I am just going to come out and say it. Last night’s Blazer game was an exciting one. Not only for the people in the building, but for the people watching on TNT. The Blazers showcased yet another exciting and heart attack-inducing game on national TV as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers 116-112 in an OT thriller. I was joking before the game how I thought this might be a triple OT thriller that would be a back and forth battle. Well, I was close. Coming into the game, this looked to be a great matchup on paper. The Clippers had just come off of a heart-breaking loss to the Golden State Warriors on Christmas day and the Blazers hadn’t played the Clippers yet this season. People were interested to see how these two teams would match up. This game also featured some very nice position matchups for the first time this season. Two Western Conference players of the week in Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge and a top-tier point guard matchup in Chris Paul and Damian Lillard. Well, as you will see, this game lived up to all the hype and more.
The Blazers, again, were not lights out from beyond the arc, but many of those misses rattled out or were just off by an inch. Individually, no one on the Blazer squad shot well from three. 2-for-6, 2-for-5, 4-for-10, 1-for-4, and 4-for-9, those are players that attempted the most threes in that game. As you can see, no one was particularly heating up from downtown. However, this game would ultimately come down to a three point shot, which I think is poetic for this Blazer team this season.
The Blazers allowed 54 points in the paint, which is still a really uneasy number. Now, if you take into account how good Blake Griffin and Chris Paul were last night, then it doesn’t seem as bad. Still, you do not like to see those numbers. A good stat for the Blazers, however, was the rebounding totals. The Blazers out-rebounded the Clippers 60-48. Keep in mind that this was with the Clippers’ Griffin having 11 and DeAndre Jordan having 19. Impressive and telling stat.
The first quarter was a slow one. Both teams really didn’t shoot all that well and it was hardly an offensive showcase right from the start. The Blazers outscored the Clippers 19-14 in the first, but you had the feeling that would not last. Both teams have electric offenses that don’t stay quiet for long. That was the case in the second quarter where the Clippers jumped out and outscored the Blazers 32-28. As this game was taking shape, you realized that Blake Griffin and Chris Paul were just going to carry the Clipper team for the game. Both seemed to be hitting their shots and getting to their spots pretty easily and after the loss to the Warriors the night before, they both looked to want to win this game. The Blazers just carried a 1-point lead into halftime as Chris Paul, which was a prelude of what was to come, hit a 27-foot three pointer at the buzzer. It was then I realized that the Blazers were not going to “get some space” or “blow it wide open”.
I thought the Blazer defense in the first half was a lot better than I had seen in recent games. The Clippers were just making some tough shots. The Blazers forced Griffin into taking long-range shots, which normally do not fall for him consistently. The Blazers were able to force the Clippers into using up a lot of the shot clock before they got into their sets. The Blazers also did a tremendous job at stopping the infamous Clipper lob. I was thoroughly impressed in the first half.
I was also impressed with the play of Meyers Leonard. There had been some talk over the Christmas break how Stotts had used Leonard in place of Thomas Robinson in the Pelicans to stretch the floor and to have another option. Would this be the case for a few games going forward? Is Meyers taking over Robinson’s spot in the rotation? Hard to say right now, but Leonard was again used and played, in my opinion, his best defensive game as a Blazer. Like Joel Freeland, Meyers is getting better at jumping in front of opponents with his arms vertically in the air. Not only did Meyers just get two fouls in 13 minutes of play, but he provided 7 rebounds. Something else that is blooming is the fact that Meyers can hit some three pointers similar to Ryan Anderson, Spencer Hawes, or Byron Mullens. There were a couple of offensive possessions where Meyers was set up in the corner for the possibility of shooting a three. He attempted 1 last night and it missed, but it is a very intriguing option. If the Blazers can start utilizing that more often and drawing opposing big men out of the paint, that will be a huge weapon to use in the second and third quarters.
The second half started with the familiar air of third quarter dominance. Well, technically the Blazers outscored the Clippers in the third quarter; however, I would not call it dominance. This game as a whole was very streaky and just when it looked like the Blazers might be building a cushion, the Clippers would rush right back with 8 quick points. It was the same story with the Clippers as it was in the first half except that Chris Paul was done getting his teammates involved. Paul hit everything. It seemed like every Clipper possession was a Paul make. Now you can say that maybe the Blazers’ defense was not as good as it was in the first half and I would tend to agree, however, Chris Paul was making some ridiculous shots. The Blazers kept trying to push him out farther and farther away and he just kept swishing them. Just to put it in perspective, Chris Paul finished the night with 34 points on 16-for-29 shooting, 2-for-3 from three, 16 assists, and 6 steals. Yeah, he was feeling it.
