Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers take on the Milwaukee Bucks. Tonight is the first game back for Portland since Steve Blake’s injury, Jerryd Bayless’ explosion of badassery, and Rudy Fernandez golden ticket to the slam dunkathon. Lots to catch up, let’s get rolling…
PRE-GAME
Tonight marks the final night for Greg Oden to unceremoniously foul out of a game as a 20-year-old. His 21st birthday is on Wednesday, and there is supposedly a big party in his honor after their game with Cleveland that night. Look for Oden to foul out of his own party and for the night to turn into Joel Przybilla’s birthday instead. Plus, if I can scam my way into the party, I’m going to need to bring a gift. Any suggestions? I’m leaning towards a Snuggie, size XXXXL, but if you have any other ideas, I’m open to them.
Sadly for the Bucks, their big ‘ole Kangaroo Jack of a center, Andrew Bogut, will not be suiting up tonight. That also means his imaginary friends will not be playing as well. Michael Redd will be playing, and he’s been prone to drop some ridiculous scoring numbers on opposing teams. He had 44 the other night, and averages over 21 night.
The woman singing the national anthem forgot the words. Mo Cheeks was not there to bail her out. It was a timely metaphor for the final night of the Bush presidency.
FIRST QUARTER:
7:56 – Oden has already notched a pair of awkward shot attempts, neither of which were particularly close. Meanwhile Portland has moved the ball well and collected multiple second chance points along the way. It’s rare to see Portland come out to an early lead. 10-2 Blazers.
5:49 – Oden go DUNK! Big ups to Brandon Roy for feeding him the pass within thee inches of the hoop. 16-8 Portland.
2:45 – Having nearly double the points as your opposition is all well and good, but Portland should be padding the lead to more than a mere nine points. The Bucks are shooting a baffling 16% so far, but the Blazers have yet to pull away. 19-10 Portland.
0:11 – And then Portland stopped scoring. Rudy’s crab dribble is called a travel—now he knows how LeBron feels—and the Blazers watch their lead evaporate down to a single basket. 22-19 Portland.
SECOND QUARTER:
10:31 – A Sergio Rodriguez to Rudy alley-oop is denied, as Luc Mbah a Moute (best name ever) steals the pass and refuses to be a background player in their two man highlight reel. 24-21 Portland.
7:17 – Oden with a pretty pretty layup that surprisingly did not involve either a foul or travel. Or both. 31-28 Portland.
4:28 – And the Academy Award goes to… Jerryd Bayless in The Great Floptober. Bayless deliberately runs into Richard Jefferson and tumbles to the ground in a pile of flailing limbs. He’s not having a great night (two missed layups are proof of that), but at least Bayless keeps things entertaining. 40-34 Portland.
1:51 – Granted he is playing against the man, the myth, the Dan Gadzuric, but Oden is compiling a solid game so far. Eight points, six boards, and only one foul. 40-36 Portland.
THIRD QUARTER:
10:47 – Great beard of Oden! The big guy with a running (dare I say agile?) steal. Of course it fails to lead to any points, but at least it makes Oden look a little less like a statue that sits under the basket like a gargoyle on a ledge. 45-42 Portland.
8:20 – Aldridge buries another 18-footer (that’s 14 on the night, to lead all scorers), and just as the Bucks claw (prance? trot?) back into the game, the Blazers add a little distance to their lead. 55-45 Portland.
4:55 – Oden again with a tough layup while getting fouled. If he gets to play against Gadzuric every single night, number 52 would be an all-star. 60-48 Portland.
0:00 – Portland has done a nice job of keeping the Bucks at arms distance. 71-64 Portland. So, a dozen minutes to go on this blog, sandwiched between Sam Adams drama and the impending Obama presidency, here we go…
FOURTH QUARTER:
9:58 – Rudy for three, and the lead is now in double digits. 76-66 Portland.
8:15 – Oden misses a dunk—not exactly news—but Outlaw gets the rebound and dunks while the basket was still moving and shaking from the aftershock of Oden’s miss. 79-73 Portland.
6:19 – Oden again! He’s saying goodbye to his 20th year in a big way. 20 points and a dozen rebounds so far. His career high is 22, which won’t last long at this pace. 85-75 Blazers.
4:31 – Rudy to Oden for a dunk and he is now at 22. Do I hear 24? 91-80 Portland.
3:20 – Given Roy’s slow recovery from his hamstring, his game has been off this past week. He was 3-for-10 from the line during Saturday’s loss in Charlotte and tonight he only has nine points on a dismal 4-for-13 shooting. Not to worry, Portland is going to win tonight—barring an epic collapse—thanks to Aldridge, Oden, Fernandez, and Outlaw. 93-83 Blazers.
1:46 – It’s only fitting that Oden gets his career high 24th point on a botched play where he fumbles the pass, recovers, and drops it in for an easy bucket. 98-85 Portland.
0:29 – Since it’s his night, Oden also ties his career high for rebounds with 15. Someone owes Dan Gadzuric a steak dinner. Are his two fouls a career low? Probably. 101-85 Portland.
And that’ll do it. It’s not breaking news about our mayor, Lebron vs. Kobe, or Obama’s presidency, but hey, it’s a Blazers victory: Portland 102, Milwaukee 85.
Oden should apparently have birthdays more often!