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Portland Trailblazers
Once Greg Oden went down with a season-ending injury, the Portland Trail Blazers were given little chance to succeed, and would have to overachieve to make something of their injury-riddled season. Entering their road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they were given a fool’s hope to win.
Doubters in the media cited a lack of consistent options on offense in believing the Blazers would struggle for the remainder of the season. The team is depleted, missing many inside and outside weapons, but as they showed against the Cavaliers, they have some firepower left.
Shooting guard Martell Webster told announcer Mike Barrett prior to the game that he was “going to let it fly”, and did he ever. In the first minute of the first quarter, he led his defender to believe he was going to shoot a three-pointer, watched him fly past, and pulled up for a smooth mid-range jumper. He, who averages only seven shots per game, stayed aggressive, missing a jumper two minutes later, and then took a third shot, a three-pointer that swished through from fellow guard Brandon Roy. Three possessions passed–all empty–before center Joel Przybilla stole the ball from Cleveland’s J.J. Hickson, found Blake, who dribbled downcourt and passed to Webster, who was setting up shop behind the three-point line ready to launch. Without hesitating, he fired and swished the bomb from way downtown. The Cavaliers called a timeout, and as Webster trotted to the bench on cloud-nine, he winked to Barrett “as if to say ‘I told you so’”, according to the brilliant announcer.
Webster took a few plays off, watching LaMarcus Aldridge hit his patented mid-range jumper and Roy miss his, before hoisting and missing a three. On the next possession, his 24-footer went in, which was made possible by Przybilla, who, in the words of Barrett, “bought the pump-fake [by Varajeo] and still got the block.”
In that first quarter, Webster scored 13 points, and Aldridge proved to be a valuable sidekick, making three field goals. They didn’t score in the second, and, given the rest of the team was 2-10 in the first, the Blazers would have a rough road ahead of them, right? Rather the opposite, as their bench put together perhaps Portland’s most well-played period of the season.
Backup power forward Juwan Howard took Przybilla’s place to begin the second as the Blazers went small. He paid immediate and immense dividends, with help from point guard Andre Miller. On the quarter’s first possession by either team, Miller faked a shot, got his defender in the air, and weaved a pass around him to a wide-open Howard. He canned the jumper from Miller, and then another point guard joined the assisting fun, as Jerryd Bayless passed to Howard for a transition layup and jumper. Even Przybilla found his inner playmaker, drawing a double-team before dishing to his fellow big man for a layup. A third point guard, Steve Blake, became the fourth assistman in Howard’s superb spurt, driving into the lane and shoveling off to Howard, who made his third layup and the free-throw that ensued.
Howard had scored the first 11 points of the frame for the Blazers. A great locker-room guy with a tremendous personality, the 15-year veteran and 36 year old also knows his wine. He called himself “a fine wine” and said “I was a cheap Merlot, now I’m a Bordeaux.” This quote was passed on by announcer Mike Rice after Howard scored his 12th and 13th points on a jumper midway through the period.
He wouldn’t score during the remaining six and a half minutes before intermission, handing the offensive duties over to Miller. The guard had scored prior to Howard’s final basket of the first half, and added plenty more points after. He hit a three-pointer, which is becoming a more frequent occurrence by the game, then recovered after losing the ball, drove into the lane, faked a pass, and made a layup to complete a 9-2 run. After Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal converted on a three-point play–a layup and a free-throw–Miller did so the traditional way, making another three-pointer.
He followed this up by backing down and overpowering point guard Mo Williams then spinning around for a jumper. This basket gave him his 11th and 12th points of the quarter, and notched the Blazers 26th and 27th bench points of the quarter. Bayless increased that total to 29 thanks to brilliant coaching by Dean Demopolous. The aggressive guard was inserted with six seconds to play with Portland holding a seven-point lead, and did what he does best: he drove the length of the court to the rim, took the contact, and made two free-throws to put the finishing touches on the most enjoyable quarter of the season.
