Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Golden State Warriors.
Well, 82-0 is officially out of the question. After an encouraging start against the Thunder, the Blazers laid a pumpkin against the Kings in Sacramento on All Hallows’ Eve. Losing to the lowly Kings is never a good look, but sometimes there’s no fighting that spooky Halloween magic. If only the Blazers had gone with something better than “losing basketball players” for their costumes.
It gets worse. Portland’s schedule over the next three weeks is downright brutal—it’s a non-stop horror show full of championship contenders and playoff hopefuls and King Cake Baby. They don’t face a guaranteed lottery team until the end of November.
Oh, Steph Curry is here? Great. Forget spooky holidays—his last game at the Moda Center is truly the stuff nightmares are made of.
PRE-GAME:
The good news for Portland is the Northwest Division, for the first time since the 2010-2011 season, is wide open. With Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both on the shelf for at least the next month, the Blazers find themselves in the catbird seat even with their tough schedule coming up.
Klay Thompson just got paid—dude secured a max contract extension worth about $70 million over four years. Good for him, but that just set the market and upped the price tag for Wesley Matthews this off-season. Matthews is four years older and doesn’t have the upside of Thompson, but in terms of production both are (as of now) on about the same level. The Warriors are wisely betting on Klay’s development, but based on his contract it’s not crazy to expect Matthews to get around thirteen million a year next season—a little less than double of what he’s currently making.
So yeah, Matthews is going to have a little extra jump tonight going against his big money counterpart. He’s probably somewhere right now carving “4/70” in his arm with a rusty knife for motivation.
With Klay’s extension kicking in, Steph Curry—you know, the planet-eater with unlimited range—is going to be Golden State’s fifth-highest paid player during the 2015-2016 season. That is insane. Curry is an MVP-caliber player on one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league. New coach Steve Kerr is a smart man for spurning the Knicks and taking this job instead.
Oh…oh no. “Seven Nation Army” is being blasted over the PA. Please don’t let that chant become a thing. This isn’t Miami. Can’t we get a Thermals chant going instead?
FIRST QUARTER:
11:18 – Mid-court steal for Matthews, easy layup. Yep, dude came to play. 2-0 Blazers.
9:51 – Klay Thompson is out here trying to make his presence known as well. He blocked a three-point attempt from Matthews, and scored the Warriors first points via free throw after picking up a foul in transition. 2-2 Tie.
8:24 – Dang, Robin Lopez is out here grinding. He kept a possession alive by knocking away an offensive rebound to Batum, set a huge screen for Batum, then gathered the ball on a pick and roll and dunked it home. 7-7 Tie.
7:17 – Matthews turned the ball over, Thompson scored in transition, the Blazers called time, and Matthews picked up a technical heading into the break. Advantage: Klay. 13-7 Warriors.
5:30 – I guess if you’re looking for a silver lining, it’s that the Blazers won’t shoot 16% from the field for a full game. But right now…oof. They are 3-18, including 0-4 from deep. Dame is looking especially rough, going 0-4 at the rim with at least two of those shots being blocked. 19-9 Warriors.
4:45 – Scratch that. Dame for three. As you were. 19-12 Warriors.
3:03 – Aldridge working inside out, hitting a deep two on one possession then taking it down low and drawing a foul on the next. He’s only 1-5 from the field, but his seven points are pacing Portland thus far. 24-18 Warriors.
2:24 – Will Barton sighting! The People’s Champ! The Blazers are desperate to try anything on the wing—so far Klay and Steph are outpacing the Blazers as a team, with 13 and 8 points respectively. 26-18 Warriors.
1:34 – Aldridge blocked Thompson on one end, Steve Blake drained a three in transition on the other. Progress! 26-20 Warriors.
0:00 – Barton was an inch away from draining a half-court shot as time expired. That would have brought the house down, but instead the Blazers are limping in to the end of the quarter down eight. The shooting percentage will rise, but the Warriors are playing great defense so far tonight. 30-22 Warriors.
