I figured this post would be about the troubles and the issues that would surround the Portland Trail Blazers in the long absence of LaMarcus Aldridge. I thought I would, honestly, be talking about a loss and how the Washington Wizards just out-rebounded Portland and the Blazers could not muster enough firepower.
Well, I had to scrap it. Prior to the game, in a change from what fans had heard a day before, Aldridge announced that he would delay surgery and play through his left thumb ligament tear. He mentioned that the loss to Boston had something to do with him attempting to play through. While it can be sore and he is forgoing his slap-defense talent, his game was not affected at least from a fan’s perspective.
The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Washington Wizards in their first meeting of the season 103-96. The Blazers improve to 32-13 on the season, 20-5 at home, while the Wizards fall to 29-15, 11-9 on the road.
Not only does LA’s return help Portland and help them realize how important this season is to Aldridge, but it also changes the Western Conference landscape for the time being. Many stories had already been written about the effect of LA being out for 6-to-8 weeks and how that could change the Western Conference seedings, Portland’s playoff chances and other issues that had wider and bigger consequences. All those writers must be shaking their heads because nobody expected this to happen. Especially, since he had said just a day prior that he would go with the surgery option. In what was the lowest point for the Blazers this season after that brutal loss to Boston, last night was probably the best day this season.
Not only do the Blazers have hope that LA can play through it and play well, the Blazers beat a very talented and rugged frontline team in the Wizards.
On paper, this game looked like a nightmare for Portland. With all the injuries to the frontline and two quality players in the paint for Washington, it screamed a loss. The Blazers were most likely going to get out-rebounded and out-hustled. Second chance points were going to be a factor and Portland was just not going to give themselves a chance. Even with Aldridge healthy, this game was going to be difficult and not a pleasant matchup.
Well, in all the statistics that a fan would expect Washington to dominate in, Portland took that away. This team averages 10.3 offensive rebounds a game. With Nene and Marcin Gortat in the middle, as well as Kris Humphries and Kevin Seraphin off the bench, the rebounding battle is one of their strengths. They average 43.5 rebounds a game.
Washington only corralled two offensive rebounds. Two! The usual suspects did not grab any offensive rebounds. Nene and Gortat combined for just 11 rebounds. Portland would have eight offensive rebounds and out-rebound Washington by three all game. That is a mind-blowing stat if a person sits down and thinks about it. This is a team that averages double-digit offensive rebounds a game. To force this team to only grab two is impressive. Furthermore, John Wall and Seraphin were the only players who had one a piece.
On the other end, Aldridge and Chris Kaman both corralled two offensive rebounds and totaled 19 rebounds. Everyone who played for Portland, besides Allen Crabbe and C.J. McCollum, got at least one rebound. The mission statement must have been to get the guards crashing the glass and get the rebounds.
The Blazers actually outscored the Wizards 28-24 in the paint. Most of this has to do with the ridiculous amount of mid-range shots that the Wizards were taking at the beginning of this game. In the first quarter, Portland ran into yet another hot-shooting performance. The Wizards shot 58% from the field and a lot of those made shots were mid-range to long-range twos. Nene went 5-for-7 with 11 points and most of those shots being in Aldridge’s favorite positions. I may be mistaken, but Nene is not Aldridge.
Wall was his usual quick self. He had ten points in the first quarter on 4-for-5 shooting. The only reason Portland did not fall behind too much was that Aldridge got hot. He played almost the entire first quarter as he always does and had ten points on 5-for-10 shooting with four rebounds. The Blazers got punched early and saw themselves staring at a 13-2 deficit. Defensively, Portland had a hard time staying in front of guards and not even contesting the mid-range shots. Furthermore, the Wizards had nine fast break points in the quarter.
Portland made adjustments and outscored the Wizards in the next three quarters by a combined 19 points. In the second and third quarters, the Wizards’ shooting percentage started plummeting. In the third quarter, the Wizards only shot 33% from the field, while the Blazers shot 43% from the field and, most important, 50% from three. In the first half, Portland only swished five threes, in the second half, they hit eight. The perimeter got open thanks to Aldridge’s hot shooting night. If there was ever an example of a game that a person could point to when describing Aldridge’s impact, this would be the one. Unlike the Boston and Phoenix games where the defense could play spread out and the guards would get all the attention, Nene and Gortat tied themselves to Aldridge and could not venture far. This was also used wisely by playing Meyers Leonard who finished with nine points on 2-for-3 shooting, both three-pointers. The floor was spread and head coach Terry Stotts forced the Wizards into spreading their bigs.
