Beat L.A. -- again
The Blazers stomped the hated Lakers in Portland last night. An important victory. This leaves three games in Portland's regular season. If it wins all three games, it will have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and perhaps beyond. The Blazers are an especially formidable team at home this year -- Rose City hoops fans are rabid once again -- and so that advantage is real.
At this point, if I am doing my math correctly, the Blazers could, at least theoretically, be as high as a no. 2 seed or as low as a no. 7 seed in the western half of the pro hoops playoff tourney. Seeds 4 and higher have home court in the first round.
But it's a treacherous time to be looking too far ahead. Tonight the Blazers are down in L.A. to face the lowly Clippers. Here's one the Blazers could lose -- a letdown against a terrible team with nothing to play for, and coming for the Blazers on the road, the night after an emotional tussle with the Lakers. The Clippers can't beat Portland; the question is whether Portland can beat itself. L.A.'s Zach Randolph, still a Jail Blazer at heart with his recent drunk driving bust, will return to the court from his latest suspension -- unless a good lap dance comes along.
Monday is another mildly dangerous night for the Blazers, with another lottery team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, coming to Portland. The Blazers should handle them easily -- they've hit a particularly bad patch lately -- but they've got this pesky Kevin Durant guy, and nothing is guaranteed.
The last game is Wednesday night in Portland against Denver. Those gentlemen are the real deal, especially with the steal of Chauncey Billups early this season, and the outcome is a tossup. It's possible, but not likely, that the two teams could be playing for the division title that night, and if that is the case and the Blazers win, they'd be a no. 2 or no. 3 seed (I think).
Looking at the playoffs themselves, of the Blazers' six possible first-round opponents, the teams they should most fear are Denver and Dallas, followed by Houston. If the playoff brackets have Portland facing New Orleans, San Antonio, or Utah, the prospects for Blazer games well into May are bright.
| Posted at 2:01 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (14)
There's something wonderful about sending the hated Lakers back to L.A. with another loss.
We watched the game at a local sports bar, and there was plenty of screaming and high-fiving throughout the 4th quarter.
RIP CITY!!!
Posted by Joey | April 11, 2009 2:22 AM
Roy against Kobe in the 4th was the stuff of legend. Oden against Bynum has "legendary confrontation" potential.
We're talking years of potential greatness here.
The day before the season started, one of my best friends died a horrible death and I turned to this team to help me through the grieving process. It was asking a lot but these guys have more than delivered.
I will love this team and this season for the rest of my life. Go Blazers.
Posted by Bill McDonald | April 11, 2009 9:10 AM
My favorite moments: Kobe's blocked shots.
Deeefense.
Posted by genop | April 11, 2009 9:52 AM
51-28. We're entering rarefied air here in Blazers lore.
At the beginning of the season I predicted 52 wins based on last year's team and this year's upgrades... it turns out that may be low by two or three. Most prognosticators penciled them in for 45 to 48.
Even though I figured they'd be good enough to reach that number, I still couldn't fathom what has transpired this year. They're not supposed to be this good. To be 51-28 with a crappy road record for most of the season? Imagine when they figure that part out... look out.
If Nate McMillan doesn't get Coach of the Year, it will be a travesty.
Posted by TKrueg | April 11, 2009 10:39 AM
A great young team with so much potential, but let's keep it in perspective. It's all good at his point and nothing can damper this season, not even the post season. How many degrees of separation Laker haters? Big Red brings home the bacon for the Rose City and now we diss 'lil Red and company. Fans are funny. Let's get them a new arena Now while all is good. LOL
Posted by Walter | April 11, 2009 10:53 AM
Awesome stuff.
Posted by Kevin | April 11, 2009 12:01 PM
I do not fear matching up with Dallas, especially with homecourt advantage. This is despite us not being successful against them in recent times.
San Antonio does look ripe for the picking with Ginobili shelved and Duncan hurt, but they do such a great job of playing possum between the regular season and playoffs, that I have some lingering fear.
Houston? Yikes. Rick Adelman is my Coach of the Year vote. They're a machine, seemingly *because* of the TMac-ectomy.
