I swear I could hear the air conditioning in the arena tonight. I almost fell asleep at one point mainly because no noise was being heard. Must be a Milwaukee Bucks game and that is exactly what it was. The Blazers were able to cap off a four-game road trip sweep as they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 91-82 on Wednesday Night. Again, it seems like this Blazer team does not need to be shooting lights out to win a ball game and we saw that tonight in the second half as the Blazer defense seemed to turn it up and force bad shots from the Bucks. It worked as the Bucks only scored a total of 31 points in the second half. The Blazers did not particularly shoot well in the fourth quarter as it seemed like both teams just wanted to get out of the building and can you blame them? Milwaukee came out with a purpose as they held a then 5 game losing streak and they hadn’t played in three days so the Bucks felt like this was a game to snag. The Blazers have had a reputation of laying eggs where they shouldn’t and after a string of good games maybe this would be the night. The Bucks came out and played solid defense as the Blazers seemed scrambled a little bit at the start of the game. The Bucks seemed to be getting high percentage shots and the defense on the Blazer end seemed non-existent once again. But, the Blazers were only down by 1 at the end of the first. In the second quarter, the Blazers adjusted their offense and defense and all of a sudden the game shifted. The Blazers outscored the Bucks by three in that quarter, but just the atmosphere and the way the Blazers were playing changed. In the first, you had the feeling that the Blazers might be thinking this was an easy win and it showed as the defense seemed a step slow and guards were getting caught in screens that caused mid-range jumpers, but in the second quarter there was no mercy in their eyes as the Blazers took away any kind of space in front of their man and seemed to be really grabbing for the ball and affecting movement.

To be quite honest, this game wasn’t anything spectacular. Nothing mind-blowing happened in this game. What did you expect; the Blazers were playing the Bucks in Milwaukee. Both teams shot about the same. The Blazers shot 41% from the field and the Bucks shot 44% from the field. The Blazers were 11-for-31 from the beyond the arc on the night as that weapon of theirs seemed to come and go. There were spurts where a couple of threes would go in and then it seemed like the basket had a lid on it. The Blazers had some many opportunities to blow this game wide open as the Bucks seemed to be committing turnover after turnover and allowing so many fast breaks, but the Blazers could not convert. Either bad passes occurred or wide-open threes just wouldn’t fall. The Blazers got a little lucky again tonight. The Bucks had a lot of opportunities to make it a game, but either the defense of the Blazers was strong or the Bucks would make some mind-blowing error that made you remember that this team was 2-7 at the time. The Blazers, again, could never quite pull away and close this game out. The Bucks were only down by 7 with 59 seconds remaining. That may seem like a lot, but there was still a chance and I am saying that there shouldn’t be a chance. The Blazer started shooting incredibly cold towards the end and Batum missed three straight free throws badly when the Bucks started playing the foul game. Again, the Blazers were able to keep their composure and get stops when they needed to, but how long can that last? We shall see.

I would like to take a moment to talk about the Bucks a little bit. Attention Bucks management: BLOW YOUR TEAM UP! Stop sitting in the sewage that you guys have been in since the 90s. Your fans deserve better. Did you see whatever was there at your stadium tonight? That wasn’t a crowd. No good NBA player is going to come there willingly and you have to accept that. Swallow being bad for a while as you rebuild, but getting middle of the road draft picks and trading for role players at best is not the way to go. Even if you guys are at full strength I am not entirely sure if things would be that different. Please, I bet your fans are pleading to at least rebuild so they have some hope because right now you can’t even dream for the future. Get your act together as whatever I just watched tonight Milwaukee is sad as hell.

Anyway, rant over, onto statistics.

LaMarcus Aldridge has been on a tear and is continuing to do so as he finished the night with 21 points on 10-for-22 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. He was doing a little of everything tonight as LA was able to take advantage of Milwaukee not having a big man in there at all times. With Larry Sanders hurt, Zaza Pachulia had to step in and he couldn’t play the whole game.  LA had a pretty cold shooting spree in the fourth quarter as his shot seemed to miss by just a hair. I am happy that he seems to be taking those shots with more confidence and is not even thinking about it. I have no problem now trusting him with the ball in the closing minutes of game. I think that is good as the opposition is now realizing that Damian and Wesley Mattews were our clutch shooters last season and having a clutch inside presence can really do wonders.  He has just been an absolute monster and I have yet to find someone besides Channing Frye who can actually guard him with some efficiency.

Damian Lillard had a solid night as he finished with 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 2-for-7 from three, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Damian cannot get foul calls when he gets contact on the rim. I am not blaming the referees here, but I just find it interesting. It seemed like towards the end of last season that was almost an automatic call. Maybe players are learning what to do when he does drive in. Lillard has still been an absolute wizard when it comes to collapse defenses and being able to find the open man. The amount of passing that is going on with this team is absurd and not just the amount of passing, but the types of passes. Lillard is threading the needle on one out of three passes and hitting his target. You can talk all you want about his offensive game right now, but I think people really need to look at his passing as that seems to be getting a lot better and deadlier. Lillard continues to play good defense and is able to create problems for his man. Again, I am waiting for Lillard to maybe shoot a little more efficiently. He hasn’t had an explosive game for a little bit and I think he is about due.

Wesley Matthews had a bit of a homecoming tonight as family and friends attended the game to watch him. Wesley finished the night with 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting, 3-for-9 from three, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Wesley was red hot at the beginning as he hit his first two threes of the night and scored 15 points in the first half. Unfortunately, that is all he scored as Milwaukee closed out on him at the three point line and made him a priority defensively. Wesley did have some chances in the fourth to hit some open threes, but he just couldn’t get them to fall. Overall, Wesley had a solid and was instrumental in helping the Blazers through the first half while the other guys got going.

Some quick observations I have seen is that it appears that the third quarter is the turning point. All the teams on this road trip have been the subject of a run in the third quarter that tends to win the Blazers the game. The depth is having an impact, at least on these lower standing teams. It will be interesting to see if teams like the Bulls, Spurs, or Thunder have these issues as well. Another observation is that our defense seems to lag in the first quarter, especially in these last two games. However, Portland adjusts really well and in both games the Blazers came out in the second quarter and really were able to play defensive more effectively and increase the intensity of their defense.

Well, this wasn’t an impressive game by any means, but a win is a win as the Blazers are now 10-2 on the season and are currently on an 8-game winning streak. The Blazers return home to the Moda Center on Friday as they face probably their first hard team in a while, the Chicago Bulls. The excitement, of course, will be that Damian and Derrick Rose will be going at it for the first time and it should be a fun game to watch. I said that Lillard is due for a breakout and he likes the spotlight. Maybe Friday is the night. The Blazers play at 7:00 PST on Friday and it should be an excellent game. Stay tuned.