Chicago Fears the Beard--Up Next Milwaukee

The Blazers have had a spectacular start to the 2010-2011 season going 3-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Yesterday, the Blazers travelled to the windy city to try and boost that streak to 4-0.

Starting Five:
LaMarcus Aldridge
Nicolas Batum
Marcus Camby
Andre Miller
Brandon Roy

The high scorer of the night and all other recognition goes to none other than LaMarcus Aldridge (and his beard, I'm a fan). LMA came close to a career high and double-double with 33 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. The man was nearly flawless. He was perfect from the free throw line shooting 9-9 and  12-19 from the field. LaMarcus was the absolute leader of this team last night. We struggled out of the gate but LaMarcus caught fire and never slowed down. Brandon Roy had an extremely slow start but still finished the game with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Roy shot 4-12 from the field and 0-2 from beyond the arch. In the bronze position for the night was rookie, Armon Johnson with 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Johnson, who had family present at this game, was a surprising spark late in the 4th quarter. Nate took the starters out, flew the white flag and put in the rookies with 4 minutes to go. Johnson led that rookie unit to bring the Chicago lead down to 9 with an 8-0 run. The run was cut short but it made this loss a little less painful knowing our rookies were the type to go out there and try and make something happen.

Box Score:

The Blazers came out slow and tired in the first half. The Bulls were able to kill us on transition and get easy lay-ins and buckets but what was the real dagger was field goal shooting. The Bulls  shot a steady 60% from the field to our 41% and a big 38% from 3-pt range to our shocking 0%. Luol Deng was huge for the Bulls win with a career high 40 points, shooting 14-19 from the field and 3-5 from beyond the arch. The Blazers lost the game 110-98.

Photo of the Night:

Thankfully Gibson forgot which way the hoop was on this play.

The Blazers next travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks tonight! Tip off is at 8 PM EST, 5 PM PST.

• Portland and Milwaukee split last year’s season series,1-1, with each team winning at home. 

• The Trail Blazers have won six of the past seven meetings. 

• Portland had won fi ve straight against Milwaukee until the Bucks’ double-overtime win, 108-101, Dec. 12, 2009, in Milwaukee. 

• Portland has defeated Milwaukee in four straight meetings at the Rose Garden. The Trail Blazers have won 15 of the last 22 games between 

the teams overall. 

• Milwaukee’s last two wins over Portland have come in overtime. The Bucks’ last win in regulation over the Trail Blazers came on March 20, 

2006, 100-93, in Portland. 

• Nate McMillan became the second-youngest NBA coach in the last 20 years to reach 350 career wins after a 96-84 victory at Milwaukee on 

March 21, 2009 (Jeff Van Gundy). 

• LaMarcus Aldridge averaged 26 points per game in two contests against Milwaukee last season to lead Portland while playing 

an average of 45 minutes per game. Brandon Roy added 22.5 points per game against the Bucks in 2009-10. 

• Marcus Camby did not play against Milwaukee last season as Portland’s games against the Bucks were before Camby was traded to the 

Trail Blazers. The Los Angeles Clippers’ games against the Bucks came after Camby was traded to Portland. 

• Portland shot 49.1 percent from the fi eld in two contests against Milwaukee last season. The Bucks shot 47.5 percent from the 

fl oor and 41.7 percent from 3-point range against Portland in 2009-10. 

• Each team turned the ball over 29 times in last year’s matchups. 

• The Trail Blazers attempted 60 free throws during last year’s season series while Milwaukee attempted 42. Andre Miller shot a 

series-high 18  total free-throw attempts during the meetings. 

• Wesley Matthews played at the Bradley Center during his collegiate career at Marquette. 

• Milwaukee Head Coach Scott Skiles is 10-13 (.435) in his career vs. the Trail Blazers as coach of Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee. 

• Bucks assistant coach Joe Wolf played 21 games for Portland during the 1992-93 season, averaging 2.5 points and 2.1 rebounds. 

• Joel Przybilla played for the Milwaukee Bucks from 2000-03. Przybilla totaled 141 games played with averages of 1.9 points and 3.6 rebounds 

before being traded to Atlanta during the 2003-04 season. 


Sources: Photo-Yahoo Sports Notes-Blazers Media Notes