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Portland Trailblazers
Out of a timeout with just over a second remaining in the third quarter, Orlando Magic forward Matt Barnes rifled an inbounds pass to guard J.J. Redick. As he did throughout his tremendous career at Duke University, the much-improved guard caught the ball and immediately fired. The catch-and-shoot swished through as the buzzer sounded, giving the Magic a three-point lead and all of the momentum against the Portland Trail Blazers heading into the final period.
In the first half, Blazers announcer Mike Barrett said,”Portland has uglied this game up by design.” They weren’t shooting particularly well in the first half, but neither were the Magic, a team that excels in the open court and is a dangerous inside-outside threat with multiple three-point shooters and an ever-imposing center, Dwight Howard. The Blazers kept Howard, who came in averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds per game, in check, and, despite shooting 39 percent, nabbed a 44-39 lead at intermission thanks to a defense that limited the Magic, a team that shoots 47 percent from the field on average, to 34 percent.
Point guard Jerryd Bayless, coming off a career game in which he scored 29 points in 29 minutes against the Phoenix Suns, provided a spark amongst the ugliness, scoring 10 off the bench while playing 15 straight minutes–the final three of the first and the entire second. Star guard Brandon Roy led the way in the first half, scoring 12 points, torching forward Mickael Pietrus, who, contrary to his defensive performance in the opening two quarters, has a reputation as a solid defender.
Orlando played as they did against Miami a few days prior, missing five free-throws and nine of thirteen three-pointers. Shooting guard Vince Carter was 1-11 from the floor, and their bench was 5-16. Howard only had one point in the second period, and sharpshooter Rashard Lewis was missing in action, thanks to superb on-ball defense by Martell Webster. The Magic looked awful, and the Blazers only slightly better.
In the third quarter, Roy continued to dominate Pietrus, as well as any other member of the Magic that had the unfortunate tasking of guarding him. He scored 15 in the period, helping Portland retain a slim lead, and was help considerably by point guard Andre Miller, who tallied the other 6 points by the Blazers in the frame.
Roy toyed with Pietrus on two consecutive possessions, rising for a 16-footer then stepping back for a longer jumper to increase their lead to three before Redick’s three deflated a team desperately in need for a victory to begin a grueling road-trip.
Someone other than Roy and Miller managed to make a shot, as point guard Steve Blake drained a three-pointer to begin the final quarter. Blake converted on three free-throws after being fouled by Magic guard Anthony Johnson three minutes after his three, but his aged counter-part countered with four points, bringing the advantage back in Orlando’s favor.
It didn’t help that the usually dependable LaMarcus Aldridge failed to show up. He hit a field goal in the opening minute of the game, and notched his third point of the contest with 7:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was the second of two free-throws, which was followed by a jumper by Roy made possible by a brilliant pump-fake that sent Pietrus flying into the air.
That tied the game at 76, and it appeared it would remain a seesaw battle for the remainder. But, in fact, that was Portland’s third to last field goal. The Magic took advantage of an untimely and lengthy cold spell, starting with a three-pointer by Pietrus after a lob from Blake to Bayless fell through Bayless’s hands. Following that five-point swing was a pair of tip-ins, one by Howard and another by Barnes, a jumper by Johnson, and a layup by Pietrus.
Portland’s drought was three minutes old, and was finally stopped by a Roy drive, which resulted in a pair of free-throws. The Blazers then created a couple of turnovers, but could capitalize, basically ending any chance of a comeback.
On the bright side, Portland ended a six-minute drought without a field goal, as Blake hit a long three-pointer from Miller on the baseline. Their final field goal came thirteen seconds later, with Roy finding Miller for a layup. On the downside, the assists by Miller and Roy were just the team’s sixth and seventh of the game, and the baskets by Blake and Miller only slimmed the margin to nine, 92-83, with not enough time remaining for meaningful last gasp.
The Blazers finished with just those seven assists, a franchise-low. They had two days to prepare for the Magic, and their preparations paid off in the first half and the third quarter, considering how close they stayed on the road against a superior team. Though they remained within striking distance entering the fourth, the balanced first half attack had turned into Roy, and only Roy. So, when he failed to pick up his team late in the fourth, a loss was inevitable.
In the first half, the Blazers “uglied up the game by design”, referring back to Barrett. In the end, they were just plain ugly–a bad way to begin a long trip away from the friendly confines of the Rose Garden.
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Game Notes:
Roy had a brilliant game scoring-wise. He tallied 27 points through three quarters and finished with 33 on 13-27 shooting. But he made only one of six three-point attempts, contributing to a horrid 3-18 performance from three-point line by the team, and had just one of their seven assists in his 42 minutes.
Excluding Roy, the Blazers were 16-51, 31 percent.
Aldridge made only one of those field goals and attempted just six shots. He grabbed one measly rebound in 29 minutes, and had a season-low three points. Roy had to carry a majority of the load because of Aldridge’s inability to get involved.
He didn’s play in the second quarter, and appeared a bit gimpy in the opening frame. Maybe he was slowed by injury, which would explain his lack of desire to be aggressive. If his performance wasn’t in fact due to an injury, something is terribly wrong.
Webster couldn’t provide a lift offensively to compliment his defense on Lewis, shooting 1-11 from the field, missing all six of his three-point attempts and both free-throws taken.
Bayless couldn’t come close to duplicating Thursday’s performance, making 3 of 13 field goal attempts and tallying ten points in 29 minutes, the exact amount of playing time he received against Phoenix. He didn’t score in the second half.
Portland was out-rebounded by 19 (54-35) and made only 12 of 35 field goal attempts in the second half.
Unacceptable: Webster, Bayless, and Aldridge combined to shoot 5-30, 16 percent.
Inexcusable: No Blazer had more than one assist. Given they used three point guards, you’d think this would be impossible.
For this injury-riddled team to win consistently, they have to play well for all four quarters. They didn’t, therefore they lost. It’s as simple as that.
On the bright side, power forward Jeff Pendergraph was activated, and fellow rookie Patrick Mills will be in the coming weeks. Judging by this performance, they could use their help.
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