Marcus Camby! You defensive anchor you! I have to admit, so far, I’m wrong. I expected mediocrity out of you, and you’re posting the top individual defensive rating on the second highest defensive rated team in the league. You’re putting up 10.5 boards (6th in the NBA) and 2 blocks (9th in the NBA) per game, being the exact thing that I said you wouldn’t be – anchoring a squad with an offense-first power forward who needs your defensive ability to hang with the big boys.
So in celebration, Tuesday night calls for a during-the-game breakdown of the Blazers tilt against a top three NBA squad with championship aspirations, the Thundaahhh, led by an early MVP candidate, Mr. Kevin Durant, with the game taking place in the arena that should still be in Seattle.
But before we get to tip-off, here’s tonight’s “OSN Overly Specific Game Forecast in a Sentence With More Run Than Your Crappy Attempt at Making Eggs This Morning:”
Leading the way with a double-double and fantastic mano-y-mano defensive presence on last year’s scoring champ, Gerald Wallace leads the statistically-superior-through-the-first-week-of-the-regular-season Blazers to a fantastic four point win, forcing KD to throw up his patented, but why does he do it again?, fade-a-way three ball to try and win the game and then Wesley Matthews ices with two free throw daggers while Westbrook pouts about not being able to get the last shot and everybody feels like LaMarcus was the MVP of the match, but c’mon, it really was Gerald, give him the damn interview, he deserves it, because the Blazers stealing this one in OKC will give them incredible confidence in this young, but short, season, so early confidence could be the difference between a two seed and a five seed and it’s about time to finish this prediction but one more is that after this W against the Thunder, the Blazers will only lose one more game in their next eight.
And breathe.
Onwards to game-time.
Note: This is long. Like 3,000 words long. Alright, more. But it follows my up and down emotion as the game swayed to and from both teams’ favor, and after editing it, I decided not to cut anything. If you don’t want to read a long, drawn out, very “in-the-moment” Blazer/OKC breakdown, then this column is not for you. Not Debbie-downing, just being honest. If you want the 30 second version, scroll to the bottom for my quick summary.
First Quarter
11:30 – Yikes. Ibaka’s on and then Felton misses a wide open lay-up. Bad start.
11:00 – Nice transition D by Wesley Matthews on James Harden.
10:30 – Pick and pop jump shot by Aldridge. Nice range. He’s active early.
10:00 – Damn. Westbrook is too fast. Flies into the lane and a crappy foul by Aldridge, and then a bad box out by the Blazers.
9:30 – Gerald Wallace to the hoop. Blazers are looking aggressive. I like the attack mode. Gotta love the Gerald Wallace laser beam foul shot.
9:00 – Aldridge steamrolls to the hoop and gets fouled by Ibaka. Really liking the aggressive moves.
8:45 – Westbrook with a hot bank shot, and then OKC’s defense turns into a Harden lay-up. Got away with a little push off there, Mr. Harden.
8:30 – Blazers with their 5th team foul already after Camby busts his 37 year old ass to the basket. AGGRESSIVE! Let’s hope the Blazers can take advantage of the early OKC foul trouble.
7:20 – Durant with a smooth shot. Surprise, surprise.
7:00 – Thunder on the run. Too many turnovers for the Blazers early. They need to slow this game down otherwise it’ll be over by the 3rd quarter.
6:30 – Step back J by Wallace on the baseline. Kinda lucky.
6:15 – MORE TRANSITION by the Thunder. Trey bomb by Harden. Time-out Blazers. Much needed.
Story of the first half of the 1st quarter – Thunder transition game is currently outplaying the Blazer aggressive game, but since the Thunder are in the bonus, the Blazers should be able to slow down the game in these next six minutes.
5:45 – Aldridge shoots a J over Collison. Blazers should keep attacking that matchup. Collison plays short.
5:00 – Collison grabs a garbage rebound, gets an easy bucket. On the other end, another foul on the rebound, so Blazers to the line. Camby misses the first, makes the second.
4:45 – Westbrook is on. Making moves, nice little jumper.
4:20 – Fine interior passing by the Blazers. They get to the line again. Aldridge with two more shots.
4:00 – Kurt Thomas comes in and makes sure that KD doesn’t finish on a nice drive to the hoop.
3:15 – More awesome interior passing. Felton to a nice reverse layup by Aldridge. Blazers cut it to a 1 point lead.