SECOND QUARTER:
10:20 – Lopez is keeping the Blazers in this one. He’s the only player doing a lick of work defending the rim, and his scoring off of the pick and roll has been on point. He’s got the only Portland baskets so far this quarter. 36-26 Warriors.
9:39 – Yeesh, Portland needs time. After Thomas Robinson had a jumper blocked, the Warriors dashed out to the other end and Andre Iguodala capped off the fast break with an emphatic dunk. There is plenty of basketball still to be played, but it’s not looking good for the Blazers so far. 38-26 Warriors.
8:12 – A fun game of YES-NO-YES with Thomas Robinson. He secured an offensive rebound and was fouled (yes!), missed both free throws (no!), then managed to grab his own miss and put it back in for two (YES!). And thus concludes this installment of YES-NO-YES with Thomas Robinson, coming soon to a court near you. 38-30 Warriors.
6:50 – The Blazers have their FG% up over 30% for the night, and, would you look at that, this lead has shrunk to just six. Golden State needs time. 38-32 Warriors.
6:28 – Out of the timeout, the Warriors turn it over and Matthews makes them pay with a three-pointer in transition! 38-35 Warriors.
5:50 – This crowd is fired up. The Warriors turned it over again, and Matthews looked like he was going to pull up for another three in transition from the same exact spot. Instead, he shoved a nice lob up to Thomas Robinson who viciously slammed it down with one hand. That’s an 11-0 run for the home team. 38-37 Warriors.
3:49 – Matthews for three! 45-42 Warriors.
3:28 – Blake for three! 47-45 Warriors.
3:19 – What a sequence. The Blazers are throwing haymakers with all these quick threes, but they can’t quite get over the hump. A questionable out of bounds call goes Golden State’s way—the crowd lost it after seeing the replay—and instead of Portland ball, the Warriors were able to pick up a basket and a technical foul on Terry Stotts. 50-45 Warriors.
0:34 – After a raucous three minute stretch where Portland battled their way back into this one, the game has slowed down. Both teams are just trying to get to the half. Especially Draymond Green, who lost a ball out of bounds, hit the deck, and watched the ball roll slowly beyond his outstretched hands. Even his assistant coaches were laughing at him for that one. 51-48 Warriors.
0:00 – Lillard versus Curry, twenty seconds, one on one to end the quarter—Lillard drives, dishes…and Kaman can’t handle the pass. Well that was anticlimactic. Lillard is 1-8 with five points, and his early season struggles continue. 51-48 Warriors.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:22 – Andrew Bogut was shading so far off of Robin Lopez that Lopez was able to drive from beyond the free throw line and jam it home with ease. Call that one the Aldridge Effect. 53-50 Warriors.
9:14 – Miss, miss, turnover, miss, miss, turnover. That was an ugly stretch of pickup-level basketball by both teams, but Nicolas Batum finally stopped it all by draining a three in front of Golden State’s bench. 57-55 Warriors.
7:43 – Huh, it only took two and a half quarters, but I finally took notice of David Lee’s absence tonight. I knew he was out, but it wasn’t until Aldridge just drew a foul on Draymond Green that I really realized he was gone. No wonder Golden State has been playing such good defense! 59-56 Warriors.
7:12 – Four fouls on Lopez. That’s huge, and he’ll have to sit for the rest of this quarter. 61-56 Warriors.
5:35 – Lillard has had such little success at the rim that on that last drive he opted to dish it out rather than try and shoot. Problem is, he dished it to the wrong team. 1-10, five points, and now two turnovers. Blurg. 63-58 Warriors.
5:04 – I think Dame heard me. He just blew past Curry and laid it in. 64-60 Warriors.
3:58 – Well, that isn’t going on Aldridge’s highlight reel. He grabbed an offensive rebound and went to dunk it…but the rim rejected him. 64-60 Warriors.
3:02 – Dame, shake and bake, pullup from twenty feet out—splash! We’re all tied up! 64-64 Tie.
