The Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night had a little extra motivation as this was their first nationally televised game of the season. People finally got their first chance to see what this “up-start” Blazer team was all about and finally get an answer to the question “are they really this good?” The Trail Blazers did not disappoint last night as they beat the Houston Rockets 111-104 and improve their record to 19-4 on the season. Houston has been one of the lucky four to be able to log wins against the Blazers this season. Obviously, the Blazers were looking to come right back with a win of their own as Houston was only one of two teams that were able to win in the Moda Center. Houston was also the only one of two teams (other being Phoenix) to win by a significant margin as they beat the Blazers by 15 back on November 5th.
I was at the game last night and this was the first time I was in the arena and the crowd was rowdy. I had been to one Laker game last season where the crowd was rowdy, but not like this. It was a TNT game against a great Houston team who is number one in rebounding and points scored per game. Interesting as the Blazers are number two in points scored per game. This was two of the best offensive teams right now going at it for everyone to watch. It also felt special because we were the only game on for the most of the night as the previous TNT game with the Clippers and the Nets was anything but entertaining. This was truly a statement game, if you can call it that this early into the season, and the Blazers did not disappoint. The fans were into it and obviously the players were into it as the Blazers played with an energy level that was the highest I have probably seen this year.
If you had to make a prediction about this game, you would say that this would be a high-scoring game and you would be correct, but not in the way you would expect. The Houston Rockets only shot 5-for-20 from beyond the arc. This is a team that makes its living off of shooting threes, similar to the Blazers. They have guys like Chandler Parsons, James Harden, Omri Casspi, Jeremy Lin, and Francisco Garcia who all can hit threes at an alarming clip given the chance. You even saw flashes of that last night as Harden would bring the ball up the court and just stop and shoot a three from the top of the key and drill it. This Houston team has the potential to really run you out of the building if they are hitting shots and I was never really comfortable in last night’s game no matter how big a lead the Blazers were able to get. A couple of miscues and bad defensive plays by the Blazers and the Rockets would back into it in a hurry and we saw that a couple of times last night. The Blazers would push the lead to 8 or 9 and before you know it a couple of fast breaks later and a three pointer and their lead would diminish to 2 or 3 in an instant.
On the other side, however, the Blazers themselves did not shoot well from the three at all as they were only 8-for-27 from distance. Again, with two of the best offensive teams who shoot a ridiculous amount of threes, you would think that you would see a stat that would be a little more efficient and a little more impressive from both teams. Not the case. 2-for-4, 2-for-5, 1-for-5, 0-for-2, 0-for-2, those were the individual three point stats on the Houston squad from their known three-point threats. Obviously it was an off night for this team as they had wide open corner three-pointers that could not find their marks, but I think the Blazers played this team very well on the defensive end and I will explain in a little bit.
Most of Houston’s points came from the paint as they scored a whopping 66 points down low. That was over half their points. Now, I am not happy with that stat, but the way the Blazers decided to play the Rockets, I would expect this stat. The Blazers never once double-teamed Dwight Howard and it showed in Howard’s stats as he finished with 32 points and 17 rebounds. You would think this would be a recipe for disaster. Opposing teams scoring 66 points in the paint and the Blazers not shooting well from three. Last season that would have been an L nine times out of ten, however, with Lopez guarding Howard one-on-one, it allowed the rest of the team to lock down the three point line. The stats I listed up above are evidence of that. The Blazers basically said “Sorry Robin, but we’ll let Howard go off on you while we shut down the rest of the team.” It was brilliant plan and it worked. James Harden was still able to get to the paint and get to the line like he always does, but he only attempted 9 shots from the line. Considering he is a player who can get to the line and shoot 18 FTs a game, this was mighty impressive.