The Blazers need to keep being aggressive. OKC has been very finesse up until now. It’s soft play is giving them zero calls as far as the officials go. Portland’s aggressiveness and “man-ball” is setting a nice tone to the game. Yes, they’re down one at the time-out, but they look to be comfortable with keeping this game close and banging around underneath, making sure that OKC gets tired.
2:45 – Aldridge can’t take advantage of the smaller Collison. C’mon LaMarcus. You’re bigger and better than that.
2:15 – Collison keeps doing things right with a nice basket cut. And then a defensive rebound. How does he keep doing this?
1:30 – Kurt Thomas with an ugly jumper. Very. Ugly. Jumper.
1:15-1:00 – Exchanging terrible jump shots. Can’t do that if you’re the Blazers, because OKC usually starts making terrible shots, and then you’re rearview.
:45 – Again COLLISON! AGAIN! MORE CRAPPY BLAZER JUMPSHOTS!
:03 – Portland ends the quarter on another horrific jump shot by Felton.
After one quarter, the Blazers stayed in the game for a while with free throws and aggressiveness, but then crappy jump-shots took them right out of it. Nate McMillan needs to put a harness on the ugly Js. Literally, make a rule: no one-on-one jump-shots. Cannot do that. It’s not their game. They’ll lose this way. I like where the Blazers are at, only down by 5, but they need to make sure they play their game, otherwise OKC will out-jump-shoot the Blazers to death.
Second Quarter
HAHAHAHAHA. J.R. from the WWE jumps on the telecast! I’m watching it illegally on some offshore website, getting the OKC telecast in the process. Yes! Made my day. Apparently he was a basketball ref for over 20 years. “Make sure the players know we aren’t the Spanish telecasting team. We don’t want anybody to come crashing through the table,” said the OKC announcer. Nice. Alright, back to the game.
Fine, one more tidbit. J.R. said the officials would be great professional wrestling refs, because they miss a lot of calls and seemingly forget to blow the whistle. Awesome.
10:30 – OKC and Blazer trade off layups. Nice drives.
10:05 – James Harden with a three, JR says “Collison is like a dirty mule. He does all the grunt work.” Oh my God. I can’t make this stuff up. I’m sorry, I know I’m supposed to be focusing on the Blazers, but this is too good.
9:30 – Awesome interior passing again leads to a Jamal three.
8:45 – Jim signs off by saying “I wear the black hat because I’m a bad guy and I get all the ladies.”
Much needed timeout. And no, not for the players. For me. Because I need to take my mind off J.R. and back onto the game. What a riot. Awesome.
And we’re back. Blazers down 2.
8:35 – OKC is getting some bad breaks, clanking open jumpers. Portland, once again, needs to take advantage of that. And of course, Jamal with another jump shot. Leads to a Harden lay-up. Again. Can’t do that Crawford.
7:40 – Craig Smith with a nice swat steal on what should have been an easy lay-up, then drives to the hoop, and gets a foul. Holy hell. What a wrecking ball. Nice work Craig. Portland’s bench is working it to keep the Blazers in the game.
7:15 – Yikes. Harden with his third three. 3 of 3. With a hand in his face.
6:49 – Hey! Look what happens when you pass Jamal! Batum with a corner three.
6:13 – Harden with a fantastic one handed pass to KD for the lay-up. Damn these Thunder are fast. Time-out Blazers.
Blazer bench keeping the game close against Thunder’s starters. Can the Thunder keep this speed up? Westbrook hasn’t used a lot of his energy yet, so they might. When the Blazers pass, they score. When they play one-v-one, they miss. Aldridge, included. Keep the ball moving, Blazers. Get fouled. Drive. No jump-shots. STOP SHOOTING JUMP-SHOTS.
5:50 – Nice drive by Wesley Matthews. He needs to get more involved.
5:30 – KD with a floater.
5:10 – Of course, Batum with a one v one move, and he misses. PDX could use a McMillan Miller-Lite Taste Greatness Coaching Moment of the Game Moment. C’mon. Stop with the one v one.
4:40 – Aldridge with a man move. Takes Ibaka to the pound. He’s so big. Clears beneath the hoop and then easy lay-up.
3:50 – OKC with more transition ball. Puts OKC up by 6.
3:21 – Batum hits a jumper on a broken play.
2:55 – ANOTHER MAN MOVE BY ALDRIDGE!!! Rebound dunk off Crawford miss.
2:30 – Perkins with an offensive rebound/lay-up one-two.
