Starting Cinco:
LaMarcus Aldridge
Martell Webster
Andre Miller
Juwan Howard
Nicolas Batuuuum
Nico joined the starting five once again last night in a line-up change hinted by Nate McMillan during the practice before the game. Andre Miller was our top scorer of the night with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Dante INFERNO Cunningham had another BIG night and was one of the few guys making things happen for us last night. Inferno scored a new career high, 14 points and also tallied 6 rebounds and 1 steal. Dante has been doing BIG things for us and I am so excited to see more from him.
Here's a look at the complete box score:
This game just wasn't good. The Blazers had no fight, no energy and just seemed to be going through the motions during this game. The cringe-factor was evident for both teams though as turnovers plagued the entire game for both sides. Once again, shots just didn't drop for us and getting to the paint was difficult, despite the fact we actually outscored OKC in the paint 40 - 30, but I think turnovers were a big deciding factor. We had a total of 24 team turnovers which were converted into 30 OKC points. Those stats are painful to the eyes and really hard to witness in person. It was just a real shame of a game knowing that this game had potential to be a big confidence booster for the Blazers if they came out with the right confidence and attitude.Oklahoma City went on to win the game 89 - 77.
The Blazers are currently on a plane to Phoenix to take on ex-Blazer Channing Frye and the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night.
• Portland has won three straight games in the series (all in Portland) for the first time since a four-game win streak March 25-Dec. 5, 1999.
• The winning team has scored 100-plus points in 19 of the last 20 games in the series.
• Jerryd Bayless scored 16 of his 29 points (9-15 FG) in leading the Trail Blazers from 13 down in the fourth quarter to a 105-102 triumph over the Suns on Dec. 17 in the first meeting of this year’s series. Brandon Roy added 27 points and eight rebounds.
• Portland and Phoenix split last season’s series, with the home team winning all four games. Portland scored 110.3 points per game while allowing 109.3 points, both highs for the Trail Blazers in a Western Conference series last season.
• In 2008-09, Portland earned its first home sweep of Phoenix since 1998-99. In the wins, Portland posted two of its three highest scoring outputs of the season (124 points on Dec. 18, 129 points on March 26).
• Phoenix shot 53.5% from the floor in four games last season vs. Portland, the highest mark allowed by the Trail Blazers to any team, and 43.8% from long distance. The Trail Blazers shot 49.0% and 41.2%, respectively.
• The Suns outrebounded the Trail Blazers, 152-138, in four contests last season while outscoring Portland, 202-156, in the paint.
The Trail Blazers held a 52-39 advantage on the offensive glass and a 64-51 edge in second-chance scoring.
• The Suns had knocked off the Trail Blazers 11 consecutive times, the longest series streak against Portland at the time, before Brandon Roy’s career-high 52 points, tied for the second-most by a Trail Blazer in franchise history, lifted Portland past Phoenix, 124-119, on Dec. 18, 2009. Roy’s 19 free throws (of 21) also marked a franchise record.
• Rudy Fernandez was acquired by Portland from Phoenix along with James Jones for cash considerations on July 11, 2007.
• Phoenix center Channing Frye spent the past two seasons in a Trail Blazers uniform, averaging 5.6 points (46.4% FG), 3.5 rebounds and 14.8 minutes in 141 games. He attended the same college (Arizona) and high school (St. Mary’s, Phoenix) as Jerryd Bayless.
• Suns center Jarron Collins participated in Portland’s 2009 training camp and preseason before being waived on Oct. 22.
• Suns President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Steve Kerr played for Portland in 2001-02, netting 4.1 points in 65 games.
(Photos: Yahoo! Sports)
No comments:
Post a Comment