"Well, it was a heck of game," said coach Stotts at the post game press conference, shaking his head. He was right about that. The lead changed 14 times over the course of the night, with 11 ties. Both teams played well, and Portland shooting guard Alan Crabbe had a career night, scoring 30 points off the bench. CJ McCollum came up huge, twice hitting three pointers to twice force things into overtime. But in the end it was Detroit Rock City who came away victorious, downing the Blazers 124-125.
This game was actually supposed to be played the night before, but the NBA postponed it until Sunday on account of the big 1 inch of snow we got on Saturday. Asked about the delay Portland star Damian Lillard said "I've seen way worse weather in Utah and the show went on."
The weather wasn't much better on Sunday, a slippery mix of freezing rain, but many fans made to the Moda Center anyway. The were quite a few empty seats, an unusual sight of for a Blazers game, and the temperature inside the arena was strangely cold both on account of the weather and also, I think, the lack of bodies present to heat things up. Those of us who made it through the icey mush did witness a good game though, even if the final result was a bummer.
I'll be honest, one of the reasons I was particularly interested in seeing this matchup live was the chance to catch a glimpse giant Serbian curiosity Boban Marjanovic, currently the tallest player in the NBA at 7 foot 4 inches. He'd just made basketball history in the Pistons previous game by notching the fastest double-double ever recorded, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in under 10 minutes of play. Despite that, Boban is a deep bench player for Detroit, and I wasn't sure if he'd get any time on this night. He looked alright during the warm-ups, dwarfing players who would normally be considered huge like star center Andre Drummond. Here's a picture of Boban and his wife that she posted on twitter:
The first half was all fine and close. Alan Crabbe had the hot hand for the Blazers, a nice surprise. Unsurprisingly, Detroit big man Andre Drummond tore things up in the paint. Neither Plumlee nor Meyers Leonard could do much to stop him. Still, the Blazers led 56-53 at the half. Here's a sampling of the fan fashions on display during the break:
The second half saw a lot of back an forth as neither team seemed able to run away with things. Portland was up 7 at the end of the third, but Detroit came back in the fourth. Things were looking pretty grim with Portland down by 3 with 24 seconds left in the game. But then CJ drained a sweet 3 pointer with 8 seconds to go. Here's a picture of that shot on it's way in:
The crowd went nuts and Portland made a nice defensive stand afterwards to send the game into overtime. Interestingly, coach Stotts pulled both Lillard and McCollum for that final 8 second stand, an acknowledgment that his two star guards can be liabilities on the defensive end.
In overtime Detroit once again gained a slight edge and once again CJ McCollum stepped up big and hit a three pointer to tie the game. CJ! The kid is stone cold! Double OT!
Things were looking pretty good in that second overtime. CJ continued his fine play as did Al Farouq Aminu and the Blazers gained a two point lead with 12 seconds to go. But that's when Detroit's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a crazy three point shot, suddenly putting Detroit ahead by one and sucking the chilly air out of the arena. CJ missed the go ahead shot shortly afterwards and after a brief rebound tussle, the ball went out of bounds off Detroit. The Blazers got the ball back, down by one point...with only 0.2 seconds on the clock. Some fans drifted for the exits, but us diehard folks stuck around. A wild tip-in shot could actually have won the game for Portland. Crazier things have happened in the NBA.
And so it was, with 0.2 seconds on the clock, that Detroit finally opted to play the Serbian giant, Boban Marjanovic. His job was to guard the inbound passer, in this case Mason Plumlee, and wave his wing-like arms about to disrupt things. I suppose Boban did a good job because Plumlee's pass went nowhere and Moe Harkless slapped it off the backboard, ending the game.
Ugh, another Blazer loss. This one was a bit of a heartbreaker since it could so easily have been won. But hey, a double OT game is always special, and we all get to say we saw Boban the Giant play live. It was a spectacular 0.2 second effort. The Blazers take on the NBA champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wed night at the Moda Center. Let's hope for an upset.
