tlongII
04-08-2011, 09:27 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/04/trail_blazers_8.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/blazers_impact/photo/9468856-large.jpg
Blazers guard Wesley Matthews had 18 points and seven rebounds against his old team, the Utah Jazz.
The Trail Blazers got back on the winning track with a 98-87 win at Utah on Thursday. The bottom line at this time of the season is always the win, which moved Portland back into solo sixth in the Western Conference.
There was the expected talk about the win allowing the Blazers to put Tuesday's ugly home loss to Golden State behind them. But if Portland had played a more competent team Thursday, this might have been a much different discussion.
The Blazers stunk up the fourth quarter, when they shot 5 for 16 from the field and looked like it was being possessed by one of those fourth-quarter demons that sometimes hits them.
Fortunately for Portland, it played a struggling Utah team that had lost eight of its previous nine games and has been decimated by injuries. Add to that the departures of Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams, and the Jazz are just a shadow of their old self.
Utah was just not equipped to take advantage of the Blazers' stalled offense as the Jazz clanked most its fourth-quarter shots, too, shooting 3 for 13 from the field.
The Blazers (46-33) moved a half game ahead of New Orleans for sixth in the Western Conference, with would in all likelihood mean a first-round playoff matchup against Dallas, supposedly the opponent all the teams are angling to get, especially with the Lakers looming as the opponent for the No. 7 seed.
"If I'm Portland right now, I'm putting every ounce of energy I have into those last games to hold onto the sixth seed," Kevin McHale said on TNT after the game.
The problem, however, is that the Blazers are only ahead of the Hornets (45-33) because they have played one more game. Portland can win all three of its remaining games and still end up at No. 7. The Blazers need somebody to beat New Orleans.
That's because the Hornets own the tiebreaker by virtue of their 3-1 season series edge over Portland. For all the talk about the Blazers' loss to Golden State, it was the loss eight days before at New Orleans that could prove much more costly.
The Blazers close the season against the Lakers tonight, Grizzlies on Tuesday and at Golden State on Wednesday. New Orleans has Phoenix, Memphis, Utah and Dallas remaining. One of those teams will have to help for the Blazers to avoid the Lakers.
Other notes, tidbits and links:
• The Blazers get stellar play from forwards Gerald Wallace and Nicolas Batum and a big lift from Brandon Roy as they sweep their games at Utah for just the second time in franchise history, The Oregonian's Jason Quick reports.
• The Blazers won despite not getting a strong offensive game from leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored 12 points and shot 6 for 19 from the field. Aldridge did chip in 11 rebounds.
It was a third consecutive game in which Aldridge, who is averaging 21.8 points, did not score at least 20 points. It's just the third time all season Aldridge has had a three-game streak of sub-20-point games and the first since the first week of December.
Aldridge did neutralize Al Jefferson, Utah's leading scorer, helping hold him to 10 points.
• Wesley Matthews had another strong game against his old team, getting 18 points and seven rebounds. In four games against the Jazz -- for whom he played as a rookie last season -- Matthews averaged 19.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.
• As the Blazers were playing in Salt Lake City, the Lakers -- who play the Blazers at the Rose Garden tonight -- already were in Portland, with coach Phil Jackson spotted walking around Pioneer Courthouse Square and Nordstrom, the O's John Canzano writes.
Canzano's bigger point was that the Blazers would be far better off playing Dallas in the first round than the Lakers, which goes without saying.
• Roy snapped out of his funk with 11 points and 5-for-8 field goal shooting, ending a run of four bad games.
However, the other struggling key Portland player continued his poor play. Rudy Fernandez shot 0 for 4 from the field, including 0 for 3 from three-point range, and went scoreless in 14 minutes. It's was his second scoreless game this season.
• One of the greatest three-point shooters in NBA history used the bully pulpit that is his commentator's spot for TNT to rip on the Blazers' 3Goggles gesture as Wesley Matthews flashed it after making a three-pointer.
Miller called it "this ridiculous thing that everyone does after three-pointers," and said the origin of the gesture, which has caught on among college and high school players, can be traced to Matthews and Fernandez.
"Seriously, it's driving me crazy," Miller said.
Play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan got in a good zinger on Miller, though, asking him what he did when he made a three.
"Hold up my arms," Miller said with a laugh, a reference to the well-known touchdown-like gesture he used throughout his career.
• Blazers backup point guard Patty Mills will continue to help with relief efforts in Australia, which was hit by massive flooding and a cyclone this year, with a fund-raiser and auction at a Lake Oswego clothing store, the O's Joe Freeman reports.
• With the loss, the Jazz are guaranteed a losing record for just the second time in 28 seasons, the Salt Lake Tribune's Brian T. Smith reports.
• The Lakers come to Portland with a three-game losing streak that follows a stretch in which they won 17 of 18 games. What up? Center Andrew Bynum's theory is that the Lakers are being victimized by their own negative "energy," the L.A. Times' Broderick Turner reports.
http://media.oregonlive.com/blazers_impact/photo/9468856-large.jpg
Blazers guard Wesley Matthews had 18 points and seven rebounds against his old team, the Utah Jazz.