OKC is transitioning like crazy and owning the O boards. Portland has a nice passing game on their offensive side and playing good half-court D, forcing tough jump shots. Basically, if the Thunder start making shots, this game could be over pretty quick.
2:10 – Aldridge MORE JUMPSHOT MISSES!!! WHO COACHES THIS TEAM!?!?!?!?!? It’s the OKC game plan with Blazer players. Yuck.
1:45 – KD with a nice jumper, then followed by a nice Camby drive.
1:00 – Aldridge with MORE POSTERIZATION!!! DUNK ‘EM.
:34 – Nice up-fake by Aldridge to get Ibaka in the air, snag the foul, and two free throws a-comin’.
:25 – Westbrook is OWNING Felton. Felton can’t stay in front of him. Felton’s offense needs to start rolling if he wants to make a difference in this game.
Last shot of the half – Westbrook with a drive and open J, but nothing came from it.
Portland’s not playing too well, but they’re only down two. If they stay away from ugly jump shots in the second half, they definitely have a chance to slow this game down and keep themselves in the game. They shot really well in the second quarter, about 60%, but with those ugly jump shots… man, take those away, and they would have shot 80%. C’MON COACHING STAFF!!!! YOU GOTTA CALM DOWN YOUR PLAYERS. Keep penetrating with Felton. Own the paint for the rest of the game like you did that quarter. Camby needs more anchorage on the defensive rebounding front too.
Third Quarter
11:40 – Another foul by the Thunder. Keep getting them into foul trouble, Blazers. Huge part of the game plan.
11:30 – Westbrook keeps getting fantastic position on Felton.
11:10 – Nice steal by Matthews! Get back into this game, Blazers! Lead by 2! Nice lay up by Wesley. Keep integrating him into the game-plan.
10:30 – More dead offense by LaMarcus. I love him, but c’mon, keep the ball moving.
9:30 – Back and forth drives leads to Durant running over Camby and… offensive foul! Nice play by Camby. Technical foul, Scotty Brooks. Portland missed the free throw.
9:15 – Wallace with a jumper. Didn’t like it, but it went in, so fine.
9:00 – Harden drives again.
These announcers talk about how it was a good technical and that OKC should feed off of it, but I don’t see it. It was a crappy technical. Wasn’t even fun. I didn’t even see him get mad. And you know the technical will have no lasting effect by how quickly it gets called. The faster the person gets whistled, the shorter lasting the post-tech-pump-up period. Scotty B’s was a snippet of anger. How do you feed off of that?
8:45 – More fouls. Aldridge to the line. Drains two. Takes the 2 point lead. Aldridge with 21.
8:30 – Sweet block by Wesley from behind Perkins. Nice activity this quarter.
8:15 – Forced KD into a “KD shot” AKA fallaway with heels on the three point line, but Portland couldn’t grab the board to take advantage of it.
7:40 – KD trey miss and a point guard rebound then coast to coast lay up by the Felt. Nice.
7:25 – Perkins unloads Wesley Matthews on a screen and Harden grabs a foul on a lay up. Solid screen.
6:55 – Steal by the Thunder and transition lay up from who else? Harden, who has 20.
6:15 – Nice work Felton, sick tear drop.
5:50 – Fancy pass by Camby to Alridge for the lob nation.
4:30 – Nice offensive put back by Camby.
4:15 – Aldridge stuffs Westbrook. DAMN.
4:00 – Matthews finishes in transition. PDX is forcing so many turnovers. Great little run here. Scored on their last six possessions. HUGE.
3:00 – Seven! With a Felton drive.
Timeout Thundahhhhh. PDX rollin hard. Loving this tough defense and fine shot selection. McMillan! There you are!!!! Halftime adjustments and settle down party!!!!!
Side-note: A commercial for a Napoleon Dynamite cartoon? Isn’t all that nostalgia over? I want to rant here, but I think you all feel the exact same way I do… Yeah? Good, glad we didn’t have to go there.
2:17 – Weird Felton travel. Portland needs to get Jamal into this game and order up some dagger sandwiches.
2:00 – Durant driving, sick block and jump ball force by Felton. Won’t win the tip, but huge defense.
1:50 – Damn. KD wins and Westbrook with a nasty in-rhythm trey bomb. PDX by 4. Aldridge answers with a nice spin move and elbow j-drop.
1:09 – Yikes. Durant with a hot step back. Good D too from Wallace.
:32 – Thomas with a nice elbow jumper (to make up for the air-ball) from a fancy Felton one hander. 5 assists, no turnovers. Nice work Felty. Vintage Kurt T. as well.
