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Portland Trailblazers
In front of friends and family, Portland Trail Blazers forward Travis Outlaw was struggling. Last year, he beat the Memphis Grizzlies with a running bank shot at the buzzer, sending his supporters into delirium. This time around, he had trouble impressing those who made the short trip from his hometown of Starksville, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee.
In a sad, depressing, and nearly-empty arena, the Blazers, not just Outlaw, had difficulty getting going against a woeful Grizzlies team. They shot a reasonable percentage, well over 50 percent in the first quarter, but failed to make a field goal over the final 3:38 of the opening frame, and didn’t play consistent defense, leaving shooters wide open far too many times. Luckily, their struggles didn’t reflect on the scoreboard. That’s because Memphis missed a majority of those wide open shots, and played up to their 1-6 record.
In their previous five games, the Grizzlies allowed the opposition to score an average of 120 points. Overall, statistically, they are dead last in the NBA in total defense. So, given their dreadful defense and Portland’s up-tempo offense, all indications were that the vastly superior Blazers would stretch that streak to six games and extend Memphis’s losing streak to seven games.
Portland, however, did their best to keep Memphis in contention. They held a three-point lead after one quarter, and trailed by three early in the second as the Grizzlies scored 9 of the quarter’s first 12 points. Their bench play was anemic offensively and defensively, hence Memphis’s spurt. Finally, understanding that the second unit wasn’t working after six minutes of horrendous play, which combined the end of the first and the beginning of the second, head coach Nate McMillan inserted starters Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge back in.
Immediately upon entering, Aldridge, who had eight quick points to begin the game on 4-4 shooting, found point guard Steve Blake for a tying three-pointer. Blake tried to provide a lift with this jumper and wake up his lackadaisical team, but no such luck. Portland scored only one point over the next two minutes, a free-throw by Spaniard Rudy Fernandez. But because Memphis was similarly challenged offensively, Aldridge’s mid-range jumper to end the drought gave the Blazers a 33-32 lead.
Portland’s backup shooting guard Martell Webster has had the tendency of going on one scoring spurt, then producing minimally the remainder of the contest. He went on his lone run midway through the second period. He hit a three-pointer with 4:46 left in the half, two free-throws a minute later, and attempted a second three-pointer on the next possession.
He missed, and the ball shot off the rim. Outlaw, with the Mississippi natives donning variations of his jersey in the front row, snatched the rebound. He made one step towards the rim, then took off, rearing the ball cradled in his right hand behind his head like a slingshot. Rudy Gay tried to stop him, but was helpless, as Outlaw thunderously threw down over his fellow forward, thrusting him backwards to create a wall-bound poster. His fans jumped out of their seats, as did the Blazers on the bench. It was overpowering and was his first make in eight attempts. The incredible dunk was also his only field goal of the game.
Portland didn’t quite feed off this strong spark, managing just a 45-45 tie at halftime. Center Greg Oden, who didn’t score in the first half provided a prolonged jolt that had much more of an impact than Outlaw’s loud lone field goal. The first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft asserted himself offensively, drawing a foul on the second half’s opening possession. He continued his aggressiveness throughout the remainder of the second half, leading his still off-kilter team to a victory that should have been much easier.
He was an integral part of their offense from that point on, taking his fair of shots on offense and affecting many on defense. He made a tip off his own miss, tying the game at 54 with just over eight minutes left in the third, made a layup at the six and a half minute mark, forced a missed layup by former Blazer Zach Randolph, blocked a jumper by Gay, tipped in a missed three-pointer by Roy, and then exited for the remaining three minutes of the period in favor of the best backup center in the NBA, Joel Przybilla.
He re-entered the contest forty-five seconds into the fourth quarter with the Blazers finally in control, ahead by seven. The lead increased, as Oden contributed to the cause immediately. He dunked on a nice lob pass from point guard Andre Miller, then blocked rookie Sam Young’s shot twenty seconds later. Memphis hung around, cutting the deficit to seven, but Oden increased the advantage to nine with a nimble spin on Randolph finished off by a driving dunk. The Grizzlies couldn’t trim the margin, and the Blazers only increased their lead.
Oden capped off a brilliant second half performance, scoring the final points by either team, taking a pass from Roy and turning it into a layup and a free-throw. In the final two quarters, he tallied 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, and one dazzling assist. His play took the spotlight away from Outlaw’s powerful slam. But though the big man had a much more profound effect on the outcome than the lanky forward, neither effort will be forgotten, as both the slam and second half outburst propelled Portland to another satisfying victory.
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