Unbelievable, un-freaking-believable. Well, after four heart-attacks and maybe pulling out a few hairs I have finally been able to process what I just saw. The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Chicago Bulls 98-95 and extend their winning streak to 9 and are now the owners of an 11-2 record. After all the media coverage of the Blazers this past week and people questioning whether or not they were for real, this should put some of those reporters to bed. This was the game the Blazers needed to win to prove to people that they were actually a team to be reckoned with. I just wish they didn’t have to do it in such dramatic fashion, but I guess I’ll take it. Where do I start? The Blazers looked anything but the team we have been raving about at the start of the game. The Moda Center was ready to watch a team that had just swept a four-game road trip and wanted to see them get yet another win. You could feel it in the beginning. The crowd was electric and was ready to explode. Well, the crowd would have wait as the Blazers just fell on their face in the first half. Non-existent ball movement, poor shot selection, 2nd chance points for the Bulls, and just good defense by the Bulls threw the Blazers off their game. It also didn’t help that Aldridge had one of his worst shooting nights that I have seen in a while allowing the Bulls to play the game the way they wanted to play and allowed the Bulls to double-team other players that would otherwise be open. The other story of the night was the anticipated match-up between Derrick Rose and Damian Lillard. How would Lillard play against the player he is probably most compared to? Well, at the beginning, not so well because Rose was just running circles around Lillard and any other Blazer player for that matter. Rose really put the spark in that offense and it looked like the game was over in the second quarter as the Bulls were up by as much as 20.
Now, the Blazers are pretty used to being down in deep holes, just look at last season. However, I wasn’t sure how this team was going to handle it and by the way we were playing at the time, I thought the game was over. We didn’t look like a team that wanted to win this game. The crowd that wanted so much to scream and cheer didn’t have a reason to. They saw nothing that they liked and you could tell that head coach Terry Stotts agreed as he called many a timeout to try and get through to his team that we were basically getting out-hustled. Well, I guess he finally got through as the Blazers were able to close the lead to 15. You weren’t comfortable yet, but all of sudden Robin Lopez was being a beast in the paint as he seemingly was grabbing every offensive rebound and was able to literally pry balls away from players like Luol Deng and Joakim Noah. A few open three-pointers were converted and Batum got fouled shooting a three. Not a bad turnaround, but there was still a lot of work to be done.
This is where this game got nuts: the third quarter. We have seen pretty good stretches of Blazer defense, but in short spurts. Maybe a couple of stops in a row, or maybe just one really crucial stop at the end of games, but never for an extended period of time. Well, tonight was finally the night as the Blazers came out with a mission. The Blazers made 8 consecutive stops and, again, the defense and push the Blazers make in the third quarter happened again. The catalyst? Terry Stotts put Batum on Derrick Rose and the Bulls’ offense just screeched to a halt. The Bulls were not able to get into their sets and the Blazers were able to make the Bulls run, which is exactly what they hate doing. All of sudden the lead was down to 10, then to 5, then holy crap down to 2. Wesley Matthews was the hero of that quarter. Nothing seemed to stop him and he was channeling something tonight. Again, sorry Wesley for not believing in you for a split second. He could not miss and he was becoming such a threat that he even drew a double-team. Let me say that again. A double-team on Wesley Matthews?! You know something special is happening when Wesley hits about the toughest shot you can attempt while he has three guys hanging all over him. With suffocating defense, and honestly sheer will by Wesley Matthews and the Blazers, the Blazers outscored the Bulls 34-12 and even took a 7-point lead into the fourth quarter. Say what? In a game where I thought I was going to have to turn it off, the Blazers got the game back into control in a hurry.
However, the game wasn’t that comfortable for long as the Bulls were able to climb right back in it and make it a one possession game. All of the sudden the offense for both teams picked up and all the Blazer fans were probably nervous as hell. I know I was. When the Bulls took a 5-point lead with 2:35 left in the game, it looked grim. You felt horrible because the Blazers had fought so hard to get there and now they were just going to let it slip away. Not on Lillard’s watch as he drained one of his signature three feet behind the line three-pointers that just swished. Then Batum was able to swish one himself. The three-pointers were falling, but you had the sense that this was going to come down to defense and it did. Much like in the Phoenix game a couple of nights ago, it came down to one possession. In an offensive possession for the Bulls that seemed to go on for days, the defense was astounding. Getting into people’s airspace, trapping them in the corner, and ultimately tipping a three-pointer shot by the red hot Mike Dunleavy sealed the game and really the last couple of weeks for the Blazers. It was really an unbelievable sequence and it reminded me of the last defensive sequence in a game against Memphis last season where everything seemed to go right and fall into our hands. Wow.
The MVPs for this game were Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez. Robin Lopez was able to bring energy when there was none and was able to give the Blazers a fighting chance by cleaning up the boards and being able to bang with the big men down low. I keep saying that Lopez had his best game as a Blazer, but tonight was the best one he has had in my opinion. Being able to wrestle with Boozer, Deng, and Noah and affect the glass that much was amazing. He ended the night with 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 16 rebounds (a career high), with a staggering 8 being offensive rebounds. Lopez turned it up and is showing that he might be just as good as his brother on the defensive end. People forget he is only 25. However, this game did not start out good for Lopez. Multiple times he came so close to grabbing offensive rebounds that you could sense his frustration. Finally, I think that frustration boiled over into him eventually just pushing people out of the way and allowing himself to say that he was going to get the ball no matter what. He even was able to catch an offensive rebound one-handed while being held down by Joakim Noah, impressive. Lopez just keeps on impressing me with his enforcer mentality and is playing so much better than he was in New Orleans.
Wesley-freaking-Matthews is still riding his angry train after not being put on the all-star ballot. He exploded tonight for 28 points on 12-for-19 shooting, 4-for-8 from three, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. Holy moley he was everywhere. His defense was solid as a rock and it was just that kind of night for Wesley. He drilled a three early in the game as usual, but then just turned it on in the second half. Running on the fast break and converting lay-ups, shooting over double-teams and swishing, driving into the lane for an easy dunk, the Bulls could not figure out how to stop him and I don’t know if you could have. I could see his emotions and face in timeouts. He wasn’t letting this game get away. Really, the NBA needs to leave him off the ballot more often. He, for once, is playing healthy and because of that is probably playing his best basketball as a Blazer. On a night where someone had to step up because of poor shooting from LaMarcus Aldridge (who went just 4-for-20) and maybe a less-than-optimal performance from the bench, Wesley Matthews did just that and further showed that he should have at least been put on the all-star ballot.
One quick thought that really is scary for Chicago fans, Derrick Rose limped off the floor after tweaking his right knee, which is not the knee that he previously injured, but it cannot be good. He limped badly off the floor and ultimately left the game. According to Bulls head coach, Tom Thibodeau, Rose will have an MRI in LA, where they will play the Clippers on Sunday. This is obviously scary and I hope Rose can come back healthy. Unfortunately, this injury might be something that nags him for a while, if not his whole career.
Well, what a game, but the Blazers don’t have long to celebrate as they are headed to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors tomorrow at 7:30 PM PST. Big game from Lillard? Last time he was there he shot on ungodly percentage and almost single-handedly won the game for us. It is going to be a good one and yet another step on the ladder for the Blazers. Away we go!