MO HARKLESS. NO PROBLEM.Not quite true, but for one glorious night it was. Without Lillard, Portland needed player(s) to step up and be heroes. Napier did it some. Collins continued to grow. But CJ, Nurkic and Aminu were the obvious contenders for this role, with ET as the outsider with the good odds. But the Christmas miracle for Portland was Harkless leading the team to this difficult victory. 22 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Harkless had scored only 22 points total since Thanksgiving. It was not just the scoring. It was that Mo scored the last 4 points for Portland as they eeked out the win.

Mo had lost not only his starting job, but has not been playing in most games. He has pride. It had to gall him to see Jake Layman starting against Denver. But Terry Stotts has proved over and over again that players will be given the chance to prove themselves. Harkless did most of his damage inside, but watching him drill 2 of 3 from the arc was both a relief and a thrill. Good for Mo. He deserves a game like this.

THIS WIN STOPS THE BLEEDING.Barely true. It was a win against a flawed and injured Laker team. No Lopez. No Ingram. The Lakers were getting props for their performances against the elite teams. But it is relatively easy to play free and easy when you have no expectations. It gets harder when you can and should win a game. The Lakers challenge you with their quick pace and early offense. They will also give you multiple chances to get back into the game and win because of their quick pace and early offense.

CJ battled down the stretch. If Lillard's injury is for an extended period, the Blazers need All-Star CJ. It is not easy when McCollum does not have his usual partner at his side. This is one of those games that makes you doubt the future of Nurk. Jusuf could have and should dominated. His 4 points on 2-11 shooting was excruciating. Aminu can surprise a defense once in a while by attacking off the dribble. When he does it multiple times against a set defense bad things happen. We saw glimpses of team offense tonight. We did see the Blazers tighten up the defense in the 2nd half. But Portland will disappear from the play-offs if CJ-Nurk-Aminu cannot perform better than this.

但帕特,纳皮尔和托尼·柯林斯是例外ght. At the beginning of the season, Pat had to bury his 3's to have an impact. Tonight he was 0-3 from deep. But he attacked the rim, he cut on offense, he defended well and led the team with a deserved +10 +/-. Napier was a warrior tonight. You sometimes forget HOW small he really is. For much of the game he was the only player effectively creating his own shot. He was disruptive on defense and ended up with 3 steals to go with his 21 points. Despite 35 minutes of heavy usage, he only had 1 turnover to go with his 5 assists. Other teams attack Zach on defense, and he still has foolish fouls. But he came in for Nurk in the 2nd half and dared Stotts to even try and take him out.

COLLINS SHOULD START INSTEAD OF NURKIC.足总lse. But I bet the thought crossed your mind. When we needed him most, we had "bad" Nurk tonight. He hit 2 long shots, but he was hopeless around the rim. Mind you, much of his offense was post ups in this game. He has regressed on these plays. The pace of this game did not suit Nurk's game very well. By contrast, Collins was much more composed on offense. He played within the team concepts. On this night he clearly outplayed Portland's starting center.

But Collins is not ready physically or mentally to play big minutes against NBA starters. His post moves are effective when he gets a mis-match. He does not have the power to make those moves against the real monster centers of the league. He plays smart vertical defense, but he can be exposed around the rim.

The main takeaway from this game is that IF Nurk can show his good side more often, and IF Collins can continue to polish his game, Portland may have an elite combo in the very near future.

FINAL GRADE: Winning deodorizes everything. This was the 3rd coin flip game in 4 games this week. It was nice to have one go Portland's way. One of the crucial elements that are so tough for young players is to develop consistency every night out. Kuzma has been sensational this week. He still showed glimpses, but he regressed to the mean tonight. Ball is still an abysmal shooter, but he will be a triple double machine. He just won't be a consistent scorer. The Lakers have another good rookie in Hart. But Collins played a more efficient game than any of his fellow rookies. Zack is coming on. Portland will be faced with the unmatchable length of the 76ers on Wednesday. This was a necessary win for the Blazers. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't easy. Lets hope for Mo of the same as we close out the year. B+

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!