In that first half the Blazers made 22 field goals, including 5 three-pointers, and handed out 15 assists. In that second quarter alone, Portland was 13-20 from the field, with their bench making a mindbogglingly efficient 12 of 13 attempts. But, though this performance can hardly be duplicated, the bench nor the rest of the Blazers even came close to being as efficient in the final two and most important quarters of the game.
Cleveland remembered they were Cleveland and they had the best player in the NBA, LeBron James. They went on a 13-2 run over a four-minute span during the heart of the third period, turning what once was a twelve-point deficit into a three-point lead. James scored the first nine points of the quarter for the Cavaliers, but wasn’t part of this particular run offensively, as Varejao and O’Neal combined for all of the scoring.
Portland didn’t have the offensive moxy they possessed in the first half. Webster was nowhere to be seen, Howard and Miller slowed, Roy had a tough time getting up shots, let alone scoring, and they struggled defensively. Despite this, they managed to retake the lead in the third quarter after Cleveland’s run, and the game was tied at 76 entering the fourth.
They were 1-11 to begin the final quarter, as Varejao, not known for his offense, scored eight points to help grab a eight-point lead. Then Roy heated up. The guard, who has the most second chance points in the NBA, answered the second big second-half run by the Cavaliers, scoring a hard-earned layup at the shot-clock buzzer after securing an offensive rebound, then took a huge hit in mid-air and muscled in a layup while falling down. He made the free-throw, cutting the margin to three with just over five minutes remaining, and the Blazers remained close until they appeared doomed by a final Cavalier run.
It wasn’t much of a spurt, but Cleveland nabbed a five-point lead with a dash over a minute remaining. They appeared to wrap up the win when a referee on the opposite baseline, a solid fifteen feet from the play, ruled that Blake stepped on the end-line, when he was clearly still in bounds. That handed the ball back to Cleveland, but they couldn’t convert, giving Portland a chance to make a game of it.
The Blazers did, but before making a last push, the Cavaliers benefited from another bogus call. Roy sped into the lane and hoisted a high-arching shot. The ball reached its pinnacle, then drifted downwards to the rim, but James’ swat was dubbed a clean block. The Blazers motioned vehemently for a goaltend, but there was no such call. Yet, they wouldn’t give up despite the blindness of the refs. Aldridge cut a seven-point deficit to four with a three-pointer with 13 seconds left, and Roy, after some confusion on Cleveland’s ensuing inbounds, picked up the loose ball and made a layup.
Just like that, Portland was within two, but they fouled the wrong guy moments after the five points in two seconds, as Williams hit two free-throws, ending the Blazers hopes by notching the final tally, 103-99.
Portland lost, but though they made their fare share of mistakes, especially defensively, they can’t be entirely disappointed with the defeat. They expected to win, and played tremendously given what dire straights they are in, coming oh-so close to victory. What matters is they still expect to win every game, despite being devastatingly banged up, and, there is no doubt this attitude will continue heading into the final game of their road-trip and the 57 that follow.
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Game Notes:
Howard and Miller, the duo that combined for 25 points in the second quarter, finished with 15 and 20, respectively. Miller was 8-13 from the field, grabbed 6 rebounds, and dished 3 assists, while Howard was 6-7 from the field in 16 minutes.
Webster, who had a very strong start, cooled off considerably, finishing with 13 points on 4-13 shooting. Aldridge had 22 points on 8-13 shooting, and Roy struggled for all 23 of his points, shooting a measly 9-25 from the field.
James paced Cleveland with 33 points on 14-24 shooting, while being his usual well-rounded self, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing seven assists.
O’Neal and Williams each scored 14 points, and both had double-doubles, with O’Neal grabbing 11 rebounds and Williams handing out 10 assists.
James did what he does best, as did O’Neal and Williams, but one surprise hurt the Blazers. Varajeo, who averaged 8 points and 8 rebounds per game entering the contest, scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 36 minutes. The rebounds are going to come, given his intensity and hustle mentality, but the scoring input should not happen. He took advantage of Portland’s lack of a true backup center, slicing between screens and making cuts towards the rim for layup after layup.
Cleveland shot a blistering 54 percent from the field, had 16 points off turnovers, outscored Portland 52-28 in the paint, and had 17 fast-break points.
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