The Trail Blazers got back on the winning track with a 98-87 win at Utah on Thursday. The bottom line at this time of the season is always the win, which moved Portland back into solo sixth in the Western Conference.
There was the expected talk about the win allowing the Blazers to put Tuesday's ugly home loss to Golden State behind them. But if Portland had played a more competent team Thursday, this might have been a much different discussion.
The Blazers stunk up the fourth quarter, when they shot 5 for 16 from the field and looked like it was being possessed by one of those fourth-quarter demons that sometimes hits them.
Fortunately for Portland, it played a struggling Utah team that had lost eight of its previous nine games and has been decimated by injuries. Add to that the departures of Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams, and the Jazz are just a shadow of their old self.
Utah was just not equipped to take advantage of the Blazers' stalled offense as the Jazz clanked most its fourth-quarter shots, too, shooting 3 for 13 from the field.
The Blazers (46-33) moved a half game ahead of New Orleans for sixth in the Western Conference, with would in all likelihood mean a first-round playoff matchup against Dallas, supposedly the opponent all the teams are angling to get, especially with the Lakers looming as the opponent for the No. 7 seed.
"If I'm Portland right now, I'm putting every ounce of energy I have into those last games to hold onto the sixth seed," Kevin McHale said on TNT after the game.
The problem, however, is that the Blazers are only ahead of the Hornets (45-33) because they have played one more game. Portland can win all three of its remaining games and still end up at No. 7. The Blazers need somebody to beat New Orleans.
That's because the Hornets own the tiebreaker by virtue of their 3-1 season series edge over Portland. For all the talk about the Blazers' loss to Golden State, it was the loss eight days before at New Orleans that could prove much more costly.
The Blazers close the season against the Lakers tonight, Grizzlies on Tuesday and at Golden State on Wednesday. New Orleans has Phoenix, Memphis, Utah and Dallas remaining. One of those teams will have to help for the Blazers to avoid the Lakers.
Other notes, tidbits and links:
• The Blazers get stellar play from forwards Gerald Wallace and Nicolas Batum and a big lift from Brandon Roy as they sweep their games at Utah for just the second time in franchise history, The Oregonian's Jason Quick reports.
• The Blazers won despite not getting a strong offensive game from leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored 12 points and shot 6 for 19 from the field. Aldridge did chip in 11 rebounds.
It was a third consecutive game in which Aldridge, who is averaging 21.8 points, did not score at least 20 points. It's just the third time all season Aldridge has had a three-game streak of sub-20-point games and the first since the first week of December.
Aldridge did neutralize Al Jefferson, Utah's leading scorer, helping hold him to 10 points.
• Wesley Matthews had another strong game against his old team, getting 18 points and seven rebounds. In four games against the Jazz -- for whom he played as a rookie last season -- Matthews averaged 19.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.
• As the Blazers were playing in Salt Lake City, the Lakers -- who play the Blazers at the Rose Garden tonight -- already were in Portland, with coach Phil Jackson spotted walking around Pioneer Courthouse Square and Nordstrom, the O's John Canzano writes.
Canzano's bigger point was that the Blazers would be far better off playing Dallas in the first round than the Lakers, which goes without saying.
• Roy snapped out of his funk with 11 points and 5-for-8 field goal shooting, ending a run of four bad games.
However, the other struggling key Portland player continued his poor play. Rudy Fernandez shot 0 for 4 from the field, including 0 for 3 from three-point range, and went scoreless in 14 minutes. It's was his second scoreless game this season.
• One of the greatest three-point shooters in NBA history used the bully pulpit that is his commentator's spot for TNT to rip on the Blazers' 3Goggles gesture as Wesley Matthews flashed it after making a three-pointer.
Miller called it "this ridiculous thing that everyone does after three-pointers," and said the origin of the gesture, which has caught on among college and high school players, can be traced to Matthews and Fernandez.
"Seriously, it's driving me crazy," Miller said.
Play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan got in a good zinger on Miller, though, asking him what he did when he made a three.
"Hold up my arms," Miller said with a laugh, a reference to the well-known touchdown-like gesture he used throughout his career.
• Blazers backup point guard Patty Mills will continue to help with relief efforts in Australia, which was hit by massive flooding and a cyclone this year, with a fund-raiser and auction at a Lake Oswego clothing store, the O's Joe Freeman reports.
• With the loss, the Jazz are guaranteed a losing record for just the second time in 28 seasons, the Salt Lake Tribune's Brian T. Smith reports.
• The Lakers come to Portland with a three-game losing streak that follows a stretch in which they won 17 of 18 games. What up? Center Andrew Bynum's theory is that the Lakers are being victimized by their own negative "energy," the L.A. Times' Broderick Turner reports.