Anybody out there want to complain about how LaMarcus Aldridge isn’t clutch now? Anybody want to say that we should trade him because he is “soft”? After watching tonight’s game, I do not know how you can still be in that camp. Either way, the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena 113-101 in a spirited, passionate comeback and victory for the Blazers that really just sealed the deal on whether or not this team is for real. The Blazers extend their winning streak to 10 and won yet another set of back-to-backs. The Blazers now are 7-1 on the road and, just to give you a comparison, the Blazers only won 11 on the road last season.
Tonight’s game will be a highlight of this season. The Blazers were struggling in the first half yet again and it seemed like it was the exact same game as the Chicago game. Wesley Matthews throughout the night was getting frustrated with the lack of calls from the referees and got a technical foul for his troubles. However, this fired Matthews up to the point where his next two shots were swishes and brought the Blazers within eight until the catalyst occurred. As Andrew Bogut and Joel Freeland were wrestling for a rebound, Bogut elbowed Freeland in the throat, which started a fight near the Warriors bench. This was probably one of the more heated fights that I have seen from the Blazers in a while. I have seen LA get chippy with Kevin Love. I have seen some slight shoving and words being exchanged, but there were jerseys being pulled and multiple players shoving each other. It took a while for the referees to sort things out, but ultimately Wesley Matthews and Mo Williams were ejected. Now, at the time, Wesley Matthews was really the only guy that was shooting well for the Blazers. He was the only reason we were in this game. You can go two ways after a fight. You can hang your head and get mad at getting screwed, which the Blazers had every excuse in the book to do. Both LA and Damian’s shots were not falling and the Warriors offense was clicking. You could also visibly see that the Blazers were getting flat out frustrated at some of the officiating as well. However, the Blazers went the other route, which is that they got angry in the good way and you could see the change in their body language and how they played the game. The defense ramped up in a hurry as players were all over the Warriors and Robin Lopez was seemingly blocking every shot that was coming his way. Offense was moving the ball and all of a sudden our shots started falling. Then LaMarcus Aldridge decided to take the team on his back and finish it out. LA was going to the rim every single time and it was working beautifully. He was getting to the line and the best part was he was hitting free-throws. I’ll get to stats in a bit, but all of the Blazer fans that didn’t believe in LA or thought that we should trade him for good pieces, just go away. Tonight should have quieted you guys because LA single-handedly won this game after Matthews got thrown out. This is a glaring stat; the Blazers outscored GS 41-18 after the fight. Think there was a bit of anger that needed to get out?
Ultimately, this is yet another reason why people need to take this team seriously. They don’t give up and they have found ways to win that are absolutely mind-blowing. I am going to be honest, with Klay Thompson ultimately going 10-for-13 on the night with 30 points and shooting the way he was, I thought it was over. Especially since the Blazers’ offense seemed stagnant and we got caught in the rut that is hero ball. There was some bad luck in that balls were just not rolling the right way, but mostly it was just poor ball movement and the Blazers throwing up contested shots that were just horrible. When the Warriors backcourt starts getting hot, there is very little you can do to stop them. Luckily Stephen Curry wasn’t that on tonight as he was 8-for-21 and only 2-for-9 from the three which is a huge dodged bullet. If Curry is actually hitting from three, I do not know if the Blazers pull this out. Luckily Curry was feeling a bit off and the Blazers fought and fought their way to a well-earned victory in a place that has been a thorn in the Blazers’ side for some time.
The MVPs of this game are obvious, Wesley Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge. Matthews, yet again, got out to a really hot start as he hit three straight threes to start off the game and gave the Blazers a 7-point lead in the first quarter. Matthews went quiet as teams started defending him really well, but he again was a bulldog and as the Blazers were a critical moment in the game and could have let this game slip away, Matthews was not going to let that happen. He wanted the streak to continue. Matthews finished the night with 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting, 5-for-6 from three, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Somebody come cool Matthews off. This man is shooting an unbelievable percentage. In his last 10 games his field goal percentage has been 56%. That is absurd. You would think he would come down to earth at some point, but he just keeps going. Maybe this is the new Matthews. If so, teams look out. Matthews has become even more than the heart and soul of this team. He is a player that you want on your side because he never stops playing and he never will. I bet you that he will be pissed at the low rebound numbers tonight even though he completely shot the lights out. That is just his personality.
LaMarcus freaking Aldridge was the definition of a beast tonight. He, again, didn’t shoot particularly well, but he completely took over the second half. He finished the night with 30 points on 7-for-21 shooting and a staggering 21 rebounds. This was his second career 30-20 game, the first being in a game against Toronto a couple years ago. Aldridge did the smart thing. His shot was really not there so he just continued to charge to the rim and more often than not he got the foul call. He helped the Blazers run the Warriors out of the building in the fourth quarter with constant foul shots on his end and relentless rebounding. Again, all you people out there who weren’t maybe the biggest LA fan, maybe this will finally shut you guys up. He went to the rim a lot too, so the people who complain about his shooting do not really have an argument tonight. This game actually showed the growth we have all heard about this season. LA was determined and on a mission and you could tell that he was not leaving that arena without a W. Holy moley what a performance.
Well, take a deep breath and enjoy this game because the Blazers have a day off before they play the New York Knicks in the Moda Center on Monday at 7:00 PM PST. The Knicks have been really struggling and boast just a 3-9 record. I fully expect them to get angry and come out with some passion as the Blazers have now become a target for teams. This will also be the return of Raymond Felton to Rose Garden/Moda Center. Will he get booed as much as he did last time he was here? Probably. Stay tuned.