The Portland Trail Blazers get a much-needed win on Thursday night as they beat the Atlanta Hawks 100-85 in a convincing and dominating fashion. The Blazers improve to 46-27 on the season, while the Hawks drop to 31-40 and still cling to that No. 8 seed in the East with New York closing in.
The main storyline of the night was the much-anticipated and needed return of LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers have slowly started to miss him more and more as the games have gone on and tonight showed that Portland needs LA to really function at a high level. Almost immediately his effect was felt as he blocked a shot with just over a minute into the game. He also rebounded and recorded a steal in his first shift, while going 3-for-5 from the field in the first quarter. It is safe to say that he played the best he has played since before his first injury.
LA had a difficult time readjusting to the court after his injury and it almost hurt the Blazers in some regard. Now, it seems that his head is in the right place and he did not waste any time to be effective. With all that being said, LA was not the only reason the Blazers won this game. For starters, the defense came out and played with an energy that was sorely lacking in the Orlando game. Whether this was a side effect of LA returning or the fact that there is a sense of urgency now for Portland does not matter. The point is that the Blazers did what they had to do and to get off the losing streak.
The Atlanta Hawks’ sharpshooter Kyle Korver was unable to play tonight and as such they had trouble scoring. The Hawks got pummeled by Minnesota yesterday and experienced the same scoring issues that were prominent against the Timberwolves. Atlanta’s highest scoring quarter was the third quarter where they mustered 27 points. Keep in mind that this was with Jeff Teague, Atlanta’s best player, scoring 22 points on 10-for-18 shooting. One stat I will throw out right away is Atlanta’s three-point shooting. This shows you just how important Korver is to their offense. Atlanta went 4-for-22 from beyond the arc and just shot 18%. All I can say is: disgusting.
Portland had control for the majority of this game. They got off to a good start, which was needed, and outscored Atlanta 22-16. Then Portland did something that they tend not to do, which is to keep scoring and pushing. They outscored the Hawks 31-21 in the second thanks to great bench play and solid defense throughout. Thomas Robinson ended with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting and finished with a +10 on the night. Mo Williams finished with 8 points and 11 assists in 25 minutes of play.
The impressive aspect of this game was the fact that LA had a horrid game against Atlanta when they played in the Moda Center. He finished 1-for-13 and had a hard time against Mike Scott. In tonight’s game, they sent Scott to him again. A different result occurred, which is a good sign for Portland fans.
The Blazers finished going 37-for-80 from the field and shot 46%, while shooting 39% from three point land. Portland went through a funk in the third quarter where they had made just 3 of 15 shots. Obviously, the offensive struggles are still there somewhat, but they were dampened by LA’s return and a good mindset from Portland.
Portland did commit 13 turnovers and Atlanta scored 19 points off of them. The Blazers still have to take care of the ball as this is now a streak of games where Portland has had over 10 turnovers sometimes even in the same quarter.
Individually, LaMarcus Aldridge steals the show. In his return, he finished with 25 points on 9-for-21 shooting and 16 rebounds. Yeah, I say he is good to go. He looked great and the only thing that seemed off was his running speed, which was to be expected. Otherwise, his shot looked the best that it has in some time and his rebounding ability was sorely missed.
Damian Lillard finished with 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting, 4-for-9 from three, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Overall, the perfect game for Portland and the perfect game for LA to return. Now, it is on to Chicago as Portland wraps up their five-game road trip by taking on the Bulls tomorrow. There is some question as to whether LA will play on back-to-backs and if that is the case, this was will be a very tough game tomorrow. The Bulls have been playing extremely well thanks to the absolute dominant play of Joakim Noah. Portland was able to mount a big comeback against them early in the season, but they are, yet again, without Derrick Rose and for once that might not be a good thing for Portland. Tip-off is at 5:00 p.m. PST. Stay tuned!