These final games of the season have become huge and meaningful for the Trailblazers as they seek to beat out division rivals the Denver Nuggets for the 8th and final playoff spot. Fortunately the Blazers pulled this one out against the up and coming Timberwolves, coming from behind while riding a crazy hot streak by Allen Crabbe, who came off the bench to score 10 points in 48 seconds in the crucial fourth quarter. Blazers win a big one 105-98.
Minnesota is not a particularly good team but they do feature some exciting young players, guys who we will likely be calling superstars in a few years, namely Andrew Wiggins and "The Katman", Karl Anthony-Townes. These guys had their way with the Blazers last week, taking advantage of the fact that the Blazers have had essentially no center since Jusuf Nurkic fractured his leg. The good news on that front is that Nurkic was seen looking spry taking warm-up shoots before this game. Will he be available for the playoffs if the Blazers make the cut? See video below:
One week before his fractured right leg is scheduled to be re-evaluated, Jusuf Nurkic shot for about 10 minutes. Looked pain free. pic.twitter.com/bBnYKC8nfn
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) April 7, 2017
Things started off ugly in the Moda Center as Minnesota jumped out to an early lead and the home team looked tired and listless. Fans even began to boo after Meyers Leonard took a particularly poor shot. I'm not sure what's going on with Meyers Leonard, but he has certainly fallen out of favor at a time when the team could really use a good 7 footer. Fans calmed down a bit as the Blazers pulled within 8 points at halftime. Let's take a look at some of the fan ensembles wandering the halls during the break:
Extra points for matching outfits!
These two travelled all the way from Scappose for this big game. "We gotta kill 'em!" he said. Extra points for the old-school Jerome Kersey jersey.
Speaking of old school jerseys, big ups for Rasheed Wallace!
These two just looked nice:
More matching outfits! The Bosnian Beast is fast becoming the stuff of legends here in Portland. Heal quickly big man!
Okay, so what happened in the second half? The third quarter was competitive as the Blazers clawed their way back into it, but many of us wondered if they'd be able to hold off the Wolves big guys down the stretch. There was an air of nervousness in the Moda Center as the final period commenced. So much was riding on those next 12 minutes as the Blazer's playoff hopes would become greatly diminished with a loss on this night. Who would step up? This guy!
That's right, reserve shooting guard Allen Crabbe had a monster fourth quarter. He hit an insane 8 of 9 three pointers, including the aforementioned wild 10 points in 48 seconds (2 quick three pointers, plus a rare four point play where he was fouled while hitting a third three pointer). Crabbe's play won the game for the Blazers, hands down. They needed someone to come up big and he was the one. It also helped that Minnesota went stone cold in the fourth, but we'll focus on Crabbe instead. He scored a team high 25 points. Afterwards teammates and media swarmed him. Here's a cute shot of Nurkic clowning around during Crabbe's walk-off media interview:
So, what's next for our Blazers? They now sit two games up on the Denver Nuggets, meaning the "magic number" is 2 in order to lock down that playoff spot. Any combination of Blazer wins or Nugget losses that adds up to 2 will do it. Things look good, but as we've all learned this season, don't count those eggs! The Blazers face the very good Utah Jazz on Saturday night at the Moda Center. Be there!
