Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers meet the Milwaukee Bucks basketball squadron in moderately competitive basketball action. Tonight is the welcome return of Rudy Fernandez, who has spent the past 40+ days on injured reserve for being too handsome. A pain I know all too well. Oh, and he had some sort of back problem, too. Let's ogle the Spaniard and live blog some Blazers basketball.
PRE-GAME:
The Blazers fell to the Bucks in an 108-101 OT defeat on December 12th, an outcome not likely to happen again tonight. The Bucks haven't won in this building in close to four years, and the loss of Michael Redd (whose knee is being held together entirely by the power of prayer) doesn't help things. The Bucks are lead by this tall glass of awesomeness, although the month of January has seen Brandon Jennings' stat line plummet. He's still better than any rookie not named Tyreke Evans, but he isn't lighting the nets aflame like he was earlier in the season.
Rudy—or Handsome B. Wonderful as he is known to most Blazers fans—will see limited minutes in this week's games. He'll probably be on the court for about ten minutes tonight.
A visit from the Bucks means that Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is in the building. I feel like I've waited all season just to type his name. That feels good to type. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Oh yeah. Keep it coming.
FIRST QUARTER:
10:19 - Ersan Iiyasova with the games first two points. Between him and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, my keyboard hurts. 2-0 Bucks.
7:47 - Roy has the tough task of playing with Mbah a Moute on his back the entire night. Mbah a Moute is one of the NBA's best defenders—yet still underrated at his position—and has better size than Roy. 6-5 Bucks.
6:35 - Of course, after typing that, Roy hits a three and now has outscored the Bucks all by himself. 7-6 Blazers.
5:15 - I won't name names but someone on press row is asleep. Seriously. Full-on slumber. Been this way since the start of the game. Your Portland media, ladies and gentlemen. 10-6 Blazers.
4:41 - Andrew Bogut heads out with a pair of fouls, which is great news for the Blazers frontcourt. Maybe his invisible friends can come in the game for him? That video never gets old for me. I've watched it more than "David After Dentist." No Rudy yet. This game feels like forever. 16-8 Blazers.
2:28 - Steve Blake for three. Take that weakened immune system and pneumonia! 21-12 Blazers.
2:09 - Jeff Pendergraph just swatted an Iiyasova layup attempt so aggressively that his soul hurts. Poor guy. At this rate the Bucks will score 50 points tonight. 25-12 Blazers.
0:41 - Ruuuuuuuddddyyyy is on the court. Standing ovation. That guy is the biggest celebrity in Portland. 27-14 Blazers.
0:00 - At the buzzer Blake follows a fullcourt sprint by hitting a running jumper. Wow. Blowout city, here we come. 31-16 Blazers.
SECOND QUARTER:
11:28 - Roy is being defended by Mbah a Moute, yet sill has a perfect quarter shooting. Meanwhile Rudy hits a jumper and this crowd goes nuts. Priorities? Eh, whatever. 33-17 Blazers.
9:04 - Everything is coming up Portland. Rudy misses a three? Bayless hits one instead. Aldridge doesn't convert on a jumper? Pendergraph hits a turnaround. 41-24 Blazers.
7:23 - Blake with a great—albeit a little reckless—long bounce pass to Bayless, who gets fouled while burying a jumper. That was great. Every play is a highlight tonight. 48-24 Blazers.
6:06 - Pendergraph with another monster block. He ended up on Hakim Warrick's back after swatting that ball a good dozen feet away from the basket. 52-29 Blazers.
2:55 - Andre Miller and LaMarcus Aldridge just put on a passing drill during a fastbreak layup. Up next, the tip drill. Someone get out the orange practice cones. 56-41 Blazers.
0:02 - Always end on a high note, and the Blazers do just that. Martell Webster caps off a 65 points first half with a breakaway dunk. I could get used to 65 point halves. 65-46 Blazers.
THIRD QUARTER:
12:00 - Due to a technical foul on Bucks coach Scott Skiles, Miller took one free-throw at the start of this quarter, but the point counts towards the first half. Which means the 66 points ties the season high for the Blazers. 66-46 Blazers.
7:56 - Both Miller and Blake are carving up Jennings. They'll both be on the way out of their league when Jennings comes into his own, but it's a nice sight to witness tonight. 81-53 Blazers.
6:57 - The lead is now 30 points. I rarely get to type such things. 83-53 Blazers.
4:39 - To clear things up, Teddy Pendergrass died tonight, but Jeff Pendergraph is fine. Just to clarify. 89-60 Blazers.
2:56 - Not willing to let the rookie get all the blocks, Aldridge smacks a Luke Ridnour layup into the seats. 91-61 Blazers.
1:11 - Juwan Howard is now passing alley-oops to Aldridge. Milwaukee, what is happening? How has it come to this? You guys want to use Blaze's trampoline? 95-65 Blazers.
0:00 - Rudy airballs a three attempt. Now the Blazers only have 12 more minutes to hit the chalupa shot. 97-71 Blazers.
FOURTH QUARTER:
10:46 - Bucks with the first five points of the quarter. Could this be a dramatic comeback for the ages? Or is there really nothing else to write about? Let's go with the second option. 97-76 Blazers.
9:35 - The Chalupa Curse! Blazers have not scored on a jumper in over three minutes. People are starving here. 98-79 Blazers.
8:26 - Bucks comeback. No lead is safe! The Chalupa Curse stretches into it's fourth minute. 98-81 Blazers.
7:26 - The curse has ended, but Coach McMillan has also put the starters—with the exception of Roy—back into the game. I guess he doesn't trust the bench with a 17 point lead. 100-83 Blazers.
6:41 - Nervous? The lead is down to 13 and getting lower by the second. 100-87 Blazers.
5:07 - Make that 11 points. This is like watching a stock collapse. (Yeah, because I own so many stocks.) 103-92 Blazers.
4:33 - Miller with a nifty drive and layup while getting fouled. Okay, that might do it. Noble effort Bucks, but it won't be enough. 108-95 Blazers.
3:13 - Blake for three. Here's some salt for that wound, Milwaukee. 113-95 Blazers.
2:56 - That's the second time this year someone has jabbed Miller in the eye. Someone is getting a monocle. Oh, Roy is in the locker room getting his hamstring worked on. He won't return. Let's not worry about that. I hope. 113-97 Blazers.
1:41 - Shavlik Randolph sighting. This is more exciting than when Rudy came back. 117-101 Blazers.
1:03 - Shavlik tosses up an airball. It wasn't even close. it looked like a pass... to no one. 117-102 Blazers.
0:00 - And that will do it. Shavlik doesn't score, but the Blazers sure do. Your final score, Portland 120, Milwaukee 108. See you Friday night.
