To satisfy the NBA league office, The Golden State Warriors needed an eighth man. With center Andris Biedrins and power forward Roney Turiaf out with injuries, Don Nelson’s 3-8 offensive juggernaut called up center Chris Hunter from the Developmental League, where he averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds in only 33 minutes as a member of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. They had no idea what to expect from the Michigan alum, given he hadn’t practiced with the team; to them, he took up space on the roster and allowed them to actually play the Portland Trail Blazers.

Golden State was wise to bring in the 6′11″, 240-pound center, given their lack of size, but they didn’t play him until the second half. Instead of working him in early, they relied on Anthony Randolph, who is the same height as Hunter but looks about a quarter of his weight. Blazers center Greg Oden, who has a solid 70 pounds on the second-year forward, dominated the early portion of the first quarter against Mikki Moore, forcing Golden State’s starting center to commit three fouls in the first five minutes. He made a tip-in and two free-throws against Moore over that span, and once the veteran was sent to the bench, Oden feasted on the rail-thin Randolph, bodying him inside aggressively making a variety of layups and dunks, including one slam from Rudy Fernandez, who Blazers announcer Mike Rice said, “knew where the gold was in the mine.” Randolph was no match for Oden, and, based off the Blazers hot shooting in the period that translated to 37 points, neither were the Warriors.

Then, everything changed. Oden, who had 11 points on 4-4 shooting, 2 assists, and a block in his first nine minutes of action, committed his first foul nineteen seconds into the second and another five seconds later. Two quick fouls, and head coach Nate McMillan pulled the plug, taking out the Blazers best chance of turning the single-digit affair into a blowout.

With their center on the bench, the Blazers lost their identity, their swagger, their momentum, and their lead. They committed an astonishing ten turnovers in the quarter, playing uncharacteristically sloppy and into the Warriors hands, and thanks to their disorganization on offense and equally porous defense, Golden State ran wild, finishing the period on a tremendous 17-4 spurt to grab a 56-52 halftime lead.

The Warriors were anchored by guard Monta Ellis, who had 19 points at intermission, and compiled 20 fast-break points with a majority coming with the Blazers intimidation sitting glumly on the bench. Portland had to get back on track in the third, to go back to what worked in the first quarter, meaning feed Oden early and often.

McMillan didn’t, though, and instead continued to play to the Warriors liking, drawing up plays that translated to hurried, low-percentage jump shots. Poor defense to compliment a poorly-run offense didn’t help the cause. While Golden State, a usually horrific defensive team that has surrendered 111 points per game on average, played tremendous defense, Portland stood around, either watching them fly by in transition or leaving them relatively wide-open for jumpers. Hunter was left open, primarily because the Blazers had no idea what to expect, and he fueled another crowd-pleasing quarter by hitting two 12-footers to increase their lead to nine.

Then, a more deadly threat was left free: guard Anthony Morrow. The Warriors second-year guard out of Georgia Tech continued to benefit from the trading of Stephen Jackson, scoring nine points for Golden State, including consecutive three-pointers to propel the run. Two of his points epitomized that it just wasn’t Portland’s night. With 4:43 left in the third and the Blazers down only six, point guard Steve Blake coughed up the pill to Ellis, who sprinted down-court and shoveled it to Randolph. He challenged backup center Joel Przybilla, attempting to dunk over him, but Tha Thrilla would have none of it, swatting his shot ferociously back in his face. Randolph regained possession and tried again with no such luck, as the Vanilla Gorilla rejected it again. But, Przybilla was the only one doing anything for the Blazers, and Morrow collected the loose ball and made a 7-foot floater.

Thanks to Portland’s inability to get loose balls, take advantage of what positives did happen, like Przybilla’s back-to-back blocks, and their awful, fighting-the-shot-clock, disorganized offense, Golden State took a eight-point lead, 83-75, into the fourth.

With one slam, it appeared the Blazers would battle back and put away their undermanned and undersized opponent. McMillan, who was scared to use Oden for the rest of the second quarter with two fouls (even though it takes six to foul out), did not incorporate him into the offense in the third. Then, he presumably said to himself “Why don’t I go back to Oden early in the fourth? After all, he did dominate the first, and would have dominated the second and third if I wasn’t so oblivious to his clear advantage.” Oden dunked on a feed from power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, leading to a question posed by Blazers announcer Mike Barrett that I desperately wanted McMillan to answer: “Where as that been since the first quarter?” Where, you ask? On the bench or entirely ignored.

Oden dunked again two minutes later, overpowering a stout Hunter, thrusting him backwards and slamming in his face. Portland was within seven, with a distinct chance to winning if they kept going back to Oden. But McMillan only drew up one more play for Oden, when the center made a free-throw with five minutes remaining after taking contact from Hunter.

At this time, Ellis was in the middle of his final burst to cap off an extraordinary individual performance. Prior to Oden’s final point, he made a jumper, a free-throw, and a driving layup, and then after, he hit two mid-range jumpers. He drove in for another field goal with just over three minutes left for a 20-point lead and his 33rd and 34th points of the contest.

Blazers guard Jerryd Bayless made his first appearance early in the third after rotting on the pine for the first two-plus quarters, re-entered late in the fourth, otherwise known as garbage time. Portland could have used his energy in the stagnant second quarter, but instead gathered splinters on the bench, used as well by McMillan as Oden. He made the most of the game’s final five minutes, driving every-time he had the ball. He took five shots, made two, took four free-throws, made two.

It wasn’t his stat-line that stood out, but his aggressiveness, the type of aggressiveness only he and Oden exhibited. But they only played 33 combined minutes, and, because of their minimal playing time, McMillan’s team deservedly lost by fourteen.

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Notes:

Fernandez did his part, scoring 19 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, and snatching 4 steals in 38 minutes.

Portland shot 33 percent over the final three quarters and committed 23 turnovers. They were also outscored 38-7 in fast-break points, and by fourteen in the paint.

The Blazers haven’t won in Golden State since 2004.

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