but they missed plenty of shots they otherwise could have hit that night. The same thing was true against Miami. If you have an open shot, hit an open shot.</p>
<p>The one thing the Blazers <i>cannot</i> do is rely on their home record to carry them through. Yes, they're 13-4 in the Rose Garden but the Thunder are 10-5 on the road...not that far behind. One of two things is going to happen tonight. Either the Blazers will cruise into this game assuming they'll have the same kind of magic they showed against Miami just because they're at home against a good team. If that happens the Thunder will hand them their hats and kick their behinds so fast they won't have time to blink. Or the Blazers will put in the gritty, intense performance we've become used to seeing in the last couple weeks and, win or lose, this game will confirm the impression that they can play with anyone, at least at home. Whether the Blazers actually win or lose this game is less important than the manner in which they play it. We'll see which Portland team shows up.</p>
<p>Your<a target="_blank" href="http://blazersedge.urbanishment.com/gameform.php"> Jersey Contest Form </a>for this game.</p>
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<p style="text-align: left;">--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)</p>
https://www.blazersedge.com/2013/1/12/3870912/portland-trail-blazers-vs-oklahoma-city-thunder-2012-2013Dave Deckard