Portland Blazes The Suns In Phoenix

Last night the Blazers traveled to the valley of the sun to meet with the Suns in Phoenix. This game was the second of a back to back coming after two devastating losses at home to LA on Saturday and OKC Tuesday night. A win was much needed to go into the All-Star break in a positive light.

Comenzar Cinco:

LaMarcus Aldridge
Juwan Howard
Andre Miller
Martell Webster
Steve Blake

Another line-up switch last night, Nicolas Batum was taken out and Steve Blake was put in. I was a little nervous of this line-up but it seemed to do good things. LaMarcus Aldridge, who was named to the USA national team prior to the game, was the high scorer of the night! Apparently, that announcement did good things and pumped LMA up because he came away with 22 points on 11 - 17 from the field, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots. The difference in LaMarcus' game last night compared to the OKC game was drastic. Aldridge seemed much more confident in his shots and was eager to get the ball down low and take on former teammate Channing Frye. The man had 16 points at the half, I'm just sayin. Our guards were huge for us last night as both Andre Miller and Steve Blake had big games with 20 points. I think Blake's contribution was a bigger deal though because we haven't seen a game like this from Steve in a while. Blake shot 7 - 12 from the field and 2 - 5 from behind the arch tallying 2 rebounds and a big 12 assists. My boy, DANTE INFERNO CUNNINGHAM had another HUGE night with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. DC has been playing great these past couple games, he is really playing for a starting position and doing it with stride. He just keeps getting better and we have to mention his FACE MELTING super dunk on Amar'e Stoudemire coming after Amar'e had a nasty dunk on DC. Unfortunately, Amar'e's dunk was featured on SportsCenter and such and Dante's dunk but forgotten, such is the way of life.

This game was an excellent rebound game after Tuesday's heart breaker. The Blazers came out with a sense of urgency and energy right from the beginning and never allowed Phoenix to lead throughout the entire game. An excellent and surprising game through and through.

The Blazers went on to win the game 108 - 101.

Photo of the Night:

This dunk will forever be engraved in my mind and every time I see a picture or watch a replay I will hear Wheels screaming: "OOOOOH THAT WAS NASTY" because it was. It was.

The Blazers get a nice little break this weekend as All-Star weekend starts up in Dallas but will next play the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

•  Portland has won four of the past five games and seven of the last nine against the 

L.A. Clippers, including two straight wins at the Rose Garden. 

•  This season series between the teams is tied, 1-1, with each team winning on their home 

floor. Both teams have shot better than 50.0% from the floor (Portland, 50.6%; L.A. Clip- 

pers, 53.4%). Martell Webster leads Portland with 20.0 points in two series contests. 

•  The Trail Blazers bested the Clippers, 3-1, in the 2008-09 series, Portland’s second 

straight series win over the Clippers and 18th since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles 

in 1984-85. 

•  In four contests last season, the Trail Blazers outscored the Clippers, 107.0-91.8, and 

shot 48.7% from the floor while holding Los Angeles to 41.8% shooting in four games. 

•  The Trail Blazers dished 100 assists and turned the ball over 50 times, good for a 2.00 

assist-to-turnover ratio in four series games in 2008-09. The Clippers’ ratio was 1.32. 

•  Portland outscored Los Angeles in the paint in each of the four meetings last season, 

compiling a 202-152 edge overall. 

•  Portland earned a 186-160 (54-42 off.) rebounding advantage in four games in the 

series last year. 

Hopefully the Blazers get a nice, well deserved rest this weekend and come back strong on Tuesday for a good game against LAC. 

(Photos: Yahoo! Sports)