A key turning point happened in what seemed like a blink of an eye. After getting just one foul on him in the first half, Nene was coasting and was arguably the best player on the floor. The Wizards hinge on Nene. When he does not play, this team tends to lose toughness and defense. Nene does so much for this team, like Robin Lopez does for Portland, that the fact he was not in foul trouble spelled trouble down the road.
However, with 4:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, a crazy sequence occurred. LA got the ball in his favorite spot on the left block with Nene defending. Aldridge went at him and Nene bit on the fake and fouled him. Ball gets thrown in, Aldridge gets the ball again, Nene fouls him. Ball gets thrown in one more time, Aldridge gets it and this time LA went to the basket and Nene fouled him again, this time a shooting foul and penalty time. In nine seconds, Nene committed three fouls to put him at five for the game. Immediately, momentum and the aggressiveness displayed by Nene and the frontline vanished. Nene had to sag off on most offensive possessions and paid the price as he fouled Leonard shooting a three-pointer.
Nene was in the best position in this game. With only two fouls and late in the fourth quarter, he somehow managed to squander it in less than ten seconds. What I do not understand is why did the Wizards head coach Randy Wittman not switch the defender? Usually, coaches will then hide or substitute just so they do get into foul trouble in the blink of eye. Yes, it was the end of the fourth quarter, but that was arguably your best player of the game.
Another questionable decision I have to talk about is Gortat only playing three and half minutes in the fourth quarter. He came in too late and only contributed two points.
Portland capitalized on Nene’s situation and outscored the Wizards 34-26 in the fourth quarter. The Wizards shot over 50% in the quarter, but Portland went 15-for-15 from the line. Damian Lillard and Aldridge both went 6-for-6. Portland finished going 20-for-20 from the line. Portland also grabbed seven second-chance points to the Wizards’ zero. Because of Nene’s issues, the Wizards only corralled six rebounds in the quarter. Zero from the two big men inside.
It was an impressive game for the Blazers and the kind of the game that can wipe away the ugliness of the past week and a half. Remember the Orlando game of last season? I think that was the Boston game. I have a feeling that with Aldridge back and seemingly not making the injury worse and Lopez around the corner, the Blazers are ready to move forward. With a win against team like this, it shows that Portland is getting out of their funk. What was more impressive, as I mentioned, was the statistics underneath it all. The Blazers essentially made the frontline useless for Washington and forced their guards to make plays.
Aldridge finished with 26 points on 9-for-22 shooting with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. The first couple of shots that he attempted looked off and uncomfortable, but as the game wore on, he did not shy away from his usual moves and spots. Sometimes players trying to play through an injury will only play halfway or try to play a different way. Aldridge played his game and did not look different for the most part. Without him playing, Portland would be stuck wondering what they were going to do. Aldridge provided almost 30 points just by playing.
Lillard had a good night, but was overshadowed by Aldridge’s return. He finished with 20 points on 5-for-13 shooting, 2-for-6 from three with seven assists, three rebounds and one steal. Lillard and Wall canceled each other out. Lillard was better at shot selection and it showed as he only attempted 13 shots as opposed to over 20 in the last two games.
Wesley Matthews hit two clutch three-pointers in the fourth to give Portland the momentum. He finished with 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting, 5-for-11 from three.
What was surprising was the bench production and scoring compared to Washington’s. Portland’s bench scored 32 points, while the Wizards could only muster 17. First off, Washington’s bench is a lot better than what they demonstrated. Humphries, Martell Webster, Seraphin and Butler have all had great games (well, maybe not Webster). Seraphin averages seven points a game.
Portland, in the areas they struggled, stepped up and took away a strength from the Wizards. This was textbook strategy.
Next up, the Blazers start a four-game road trip starting in Brooklyn. Nicolas Batum will travel on the trip, but he is unsure if he will play. It sounds like he is dealing with a ligament tear in his wrist as well. The Nets are bad and unmotivated. Portland, even with their size issues, should be able to deal some damage against the Nets. The guards should be able to have their way with Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. It comes down to Aldridge’s production and if they can contain Brook Lopez. Stay tuned!