If the Raps were packaged in a box and had a set of instructions, they would read as follows:
Play Well.
Build Lead.
Blow Lead.
Rinse.
Repeat.
Play Well.
The Raps started out well against the Blazers in Portland. The Blazers crowd was loud, the Blazers had the lead until Jose Calderon hit a shot to tie it up early in the first. Greg Oden who has been knocked in the press lately for his disappointing play, looked a lot better this game. He nailed some points in the paint and knocked down free throws. The Raps had great shooting and took a two point lead at the end of the first 28-26.
Build Lead.
The second quarter had the Raps and Blazers exchanging shots. Bargnani would hit baskets and then Rudy Fernandez and Channing Frye would nail shots. The Raps built up a 6 point lead in the mid second quarter where J.O. nailed shots down low and Calderon had a nice alley oop to Jamario Moon. Chris Bosh looked good and had nasty throwdown as the Raps continued to build their lead to 11. Chris Bosh had 15 points and the Raps shot 52% for the half. Travis Outlaw had a buzzer beater to lessen the lead to single digits.
Blow Lead.
This is where it fell apart, Raps were only 3 for 11 in midway throught the third and Brandon Roy tied it up at 65. Will Solomon turned it over with 1 second in the third as Portland regained the lead 69-67. Raps stunk it up, I mean straight up stank as they shot 22% from the field and had 5 turnovers in the third quarter alone. The Raps only scored 10 points in the third, a straight up nasty, horrible, disgusting quarter by the Raps. Brandon Roy then scored 14 in the 4th to close out the Raps. The Raps shot 12 for 34 and did not hit any threes at all in the second half. Final score 102-89, Blazers.
Rinse. Repeat.
Raps have the Warriors on Monday in Golden State.
Key Notes:
Blazers outrebounded the Raps 40-36
Brandon Roy scored 32 pts, 9 reb
Greg Oden scored 16 pts, 10 reb
Lamarcus Aldridge had 21 pts, 9 reb
Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal led the way for the Raps with a combined 46 points
Chris Bosh hit all eleven of his free throws
For a Blazers perspective, check out BustaBucket.com
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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