Real quick before I move on to the fourth quarter, the bench play for the Blazers was phenomenal. I already talked about the play of Meyers Leonard, but the play of Mo Williams and Joel Freeland need to be talked about. Freeland was an animal on the hustle plays last night providing the Blazers with second chance opportunities, which ended up being huge in the end and grabbing offensive rebounds. In 12 minutes of play he finished the night with 2 points on 1-for-3 shooting and 8 rebounds (3 offensive). The hustle play from the bench was needed as the Blazers had 16 TOs on the night. Mo Williams was on fire in stretches. He finished the night with 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting, 4-for-9 from three, and 8 assists. There was two times where Mo hit back-to-back threes to give the Blazers a little bit of breathing room and to give them some nice scoring punch when the starters were sitting. If Mo Williams hadn’t scored 12, this would have been an entirely different blog post. After a few lackluster days arguably from the bench, they came up big last night.
The fourth quarter is where you want to start taking heart pills as any good Blazer fan has this season. As the Blazers looked to put the pedal on the gas leading by as much as 11 with 7:07 remaining, Jamal Crawford and Blake Griffin (really?) hit back-to-back three pointers to get LA within 5. Yeah, it was going to be one of those games. With a bad pass by the Blazers and a missed three pointer by Matthews, the Blazers clung on to a 3 point lead. Jamal Crawford would tie it up with a three pointer and then the boxing match started. The Blazers would score on one end and then the game would be tied as the Clippers scored on the other end. It was a heck of a quarter to watch as both teams really went blow for blow.
Enter Chris Paul. In the last 2 minutes of the fourth quarter, he took over. He made 4 straight shots to put the Clippers up by 3 with 9 seconds remaining. Blazer fans started leaving the Moda Center and even I had the feeling of disbelief. It felt like a game the Blazer had let slip away. However, the Blazers had on more possession as 9 seconds were still on the clock. Nicolas Batum, who had hit 1 three all night, buried a 26-foot three pointer to tie the game up with 5 seconds remaining. Obviously, he wins the freaky three award for the game as there was an added drama to the moment and the fact that it was over 25 feet. However, I was not comfortable. It was great that the Blazers tied it and it was something they had to do to get back into it, obviously. But, there was still 5 seconds on the clock and Chris Paul, the assassin of the fourth quarter, was beyond feeling it last night. 5 seconds is enough for him to get the ball get to his spot and shoot it, which you did not want.
Chris Paul would end up missing his shot, which was mind-blowing and this game would go into OT. Now, you know how this ends, but man that was a high-scoring OT. The Blazers outscored the Clippers 15-11 in OT with the boxing match escalating. LaMarcus Aldridge took over in OT as he went 3-for-4 and had an answer for every make that the Clippers had. It also helped that DeAndre Jordan, who had 19 rebounds and was the big man for the Clippers in the paint, fouled out in OT, which caused the paint to open up a little bit more and to not have the threat of a shot blocker right in front of you. Ultimately it came down to free throws and the Blazers were able to swish them with ease and somehow, come out with a victory.
The national TV audience got a show and a dramatic one at that. It was a battle of two very good Western Conference teams that came down to the wire as hyped. That was long-winded section, but this game did really feel like a Broadway play. It had different moments and moods. It also had pretty much every player participating in their way. Heck of a game.
I mentioned Chris Paul’s stats above, but Blake Griffin needs to be recognized. I give him a hard time personally, but he played outstanding last night as he ended with 35 points on 15-for-27 shooting and 11 rebounds. He was hitting a lot of shots that he normally misses and was able to get LA into foul trouble in the third quarter.
On the Blazer end of things, the entire starting lineup played their part, but I am only going to mention a few. LaMarcus Aldridge who was coming off of having his wisdom teeth pulled on Sunday and hadn’t really eaten anything all week ended the night with 32 points on 15-for-31 shooting and 10 rebounds. LA, as always, was the rock tonight. Whenever he was in the game and particularly in OT, he was effective. With Damian Lillard getting double-teamed and rushed as the Clippers tried to stop the pick and roll, LA was open for most of the night. It was just a matter of hitting the shot.
Robin Lopez was what the Blazers needed on the defensive end as he stopped the Clippers from lobbing and even affected one lob that the Clippers did attempt. He ended the night with 11 points and 15 rebounds (7 offensive). Here is a mind-blowing stat for you guys. Lopez had no fouls in 40 minutes. I did not see that until today, but that is impressive considering how much bumping and grinding there was down low. He also ended up having to guard Blake Griffin for a time just because LA was in foul trouble. Well done.
Lastly, Nicolas Batum, who was basically the player who won the game for the Blazers, ended with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting, 2-for-6 from three, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. He played as good a defense as you could have on Chris Paul and shut down Jared Dudley for the most part. What more is there to say? He hit the biggest three-pointer of the game and ultimately helped the Blazers to a W.
Well, it does not get any easier whatsoever for the Blazers as their next game is against the defending champions Miami Heat on Saturday at the Moda Center at 7:00 PM PST. LeBron James has been outstanding as always this season and has been untouchable in the Moda Center for his career. The last game against Miami in the Moda Center was an epic one. This is shaping up to be another one this season. Stay tuned!