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I'm sure you'll fold up like a cheap tent Vs. the Spurs in a couple days.
Nuggets will show you how tonite.
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/in...blazers_2.html
Gerald Wallace, Marcus Camby and LaMarcus Aldridge were all smiles after the Blazers' 111-76 victory over Washington.
If wins in the NBA were golf strokes, then last night's Blazers victory over Washington would be a tap-in putt.
The win at Miami two weeks earlier would be 300-yard drive. But you know what? On the scorecard, both count the same -- one stroke.
A win is a win, even if it comes against a team you should beat soundly. The Blazers did that Tuesday, defeating the Wizards 111-76 at the Rose Garden.
The Wizards were missing four key players who average a combined 53 points and started three rookies. Of course the Blazers were going to win.
The game was such a mismatch, Portland committed 20 turnovers -- a season-high, by the way -- and still won handily.
"You're not going to win too many games with 20 turnovers, but I thought we did a good job, that first group, of moving the ball," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said.
If you commit 20 turnovers in a loss, that probably would be all you talk about.
The win's main function the Blazers might have been to put the bitter taste of Sunday's 84-80 loss to the Lakers behind them. Which is good, because now the job gets hard.
The Blazers (41-30), in sixth place in the Western Conference, go into a challenging stretch of games, with San Antonio coming to Portland on Friday before they hit the road to play Oklahoma City, San Antonio and New Orleans. They the return home to play OKC and Dallas.
That's six games in a row against teams that would make the Western Conference playoffs if they started now.
No more tap-ins for a while.
Other notes, tidbits and links:
• Gerald Wallace scores 28 points for his high game since joining Portland, and the Blazers are able to laugh and joke after an easy victory before setting their sights on the challenge ahead, The Oregonian's Joe Freeman writes.
• Speaking of laughing and joking, there was a funny scene in the locker room as Wallace, surrounded by the media crush that usually hits the top scorer, joked about the one thing he messed up.
"The only thing is, I think LaMarcus is mad at me because I can't throw a lob pass," Wallace said.
Aldridge, who had just stepped out of the shower and was finishing putting his clothes on before speaking to reporters, yelled over, "How you gonna put that on me? I'm not even dressed yet!"
Later, Aldridge really dug in the needle, saying with a smile, "Yeah, that was a pretty bad pass. It was on the wrong side of the rim."
Aldridge, Wallace and nearby Marcus Camby all laughed heartily.
• A recent development is the demotion of point guard Patty Mills, whose uneven play has led McMillan to re-evaluate using him to back up Andre Miller. How has Mills responded? By being his usual, good-for-the-locker room self, the O's Jason Quick writes.
• We've got postgame video. The O's Joel Odem has locker room snippets from Aldridge, Wallace and Nicolas Batum, and OregonLive's Sean Meagher has McMillan's news conference.
• Rookie point guard John Wall is as close to a star as Washington has, but he had a rough night, getting nine points and seven assists while shooting 3 for 12 from the field and committing four turnovers.
But boy, is this guy breathtaking to watch when he is taking the ball the length of the court. Unreal speed.
Wall is a true pass-first point guard, but doesn't have many scorers to pass to. Wizards coach Flip Saunders had high praise for his rookie.
"He's been everything we've wanted him to be," Saunders said. "He's in a tough position because in the history over the NBA, I don't think there's been as many top point guards as there are in the league right now. So every night is a challenge. Everyone he's going against is a guy who has All-Star caliber ability."
• The short-handed, way-too-young Wizards continue to experience growing pains as they lose for the 32nd time in 33 road games, I write.
• JaVale McGee makes an unbelievable block on Wesley Matthews, but that's about the one highlight for the Wizards, who commit 27 turnovers and lose, the Washington Post's Michael Lee reports.
That block, which McMillan called "unbelievable," has to be seen to be believed. So:
• There was a sad note for McMillan. Barry Ackerley, the former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics, died Monday after suffering a stroke.
McMillan credits Ackerley, who owned the Sonics for 18 years, with getting him started in coaching after his playing career was over. As owner, after all, Ackerley had to sign off on McMillan, then 36, becoming interim coach when the team fired Paul Westphal 15 games into the 2000-01 season, and later, on McMillan becoming the permanent coach.
"Sad to hear," McMillan said. "Just really a passionate owner about his players, his team, about his community."
• With Camby out with a sprained ankle, recently re-signed rookie Chris Johnson moved into the rotation and played well. Johnson had seven points, three blocks and three rebounds in 15 minutes and had two dunks, including a nice Aldridge-like alley-oop number on a pass from Rudy Fernandez.
Nuggets will show you how tonite.
Only post recaps after wins? Not that anyone is interested, just curious...
That block was awesome.
We get the Lakers in a couple of weeks. That's the game I'm most looking forward to.
Nuggets will show you how tonite.
I heard Hilton Armstrong did it again. True ? any video ?
Gotta be block of the year, ive never seen anything like that.
Front runner returns. Seriously T-long, you hide like a bad suit in a closet when the Blazers lose. Win they win, you make Blazer threads like they've just won a championship.
Beating the Wizards is like winning a championship for the Blazers…
fix'dBeating any team is like winning a championship for tlong…
Sure. When you needed to make a statement last week, you all folded up like the aforementioned cheap tent.
Like Phoenix---last night---in the final 30 seconds.
Nah. We just needed to be compe ive. And we were. We need to make a statement the next time we play LA. And we will.
They're not afraid of you, t. Perhaps some of "us" are, but, the Lakers fear no team. They learned their lessons in the Summer of '08 at the hands of the Celtics, they committed them to memory & they ain't ever forgotten those lessons.
This Blazers team fears no other team as well.
Portland is the team no one wants to see in round 1, but someone has to.
Chris Johnson impressed me. I'm convinced his parents never fed him though. 6'11 210. wtf.
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