:15 – KD drops a couple free throws, Portland with an ehh end to the third quarter…
All that being said, THAT was a Portland roundball quarter. Nice work Portland. Way to play your game and grab a little lead. Good D and smart shots. Ride that momentum into the fourth, where Superstars are born.
Fourth Quarter
Hear that LaMarcus? Lead this team to victory.
11:20 – Sick block by Batum from behind! It’s a bench off to start the third!
10:58 – Jamal gets fouled on a trey bomb. Didn’t make it, but gets three. Lezdothis.
Important for PDX not to get too excited right now. Play smart.
10:25 – OKC with nice ball movement and nice jump shot.
10:00 – Harden slices up every single PDX player with an and-one lay up scoop. C’mon. Let’s get some better D than that. He’s one guy! Don’t blow the game! 2 point game.
9:50 – Kurt Thomas puts KD up in the air and draws the foul! Nice work old fellah. Veteran move. Drains the first. Misses second.
9:00 – Batum with a trey bomb. Smooth. 6 point lead with 9 mins left.
9:00 – Durant attacks the hoop, doing what he do.
8:45 – Felton answer with another trey bomb.
7:35 – Nice O board by Aldridge and then gets to the line.
7:07 – BATUM! Making his name known on the defensive end. Wallace with another crappy shot, but follows it up with a nice defensive rebound and gets fouled.
6:00 – Thunder haven’t scored for three minutes. Their bigs stopped being big. PDX’s aggressiveness is wearing down the Thunder.
5:50 – BATUM!!!!!! RAINING!!!!!!!! BANG!!!! 10 point lead!!!!!
5:15 – Felton with a stupid three ball attempt that leads to a Westbrook dunk. Timeout Portland.
Dumb shots? Do I say it again?
ANNNND we’re back!
5:00 – Nice post up move by Wallace. Poor shooting night, but good move.
4:30 – Westbrook with a crazy acrobatic shot to keep the lead single digits.
4:10 – Wallace uses his inner beast and backs down Durant again. Another nice post move. He’s starting to play better.
The announcers here start talking about how Durant doesn’t have the touch, right after he missed another jumper. Well, when somebody takes only jump-shots, when really, their athletic side should drive them to the hoop constantly, then yes, they will sometimes go cold.
3:30 – Yikes Wallace. Stupid three.
3:15 – Then, a missed transition opportunity on a Westbrook turnover. LaMarcus with a semi-easy lay-up miss.
2:45 – LaMarcus then shares a nice two man game with Felton. Jumper. Top of the key. Good!
2:30 – Daequan with a nice sideline jumper out of the timeout.
2:07 – Wallace keeps attacking KD like he’s LeBron at Rucker. Stop Wallace. Move the ball. Get it to LaMarcus.
1:29 – Looks like the Blazers have the game in hand, but these dumb mistakes just make it a frustrating ending. They should be fine, and they’re definitely gonna win, but they ended the game weird. Not a playoff-coached game. Good adjustments, but they will need some work before they’re ready for a post-season run.
1:00 – OH! Perk and LaMarc in a scuffle! Go ahead OKC. Take your frustration out on a shoving match. Real cool. Perk being an ass. LaMarcus protecting himself. Double technical.
OKC’s frustrated. They played bad basketball.
Under 1 min – Sick drive by Felton, misses, but then grabs his own rebound. Great hustle. That seals it.
Final score 103-93.
Final Thoughts
C’MON!!!! Dumb mistakes. This Portland team would have destroyed OKC if it just stopped being a bunch of heroes and played team ball.
Also, PDX is most definitely a top five defense. When they’re clicking, they’ve got this addictive-to-watch old school game. Like watching a football team run out the clock at the end of a game with punishing four yard runs.
Offensively, just take better shots. The good news is – it’s an easy fix. Unless you’re Atlanta. Then, well, yeah, you’re screwed.
So nice work Blazers. If Wallace didn’t shoot so bad, I’d be pretty spot on in my prediction. LaMarcus definitely deserves the post-game interview, but Gerald did a fine job defensively on KD. Durant shot like crap, 8-26, and when you do that to an elite scorer like KD, then you’re doing more than your team needs anyway. Nice work by the team as a whole.
Now excuse me Blazers fans, I gotta go celebrate my Bulls coming back from a 19 point deficit to beat the Hawks. A tad bit early to be saying this, but maybe we’ll be seeing you in June.
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