Report Card
Grade: B
Recap: When two of your three games are at home, and two of your three opponents are sub .500 teams, you can’t do better than a B after going 2-1. But if Portland was going to go 2-1 over that stretch, they did it in the ideal way.
Golden State has given Portland a hassle all year long, and had Monta Ellis nailed the buzzer-beater in their first meeting at the Rose Garden, the Warriors would be 3-0 against the Blazers and have the potential to be the only Western Conference team to sweep them this year.
But in retrospect, Tuesday’s 21-point loss to Golden State seemed almost predictable. Portland had just excelled over a defining six-game stretch, in which it won four times against some of the West’s top teams. So a letdown, if not excusable, was at least understandable.
Nate McMillan said that he didn’t even show his players the film; that it was anomalous situation best to be forgotten rather than broken down. The Blazers forgot it, then broke down the Jazz down two nights later in Salt Lake City. Gerald Wallace demonstrated why LaMarcus Aldridge dubbed him the team’s new “M-V-P” by scoring 29 points and hitting 4 of his 6 3-point attempts.
By that point, the Blazers had already clinched a playoff spot due to Houston’s loss against the Kings on Tuesday night, but they were still fighting to hang on to that No. 6 seed, which seemed even more tenuous with the Lakers coming to town Friday.
Then, Portland proceeded to produce one of its more convincing wins of the season.
The Lakers certainly didn’t play their best basketball — repeatedly getting destroyed in transition. But it’s hard to argue that they were mailing it in given how they’re still battling some of the top Eastern conference teams for potential home-court advantage in the Finals. Perhaps that’s why the Blazers’ 24-point lead in the third quarter was so impressive. And while the Lakers did end the game within seven points, there’s no doubt who was the dominant squad on the floor.
Is this a team Portland would like to meet in the playoffs?
“Why not?” Nicolas Batum said.
In Focus
When Brandon Roy went down in December, who knew that the Blazers might acquire somebody just as valuable? OK, that might be a bit of a stretch if we’re comparing Gerald Wallace to the unstoppable Roy of two years ago — but not much.
Sure, we’re wowed by Wallace’s 40-point performance in a loss to Oklahoma City last month, just as we are with his 19-point, 13-rebound, seven-assist night against the Lakers on Friday.
But it’s the days where he only elects to shoot nine times while focusing on defense, or the moments such as Wallace taking a charge against Andrew Bynum to foul him out the game that Wallace earns his money. At this point, anybody Portland faces in the first round is going to worried — and he may be the primary reason why.
By the Numbers
25 — Andre Miller’s assist total over the past two games (13 vs. the Lakers and 12 vs. the Jazz). It’s the most he’s had over a two-game stretch this year.
30 — Brandon Roy’s minute total Friday. It’s the most he’s played in 2011.
1 — The number of games separating the sixth, seventh and eighth seed in the West
