Thacknet

Blazers: 107
Rockets: 103

We shut down Yao and Brooks (Problems A and B from last game), but our offense was really only flowing through Brandon and LaMarcus.  Hopefully a few of the other guys will handle some of the offensive load next game...

LaMarcus Bounces Back

LA scored 27 points on 11/19 shooting.  Even though it was nice to see the jumper flowing, I'd like to see LaMarcus dominate the paint for us.



Player of the Game

Rockets: 108
Blazers: 81

It's never fun to lose by 27, let alone at home, let alone in the first round of the Playoffs.  But then again, the Blazers have never been too good at getting off to a quick start...

Roy and LaMarcus Shut Down

Aldridge was completely unable to gain any sort of offensive advantage, which crippled our post game enough to turn us into the jump-shooting Blazers of old.  The Rockets also did an incredible job of containing Brandon, who started strong but was shut down for most of the game.  With those two guys made ineffective, our offense was downright sad.  We ended the game shooting 41.7% as a team.



The Oden Factor?

In addition to LaMarcus, it seems that Mr. Oden may be available for some low-post offense.  He was pretty much the only bright spot for the Blazers, scoring 15 points, only picking up 3 fouls, and was surprisingly effective in 21.5 minutes.



Yao Dominates

Not only was Houston's defense stifling, but their offense was flowing to the tune of 60% accuracy for most of the game.  Yao Ming scored all of his 24 points in the first half, shooting a perfect 9/9 from the field and 6/6 from the freethrow line.  He scored at will, plain and simple.  He wasn't the only Rocket to dominate the paint, either.  Luis Scola shot 7/9 and scored 19 points.  Meanwhile, Aaron Brooks had his way with the backcourt (27 points on 10/17 FG).



J-Bay Defense

I've seen a lot of people on the forums talk about how difficult it was for Steve Blake to contain Aaron Brooks, and also how good Bayless's defense looked.  Like many of you, it wouldn't surprise me to see Bayless in tomorrow's game a little earlier than normal if things aren't going well for the Blazers.

Check out my article on Nate McMillan's Coach of the Year snub:

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8632-Portland-Trail-Blazers-Examiner~y2009m4d20-Nate-McMillan-overlooked-for-Coach-of-the-Year

"This time last year, everybody was infatuated with the youthful New Orleans Hornets, guided by the eventual Coach of the Year, Byron Scott.  Why isn't anybody infatuated with Nate?  I would think that leading a bunch of rookies to the 4-seed in the West would be more impressive to the rest of the nation."

Art Garcia of NBA.com put out this article today previewing our first round matchup.  He discusses a few interesting topics, such as Houston's physicality and Roy vs. Artest, but also picks the Blazers to win the series in 7 games.

Blazers: 104
Nuggets: 76

What a way to end the regular season.  The combination of Houston's loss and San Antonio's win just before game-time meant that the Blazers were playing for Home at Home.  How about another rout?

The Nuggets looked very sad for most of the game.  They came out cold and alone - playing one-on-one basketball against a Blazer opponent that could not have been more of a team.  NONE of the Blazer starters scored in double figures - tell me the last time that has happened in a 28-point victory.  Our 4 double-digit scorers: Travis, Rudy, Channing, Greg.

[Shout out to Kevin Calabro, who announced tonight's game on ESPN with Hubie Brown.  Calabro was the announcer for the Sonics from 1987 to this last year when they moved to OKC.  His voice is forever ingrained into my head from growing up in Seattle, as I'm sure is the case for certain Blazers that also have roots there.] 

1st Half: The Channing Frye Show

I have to give props to Channing Frye, especially for his play in the 2nd Quarter.  He came in and helped us turn a 12-point lead into a comfortable 19 going into Halftime.  Aside from stroking it smooth, Channing even threw in some nice passes...



Sergio's 12.5 (officially 12) Assists in 18 Minutes

There was some "retro" Sergio on display tonight - buckets of assists in a short amount of time.  In fact, mid-way through the 4th Quarter he had assists on back-to-back-to-back offensive possessions, all of which were 3-pointers (to Outlaw, Frye, and then Fernandez for the record).  Much less retro (or possibly so retro that I'm unaware) has been Serg's new touch around the basket.  He seems to be much more confident about going to the hole, and the results have been downright fantastic.



Player of the Game

Rudy Fernandez

Rudy began the night five 3-pointers behind the record for most threes in a season by a rookie (held by Kerry Kittles at 158).  No problem  - he drained a career-high 6 of 9 attempts to become the new record holder at 159.  In order for him to even get in that type of position, Rudy had hit a 3-pointer in each of the last seven games, going 20 for 36 (55.56%) in that span.  In not one of those games did he shoot less than 50% from behind the arc.

[update: full video]

Brandon Roy:



Rudy Fernandez:

The Blazers, just one game away from the last of the season, are rolling.  They've won 9 of their last 10 games - a list that includes Phoenix, Utah, San Antonio, and the Lakers - and don't seem to be showing any of the fatigue that supposedly plagues a young team at this point in the season.

Last night's win wasn't over a Playoff team, but we won the way we should have.  The Blazers were up by more than 30 before the game even reached half time... it was a total domination.  Brandon Roy was granted the privilege of rest, playing a season-low 22 minutes, and I was granted the privilege of Jerryd Bayless.



Player of the Game

Travis Outlaw

With Batum sent home ill before the game, Travis was given the start and a plump 32 1/2 minutes of floor time.  The new-and-improved Travis Outlaw, as I see him, continues to play within himself and got his shot falling again (his previous two outings saw no better than 25% FG%).  He finished with a team-high 21 points (9/14 FG) and 5 rebounds, but it was his defense on Kevin Durant that sealed the deal.  Durant was held to just 10 points on 5/15 shooting in 31 minutes.



Honorable Mention

Blazers: 87
Clippers: 72

Player of the Game

Rudy Fernandez

In a game where the Blazers controlled throughout but couldn't seem to break away, Rudy Fernandez was the one to finally put the nails in the coffin.  He hit two huge 3s at the end of the 4th Quarter to put the Blazers up by 5 and then 10 points, respectively, after which the Blazers coasted.  He finished with 13 points (2/4 3PT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers.



Other Video

Brandon Roy:



LaMarcus Aldridge

Blazers: 106
Lakers: 98


I wanted to experiment with rendering and uploading larger videos, so I have the video of each successful offensive possession against the Lakers, as well as a few defensive.  I left out freethrows...

1st Half:

In another comeback victory, the Blazers beat San Antonio to gain 4th Place in the Western Conference.

I wasn't able to get the video for the first half, so I made one for LaMarcus's 3rd Quarter.  During a time when neither team could run an effective offense, Aldridge was there...