1:14 – I mean sure, Will Barton, you go ahead and take that contested jumper with the clock running out. And sure, Will Barton, hit nothing but the bottom of the net. Blazers lead. 68-66 Blazers.
0:00 – For as bad as the Blazers played to start this one, they’re headed into the final quarter tied. All they need now is to avoid Steph Curry going into NBA Jam mode like he did last time in this building. 68-68 Tie.
FOURTH QUARTER:
11:12 – Chris Kaman with two turnovers to start the fourth. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s not a solid strategy for winning basketball games. 68-68 Tie.
10:39 – And another turnover for the Blazers. That’s three straight to start the fourth. 70-68 Warriors.
9:44 – Matthews is the only starter on the floor, and he’s thankfully scored five straight to keep Portland in this one. Stotts is going to give his starters as much of a rest as possible, but this lineup needs more shooting. The middle of the floor is jam packed. 73-72 Blazers.
9:18 – Now Steve Blake is getting into the turnover action. That’s six possessions, four turnovers this quarter. 74-73 Warriors.
8:53 – Not one to be left out of the party, Robin Lopez checked back in and immediately turned it over. He picked up his fifth foul trying to set a screen for Blake. So that’s now seven possessions, five turnovers. Even worse, Portland’s only rim defender is now one foul away for disqualification. 74-73 Warriors.
6:48 – Dame missed a three short, but the miss bounced long and he grabbed his own rebound. He missed a second three short and grabbed that rebound as well. Tired of missing threes, he took it right to the rim and laid it in with ease. 78-76 Blazers.
4:09 – Uh oh, Aldridge’s jumper is falling. Portland is running the pick and roll to death, and it’s working perfectly. 84-81 Blazers.
3:19 – Uggggh. After getting stripped by Steve Blake on the previous possession, Klay Thompson took it right back at Blake, drove right around him, and rose for the poster dunk over Lopez. You’ll be seeing that one on Sportscenter later. Klay was right to pump his fist after that one. Portland needs time. 85-84 Warriors.
2:54 – Need to regroup? Go right back to Aldridge in the block. Turnaround. Money. 86-85 Blazers.
2:01 – Three straight buckets for Aldridge out of that last timeout, and this crowd is fired up. 90-88 Blazers.
0:46 – Klay Thompson had an amazing look at an open corner three, and he was half an inch short. The Portland fans are letting him know that he just blew an excellent opportunity—that miss might have elicited the loudest cheers of the night. Portland calls time to get a good look drawn up here. 90-88 Blazers.
0:25 – That look? A desperation heave from three by Aldridge as the shot clock was expiring. Not ideal. Iguodala took the rebound the length of the court and drew a foul on Batum, but he was only able to convert one of the two freebies. Portland rebound, Portland timeout. We’re in for an epic finish. 90-89 Blazers.
0:14 – Wild scene. Off of the inbound, Matthews was trapped in the corner by two Golden State defenders and couldn’t make a move. He tried to dribble out, and the ball ended up rolling out of bounds. It was called Blazers ball on the floor, and after the review it was overturned and called Golden State ball. They’ll have the last look. 90-89 Blazers.
0:09 – Well, that didn’t take long. Klay Thompson curled off of a screen and hit and easy floater in the lane. Hopefully the Blazers draw up a better play off of this timeout. 91-90 Warriors.
0:04 – Nope, not better. The Blazers turn it over trying to get the pass into Aldridge. Batum had to foul Curry, who drained both freebies. 93-90 Warriors.
0:04 – With no timeouts left, Aldridge tried to get a touchdown pass to Matthews at half-court. It was easily picked off, another Blazers turnover. Brutal. 95-90 Warriors.
FINAL: 95-90 Warriors. Portland had a one point lead with fourteen seconds left, and ended up losing by five. That was terrible late game execution. Credit to the Warriors, but the Blazers lost this one more than the Warriors won it. What a tough finish. Portland gave one away.
Shit.