Posted by Sebastian | April 11, 2009 12:52 PM
Portland is one of the three worst matchups for LA.
but the key to Portland's win? the foul calls. for one of the rare times this season, LA garnered way more fouls than its opponent (31-19). check the stats--that almost never happens; Bryant gets the call if a player even squints his direction.
last season, the foul ratios were so lopsided for the Lakers that even Phil Jackson commented on it.
but ahh, Rip City again. hope Clyde's watching and wearing his Phi Slamma Jamma t-shirt.
Posted by ecohuman | April 11, 2009 1:18 PM
Home court is important but it is overrated in the playoffs. More important is a relative lack of injuries, your bench playing well, and most importantly, whether your team can win on the road.
Cleveland is overestimating the home court advantage just like the Sacramento Kings did during the Lakers 3peat in the early 2000s.
Remember how no one wanted to play against the Kings in Arco Arena? I do, they have no rings to show for that home court dominance.
The Blazers are certainly good and I predict that they will play against the Lakers in the Conference Finals. However, I do believe that, like Cleveland, they are overachieving, struggle on the road, and I question whether their supporting cast will be able to shoot as high a percentage in a 7 game series where it is no longer a game of checkers (regular season), but a game of chess (playoffs).
Posted by YoungOregonMoonbat | April 11, 2009 4:59 PM
If Portland matches up with New Orleans as you state, then my money is on New Orleans in 5 or 6 games. Do not root for Portland to match up with New Orleans if you want Portland to go into the second round.
First, Chris Paul and David West like last year, will kill teams with the pick and roll. This will put Portland's point guards into foul trouble early in games, thus posing a problem for a smooth running of the offense. Especially on an overachieving team with no playoff experience such as the Portland Trailblazers.
Second, every offense has to develop their game plan against Tyson Chandler. His defense is on Kevin Garnett's and Dwight Howard's level. His left ankle may be sore now, but he will be there in the middle come the first round.
Third, Peja and James Posey will absolutely kill Portland from the three-point line. I do not need to elaborate because their playoff experience over the past decade tells all.
Fourth, Trailblazers road record of 19 wins and 21 losses. (http://trailblazers.realgm.com/). This is not even par, it is comparable to bogeying in golf or a 7-9 record in the season in the NFL.
Like I said earlier, home court advantage is a given, but what really matters is if you can win games on the road. Honestly, I do not believe that the Portland Trailblazers are good enough and experienced enough to win on the road against a team such as New Orleans.
BTW, Portland should have picked Durant. Oden is looking like a Mutombo who can score 10 points a game...Hardly worth the first pick.
Posted by YoungOregonMoonbat | April 11, 2009 7:27 PM
Oh god, Moonbat, did you have to go there? If you can call Oden a Mutombo (strong defense with limited offense), then Durant is an Iverson (great scoring but with poor defense and seeming inability to improve teammates). I'm basing my assessment of Durant on their improved winning percentage when he was out a few weeks ago.
I'm not saying that Durant will be a career loser or that he'll never learn to defend, only that you shouldn't say what a player's career will be like after one or two seasons. It's too early in their careers to say that Oden is definitely this or Durant is certainly that.
Posted by paniscus | April 12, 2009 2:17 PM
Paniscus,
I could have done worse and compared Greg Oden to another Kwame Brown. Yet, I am not a complete a****le, thus forth I did not go there.
You are right in a year from now we will be in a better position to assess whether Portland should have picked Oden or Durant. I could be and most likely will be completely wrong in another year.
Posted by YoungOregonMoonbat | April 12, 2009 2:32 PM
I suspect Joe Dumars needs a posse of bodyguards after giving Denver Chauncy Billups for Iverson. I know he wanted to develop Rodney Stuckey, but damn, that just gave Denver the division championship. In fact, I wouldn't count them out against the Lakers, even though they lost in L.A. a few nights ago.
On the other hand, the Blazers could be the Tampa Bay of the NBA.
Posted by Gil Johnson | April 12, 2009 10:20 PM
Billups for Iverson was a salary dump -- it had nothing to do with basketball. Pretty common these days -- biggest wallet wins.
Posted by Jack Bog | April 12, 2009 10:36 PM