For the Blazers, so many ways to attack

[tlongII]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbla...to_attack.html

WASHINGTON -- The Trail Blazers have become the pick-your-poison team of the NBA, with a variety of weapons at their disposal to tease opponents.

Want to take away Brandon Roy and his penetration?

Better worry about Steve Blake and his effective three-pointer.


Thinking of double-teaming Greg Oden?

That leaves LaMarcus Aldridge open.

Start denying the three-pointer to Rudy Fernandez?

Sergio Rodriguez will burn you with a backdoor pass to a cutting Fernandez, or find Travis Outlaw sitting in the corner for a three-pointer.

Deep and talented, the Trail Blazers keep coming at opponents in different ways, which was on display Wednesday when a tired Portland team leaned on its depth and variety to win its sixth in a row, 98-92 over struggling Washington at the Verizon Center.

"I think we play together," Fernandez said. "On some nights it's Brandon. Sometimes it's LaMarcus. Sometimes it's Blake. Sometimes it's Travis. But we play together."

On Wednesday, the Blazers (14-6) trailed by five points at the start of the fourth quarter and were behind 81-77 with 8:32 remaining. But Roy scored nine of the team's next 11 points, carrying them back into the lead at 86-83 with 4:26 left.

From there, Fernandez and Blake took the Blazers home with some clutch plays, running the Blazers to 3-0 on this five-game trip.

Fernandez had what teammate Joel Przybilla called "the play of the game" -- a soaring offensive rebound putback off a Blake miss with 2:19 remaining. The layup gave the Blazers a 90-87 lead.

"I try to help with everything," Fernandez said. "If the coach says go rebound, I go rebound. I work for the team."

Still, the Blazers needed some clutch free throws from Blake to seal the victory. Leading 94-92 with 29.4 seconds left, Roy penetrated, where the Wizards (3-13) collapsed on him. Roy passed to his left to a streaking Blake, who was hacked on the arm going up for a shot with 13.2 seconds left.

Blake, who was 27 of 28 for the season from the line at the time, made both free throws, helping the Blazers improve to 7-6 on the road this season.

Roy led the Blazers with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Blake added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Aldridge had 16 points, including a key hook shot in the final two minutes, and Oden had his fifth double double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

"It's been someone different every night," coach Nate McMillan said. "Tonight, these guys had to reach down deep to get this win on the road."

The Blazers are off to their best start since the 1999-2000 team started 15-5. That team finished with 59 wins and advanced to the Western Conference finals, where it lost in Game 7 to the Lakers.

Nobody is saying this Blazers team is ready to advance to those heights, but with so many weapons and a developing poise late in games, the Blazers are beginning to wonder if they are onto something special.

They will find out in their next game, Friday in Boston against the 18-2 Celtics. Last season, the Celtics swept the Blazers, and both of those defeats have been mentioned more than once over the past few days.

"We remember, and we know who they are," McMillan said. "We didn't have a good game there (last season), they basically dominated us throughout that game. But they are the world champions, and what they did then is over. They are playing well, we are playing well and we will go in there Friday. We are going against the best; I'm looking forward to it."

[galvatron3000]

I like the talent there, it's one of the few franchises that keeps talent (deep) throughout the years. Would be nice to see them gel into a serious powerhouse. They are deep at every spot and can make trades to keep them going for a few years and adding vets to help the youth

[SenorSpur]

The talent pool on this team is practically unfair.