Winners, Trades, & Recaps

Before I get to the game recap, I want to announce that Matt is the winner of the Gambler’s Corner challenge for the month of January! Keep your eyes open for Matt’s post coming up in the next week or so! Congratulations Matt!

Also in a Chad Ford chat today (ESPN insider who specializes in trade rumors and Draft stuff), he said that he belives the chances of Bosh being moved are fairly high, and up around 30%-40% now. That got me thinking, and how do you feel about this trade?

Would you do it? Would you do it if we had to give up another draft pick or Sergio? I think I would.

Game Recap

Possibly one of the best comebacks in Blazers history took place last night in New Orleans. The Blazers were down by as much as 20 in the 3^rd quarter, but stormed back to pull off a huge win on the road. The charge was led by our bench players, Bayless, Rudy, and Outlaw (Our bench outscored our starters 52-45). Much of the talk about our comeback is centered around the injury to Chris Paul midway through the 3^rd quarter. That is when the game changed, but hey no one feels sorry for you in the NBA if you have injuries so we’ll take it.

Individual Performances

Brandon Roy:

Roy struggled all night with his shot and getting to the rim. They played suffocating D on him, and were successful in taking him out of the game (6 points). However, the beauty of this team is other players stepped up to shoulder that offensive void left by Roy.

LaMarcus Aldridge:

LA might be the most underrated Blazer. For the last month he has absolutely been killing. He came through for us again tonight with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Although he was only 9-21, he kept us in the game early, as he was the only one to could score.

Greg Oden:

Oden only played 18 minutes this game, and found himself in foul trouble. He had a hard time dealing with the smaller and quicker Hornets front line. He still managed to put up 6 points and 6 boards. Oden continues to look better each game on the offensive side of the floor. He looks more in control then I have ever seen him, and it’s scary to think that he is only 50% of what he can be physically and skill wise.

Sergio Rodriguez:

Sergio did a serviceable job again tonight, but this was truly Bayless’s night. Sergio played 19 minutes and had 6 points (two very nice takes to the rim) and 2 turnovers.

Nicolas Batum:

Batum played only 15 minutes and was somewhat of a non-factor. He ended with 5 points and 4 boards.

Jerryd Bayless:

Bayless was the emotional spark off the bench that the Blazers needed. He ended with 19 points (7-9 from the field), 6 assists, 2 steals in only 24 minutes. He played with an enormous amount of energy, and had multiple dunks that got the Blazers back into the game. When Bayless plays like this, one can only ask if he should be given all of the backup minutes at PG. He clearly looks like he has a future as a PG with this team.

Travis Outlaw:

Travis came up huge for tonight in the 4^th quarter by hitting several key jumpshots. Travis was hot from the beginning, but found himself on the bench due to foul trouble. It is always nice to have another clutch shooter to fall back on when Roy isn’t hitting. Travis ended with 16 points (7-11 shooting) and 6 boards. Great effort.

Joel Przybilla:

If Bayless is the offensive MVP of this game, then Przy is the defensive MVP. Przy practically shut down David West in the last 8 minutes of the game, allowing the Blazers to take the lead and never look back. I think you will find many people who agree that Joel is the best backup center in the league and how lucky the Blazers are to enjoy such a luxury.

Rudy Fernandez:

Rudy also was huge in the comeback and found his range at the right time. Rudy ended with 15 points on 4-8 shooting (3-6 from deep), and was huge in grabbing 8 rebounds. It seems Rudy hasn’t had a great game in a while, and it was great to see him step up in this one.

Summary: AMAZING win, that moved us into 4^th place in the western conference and only 1 game back of Denver for the division lead. There are lots of games to play still, but it’s hard not to get excited in the Rose City right now.