One last telling stat before I get to individual players is that Damian Lillard was 1-for-10 last night with only 8 points and 6 assists. But… wait for it… he was a +20. Talk about having a presence on the court. Just the threat of Lillard alone helped the Blazers gain leads or increase them. I did not know how bad Lillard was shooting until I got home, but it did not seem like a bad night for him. Every time he got back into the game, the Blazers went on a tear. It was just one of those weird statistical nights and it does not stop there.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who has been and is, definitely in the MVP conversation over these past couple of weeks, took over this game. He started the game only shooting 2-for-8 in the first quarter and couldn’t seem to find his rhythm. LA, post-game, said that he realized was rushing it and he just needed to slow down and go to work. Well, you do the math, as he finished the night with 31 points on 12-for-22 shooting and, again wait for it, 25 rebounds. Yes, 25. LA turned it on in the second half and was willing his team to victory. Not only was he hitting from range, but he was also fighting for loose balls and giving the Blazers second chance opportunities with his rebounding. He was also going to the rim with ease and getting the line and just doing everything in this game. The MVP chants in the second quarter were a little premature, but the MVP chants in the fourth quarter were warranted, big time. In his last 10 games he is averaging 25.9 points and 13 rebounds a game. Wow. He is playing some insanely good basketball, obviously, but he is looking comfortable, happy, and just having fun this season. I would be too if my team was 19-4 and I had these stats.
Robin Lopez has been the perfect complementary piece to LA and it showed last night against the best center in the NBA in Dwight Howard. Poor Robin who had to guard this beast one-on-one, but he was still able to end the night with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks. You saw Batum having to guard Durant and Paul George back-to-back and that was pretty much all he would do on the night. He would maybe hit a three or two, but mostly his job was to contain those superstars. I am in no way saying that what Batum did was anything less than what Robin did because you could argue that Batum might have had the tougher gig, however, the fact that Robin was able to be a body to at least “slow down” Howard as much as you can and still post up numbers like that is impressive. Howard had spurts where he got everything he wanted, but Lopez did a very good job at making it, at least, a little difficult for the big man.
Nicolas Batum actually had a pretty good night, but it was overshadowed by the two players mentioned above. He finished with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. He was the first offensive spark of the night in the first quarter as he was 2-for-4 in the first quarter, including a three-pointer. He played great defense on Chandler Parsons and is getting much better at his passing. He still had the most turnovers last night at four and can still make some lazy passes, but I can see his passing game getting better as the season goes on. However, he still sometimes falls into the trap of being too unselfish to the point where he might have the better shot, but wants to pass anyway. I am expecting that to get better with experience. Batum also hit his only other three-pointer of the night that pushed the Blazer lead to 7 with 3:06 remaining in the fourth. Again, Batum has a knack for hitting a three when it matters and starting a rally.
Wesley Matthews gets all of his credit on the defensive end. Having to deal with James Harden all night, he had to be everywhere and the hardest part was not fouling Harden. James knows how to get the line and I think that was the most impressive thing about Matthews’ defense was the fact that Matthews only had three fouls on the night. In the third quarter, the Blazers were denying Harden the ball and most of that credit goes to Matthews who was in Harden’s airspace non-stop. Wesley was able to hit a couple of clutch lay-ups that resulted in increasing the lead further in the fourth quarter. Even though he did not have a great shooting night as he ended with 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting, only 2-for-8 from three, his defense more than made up for his missed shots.
Wow, I am still coming down for this game. It was so electric in the building last night and it was such a great opportunity to win a game of this scale and in great fashion. This game had everything. It had rallies, it had great defense, it had great ball movement, and best of all it was on TNT and everyone got to see it. After everything the Blazers have done this season, they still manage to surprise you with how well they can play. This doesn’t feel like a team who really lives by the three and dies by the three. Obviously, the three helps and that makes it a lot easier for them to win ballgames, but it isn’t a crutch like it has been in the past. Now, they have to get their road legs again as they go on a four-game road trip that will see the Blazers play four games in five nights. This trip will also feature the first match-up between Portland and Minnesota who were closely linked in season previews and articles. First up, however, is the Philadelphia 76ers who are playing a little bit better than everyone expected thanks to the outstanding play of Michael Carter-Williams. The Blazers have to be ready to play in hopes of not laying an egg after a fantastic outing last night. The Blazers tip-off at 5:00 PM PST on Saturday and it should prove to be a good game. Stay tuned!