Bulls Best The Blazers

Last night, the Blazers met with the Chicago Bulls in Chi Town. The Blazers were 2 - 0 on their roadie going into this game and were hoping to make that 3 - 0 after this game.

Starting 5:

LaMarcus Aldridge
Nicolas Batum
Marcus Camby
Andre Miller
Brandon Roy

Marcus Camby returned from an ankle sprain in this game and immediately made a difference on the boards and defense especially. Camby finished the game with 9 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots. The high scorer of the night was none other than LaMarcus Aldridge who had a spectacular game with a season high 32 points to go along with 7 rebounds, and 1 steal. LaMarcus was extremely aggressive down low, got position and boxed out nicely. My favorite play of the night had to be when Brandon Roy was at the line for two, he missed the first and missed the second on purpose because he trusted LaMarcus to do his thing which was tipping in the ball! That was a huge bucket for the Blazers. It really is a shame that LaMarcus' best game of the season came with a loss. Brandon Roy took silver last night with 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. It seemed like BRoy was just off tonight for most of the game, now 23 points is pretty good for an off night but it just seemed like he wasn't 100% throughout the game. Jerryd Bayless had a great game as well with 15 points, 2 assists and 2 steals. You can always count on JBay to get you to the line and Nate put him in when we were able to get Chicago in the penalty early and Bayless put his head down and racked up the free throws shooting 5 - 6 from the line.

Here's a look at the rest of the box score:

This game presented way too many opportunities for the Blazers to take the win but we just weren't able to close it out. Sloppy play from the Bulls kept letting us back in all the way through overtime but the Blazers were never able to take advantage of that. LaMarcus had an excellent game but unfortunately that just wasn't enough. Our offense late in the game completely fell apart as it has in past games. Teams live and die by the jumper and in this game Chicago lived and we died. Bulls went on to win the game in OT 115 - 111.

Photo(s) Of the Night:

LMA throwin' it down with authority against the Bulls (who traded him to us back in the day) way to go L Train!!

The Blazers next head to Minnesota to play the Timberwolves on the second of a back to back.

•  Portland has won 11 consecutive games vs. Minnesota, its longest current winning streak against any NBA team. The Trail Blazers have taken eight meetings in a row at the Rose Garden and five straight games at the Target Center. 

•  The matchup marks the fourth and final meeting between the teams this season, with Portland winning each of the first three games by 23 points or more, accounting for three of its four largest wins of the year. The Trail Blazers have outrebounded the Timberwolves, 138-102, and held the advantage in assists, 93-46. Portland has shot 51.7% from the field (42.2% 3-PT) in the three contests, compared to 42.2% shooting by Minnesota. 

•  Portland’s 23-point margin of victory, 107-84, on Nov. 11 against the Timberwolves marked its largest win in Minnesota in franchise history. 

•  Nine Trail Blazers have averaged at least 8.0 points in their games against the Timberwolves this season, led by Greg Oden (15.0) and Martell Webster (15.0). 

•  The Timberwolves have failed to reach 100 points in each of the last 13 meetings between the teams, with Portland hitting triple figures eight times in that span. 

(Pictures: Yahoo! Sports)