clock menu more-arrow no yes

Filed under:

Game 58 Recap: Blazers 82, Clippers 80

New, comments

Boxscore

Ugh. Watching this game was like brushing your teeth with a toilet scrubber. It was like drinking the water in which Paris Hilton soaks her delicates. It was like envisioning your parents being intimate. Twice.

Sorry, but it was just that gross.

I want to find a lot of good stuff to say because it was a win, but I don't think you'd respect me in the morning if I did. So we'll just say the good thing was it WAS a win.

We shot OK from the field, well from the three-point line, and crappy from the free throw line. We played with a middling amount of energy in the first half but the Clippers stank it up so badly they made us look like impresarios. They adjusted at halftime and we faded so it became a nip and tuck affair. We ended up with foul shots to win it (most of which we missed) and they ended up with a horrifying Corey Maggette heave from beyond credible distance (which missed everything). We stayed with them rebound-wise only because they missed so many more shots than we did. They missed so many more shots than we did because of our sterling defen...HA! It was because they sucked the big baloney wad tonight, pure and simple. That and they were missing all kinds of players. We were too, so we were even. Unfortunately.

If you read the Gameday Thread you will find that in the closing moments we didn't care who scored or who won as long as the gamedidn'tgo into overtime. That's just the kind of night it was. So let's just get on with the individual stuff.

Individual Observations

--Jarrett Jack saved this game for us in the fourth. He scored 13 of his 21 points in the final period (which also ended up being 13 of our 24). He ended up the game 9-13, 21 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover. I know he missed two free throws in the closing seconds. Tough. We won anyway.

--Lamarcus...(sigh). He had some good individual moves again but he just wasn't aggressive overall in this game. He took 9 shots, scored 9 points, and got 6 boards. Every time he was double-teamed he looked confused. Half the time he caught it he waited to be double-teamed. I didn't like this look at all. In fact I don't like forcing it in the post to Lamarcus much. It's OK a couple times to start the game but we need more motion to really take advantage of what he brings. He did shoot 6 free throws tonight. As we keep saying that number will be really important to him in the long run.

--Travis...(double sigh). He had one spectacular drive and dunk of the kind that makes you go, "OHHHHHHHHHHH! TRAVIS BAYYYBAAAAYYYYYY!" Then he chucked a bunch of shots that just made you go, "Oh." He had some tough defensive assignments and that may have distracted him. Only 3 rebounds though. This is a big issue with the Travis-Lamarcus forward combo. 6 defensive rebounds between them in 63 minutes of playing time.

--Joel...9 rebounds but only 21 minutes because of 5 fouls.

--Martell nailed a couple threes tonight! I liked his game better than I have recently. 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists.

--Steve Blake followed up his game of the decade with a 0-point, 6-assist performance. Granted we weren't really looking for him to score but still.

--Channing Frye recaptured a little bit of his shooting mojo tonight. 4-8 shooting, 4-5 free throws, 12 points. If he could match that every night it would be a lot easier to keep him on the court.

--Hey, what's my name?

——冯晶片!

--Hey, what's my name?

——冯晶片!

--Yeah I'm the big

--Game saver!

--Don't judge my skillz

--On paper!

:::doing jiggy little Von Wafer dance:::

Well, maybe he didn't exactly save the game, but it was a nice enough outing. The first thing you notice is that he's a little slight for an NBA guard. It wasn't as noticeable in Vegas but when you see him out there it shows. He goes against the grain a little for us that way. But he didn't hesitate on his shot, which is good. It doesn't matter if you're the star or 12th man, shooters gotta shoot. He went 4-10 on the night, 2-5 from distance, and ended up with 11 points. He also had 5 rebounds and a nice wing block, hollah hollah. He'll get another look. Just let's not go overboard, OK? It was one outing and just about everybody on the roster has had one as good or better this year already.

--Hey, what's my name?

——Raef LaFrentz!

Awwww, forget that. He played 12 minutes and got 3 boards and a bucket. Golf clap.

That is all.

One-Sentence Game Summary:

Excuse me while I go bleach out my Tivo.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)