That dirty four letter word is on the tips of everyoneâs tongues again. Snub. Just like last season, poor Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were passed up for the coveted Western conference All-Star team. As heartbreaking and illogical as it is to us passionate Trail Blazers fans, realistically it makes all the sense in the world. The All-Star team is made up of players from teams that are playing well. They are the leaders and MVPs of their respective squads. Teams that are holding the top five slots in their conferences.
By no means am I dumping on Dame and CJ. Theyâre a snarling, two-headed alpha dog for the Blazers. Itâs clear that the rest of the Blazers team look to them for answers when things are going south. Unfortunately, leaders arenât always successful. The Blazersâ record speaks to our beloved duoâs leadership. If the Blazers were above 500 instead of getting buried and desperately trying to scrape to the surface for a play-off slot, Dame and CJ would have earned their stars.
Honestly, Iâm perfectly fine with them missing the boat again. Dame and CJ arenât megalomaniacs like most of the players that make the All-Star team. They donât really fit in with that pack of asshats anyway. Also, we all know what happened last season after Dame got the cold shoulder. He went off. Him getting snubbed could possibly be what saves this season.
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Last night the Blazers took on the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies also had a snubbed All-star in their midst, Mike Conely. Dame and CJ had to go up against someone who was likely looking to prove himself worthy too. Not only did the Blazers have to deal with Conelyâs fury, they had to tangle with Marc Gasol. The Grizzliesâ true big has their highest point average at 20.6, and the last few games heâs been pushing 30+ points. Meyers Leonard and Mason Plumee were going to have to figure out how to conquer Mount Gasol if the Blazers planned on getting the win.
When the final buzzer rang at the end of regulation, instead of Dame and CJ doing everything, the Blazers snagged a victory because they played like a unit. The streamers flew as they walked off the court with their third win in a row.
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From the start it looked like Gasol was gonna be our biggest problem. If Plumee kept him out of the paint, Gasol would just shoot jumpers or threes. He played 11 minutes of the first quarter and scored 12 of the Grizzliesâ 24 points. On the Blazersâ offensive side when Plumee wasnât hanging from the rim after monstrous dunks, Dame and CJ were dropping dimes. Since the Blazers were working as a team, they led going into the second 28-24.
Come the second quarter, Allen Crabbe joined in the fun and started bombing in shots. He brought his point total up to 14 before the quarter was over. Whenever Crabbe does his job as sixth man and has a smooth night, a victory is almost guaranteed. He was definitely having fun doing it too.
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The second also saw Dame slip and do the splits away from the ball. He crumbled to his back and rolled around for a while wincing and rubbing his groin. But, in typically Dame fashion, he got up, walked it off, and finished the quarter. He might be sore today, but unless a limb is somehow snapped off of his body, Dame usually gets back up. The home team took a six point lead into the locker room after shooting 50% for the half. Things were looking up.
The Grizzlies tried mightily to get their first lead of the game in the third. At one point they cut the Blazers lead down to one. But when Crabbe waltzed back into the game and drained back to back threes, for the time being it looked like he snuffed their hopes of getting too close. The Grizzlies however, were not convinced. They kept fighting and brought the Blazers lead back down to one going into the final quarter.
Two minutes into the fourth quarter the Grizzlies had their first lead of the game by one. And just like that, Crabbe tossed up his sixth three point shot of the game and tied his career high for threes made in a game. He ended up shooting 75% from behind the three point line.
The Grizzlies were still keeping it close, but Dame wasnât having it. He rained in two consecutive threes pointers, Conley answered with his own, and then Dame answered right back with a third. He ended up scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter alone.
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With the Blazers only up by three, a big turnover by Dame in the last 23 second got everyoneâs heart rate up and led to a Tony Allen fast break. Thankfully Plumee was there to give him a big bear hug and keep him from converting. After that, Allen kept himself for converting on two big, high pressure free throws. Those two clangers and a few missed attempts to make a couple follow ups by the Grizzlies, and the Blazers kept their three point lead for the W. Is this what the start of momentum looks like?
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