Last night the Blazers took to the court in Phoenix to pull out a last-second victory 106-104, in which Jerami Grant was the undisputed hero of the hour and Justise Winslow his tireless lieutenant. In fact, everybody had statistical contributions to show for their time on the court.

However, the result was marred by this morning's Last Two Minutes Report, which declared that Grant's game-winning jumper took place only after an uncalled traveling violation. The league's bylaws discourage any attempts to change the game result—to put it mildly—but the officials' caveat does leave an ashy taste in the mouth.

Recaps

• BEdge recap
• BEdge analysis
• Associated Press recap
• Previous analysis: Game 7 vs. MEM, L 111-106
• Next analysis: Game 9 at PHX, L 82-102

"Ils ne passeront pas"

So went the statement of Gen. Nivelle at Verdun, and those of other generals and magistrates throughout history.

So it went with the Blazers' zone defense during the second quarter last night. Offense was not an exercise in futility for the Suns in the quarter, but all the notes struck right for the Blazers and put them in a position to far outscore the home team.

The best part is that it was all timing and spacing: they worked out everybody's office and drew up zone defenses that allowed the Blazers to send double-teams at will. That drove most of Phoenix's scoring attack beyond the three-point line for about 15 minutes of the game clock. Then Justise Winslow got in deep foul trouble and Phoenix was able to wedge things open.

An unheralded giant

Justise Winslow was all over the place in the halfcourt, and reliably cutting the corner to contest the basket. His enthusiasm earned him several fouls of dubious utility, but Winslow's contribution on both ends of the court was one of the critical factors in Portland's eventual victory.

Getting the handle

The Blazers are over a barrel: aggressiveness in transition has become the team's bread and butter, to a chorus of enthusiastic and universal appeal. However, the necessary mindset encourages poor ball-handling and passing. Watch the adjustments made moving forward—who drills to improve their handle, who adjusts their role in the offense, who gets moved up or down the rotation, and so on. Whatever the case, with their present attention to detail the Blazers are leaving possessions at the door unnecessarily.

Furthermore opponents have noticed the Blazers' back-tipping proficiency, and it's now become typical for teams to leave at least one jumpshooter up top on offense so that they can convert back-tips to open three-pointers.

Postscripts

• We should not underrate the contribution made by Deandre Ayton's foul trouble to the game result.
• The back-and-forth of last night's game all but proves—in this writer's opinion—the suggestion that the current lineup is far greater than the sum of its parts. Last year's team was deliberately kneecapped, so to speak; it had to be that way for the sake of the tank. What none of us anticipated was that Anfernee Simons would be the only incumbent standing after all of the administrative shutdowns had been consummated. Now we're seeing in these Dame-less, Payton-less, Ant-less lineups how much motor the Blazers get from their younger players.
• Moving forward, look for opponents to focus on getting vulnerable players into foul trouble. It's starting to look like the only thing that willreallyslow the Blazers down is to force them into unfamiliar or awkward lineups.

Epilogue: Officiating and the Last Two Minutes Report

Like a lot of people, I was frustrated with the officials' last word. As I pointed out in the introduction, it casts a long shadow over the win, which I'm glad can't be taken away. As others have pointed out, we can count on calls evening out even over the space of a single game, and in fact they usually do.

Another comment theme I'm seeing is "the transparency's great!" While that's a fundamentally sound position, transparency's only one aspect of what we should expect from the best officials in the world of basketball.Transparency without material result is nothing more than a public relations exercise.

Consider that three realities are inarguable about all sports:

1. The rules are the point, otherwise it's just a bunch of folks tossing a ball around.
2. To matter, the rules must be enforced.
3. Those responsible for enforcing the rules will make mistakes, since they are after all human.

What I've had a hard time seeing in NBA basketball—especially in the present "LeBron Era"—isgood faith.

We should accept that officials will make mistakes. It's part of the game.

…But something we never stop to examine is the exercise of good faith. Are all ten players on the court committed to following the rules of the game? Are all four officials attached to the game committed to enforcing those rules as commended by both letter and spirit?Are all participants doing the best jobs they can?

Then we move onto bigger questions: are the games being played, or stage-managed? Is the progress of the season about press-friendly narratives, or is the entertainment inherent to the game allowed to stand on its own merits?

I would love to commit myself to the belief that these questions don't need to be asked… but so far the incentive to keep asking them comes hot-and-heavy.

在我写这篇文章开拓者打第二个game of their two-night doubleheader in Phoenix, which started around 7 p.m. PDT and is currently in its intermission.