Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Denver Nuggets.
It’s the Will Barton revenge game! Or the Arron Afflalo revenge game! Or no revenge game at all, because who can really get excited about a Nuggets game? Thank goodness for legal weed in Colorado—I don’t know how Nuggets fans could make it through 82 games otherwise.
After winning two straight games, and with the news of Kevin Durant’s season-ending injury, the Blazers are inches away from their first NW Division title. Things were a bit dicey there for a hot minute after Portland dropped five-straight, but all is right with the world once again. What a difference an Aldridge makes.
LaMarcus had himself a fourth quarter in Phoenix last night, toppling the Suns all by his damn self. The Suns tried to front him. They tried to send a double. At one point it looked like they had him triple-teamed at the free throw line. It didn’t make a difference. Aldridge went 6/6 in the final five minutes and sources say he burst into flames there for a second.
And tonight the Nuggets are going to try and guard him with Kenneth Faried and JJ Hickson? Two words: lunch meat.
PRE-GAME:
Just eleven more regular season games left. The playoffs are this close, and the Blazers are even closer to punching their ticket to the big dance. Thank goodness for meaningful basketball. No offense, Denver. At least Jusuf Nurkic is around to keep things entertaining as you play out the string.
Oh lord, it’s mascot night here in the Moda Center. And you will know Robin Lopez by the trail of dead.
FIRST QUARTER:
11:40 - The Nuggets turned it over on their first possession, and Arron Afflalo leaked out into transition for the easy bucket. Sounds about right. 2-0 Blazers.
10:29 - Sorry, People's Champ. It looks like tonight is going to be the Arron Afflalo revenge game. 6-2 Blazers.
8:49 - JJ Hickson with the most JJ Hickson twenty seconds of all time. He picked up a nice steal and drove coast to coast for a layup, but then on the defensive end let Dame drive right by him for the easiest basket of the night. Don't ever change, JJ. 8-8 Tie.
7:59 - The Nuggets have a player named Joffrey Lauvergne. Can we please get The Hound started as a nickname for Nurkic? King Joffrey needs to just own it, man. 10-10 Tie.
4:50 - Kentucky is losing to Notre Dame and Hickson leads all scorers in this game with eight points so I guess like some planet must be retrograding or something? 17-16 Nuggets.
3:35 - Heh, nope. Hickson may be scoring well, but he can't touch LA on the defensive end. The winds of change haven't fully arrived quite yet. 21-20 Nuggets.
0:45 - So if Dorell Wright swatted a Will Baron layup into the fifth row, does that make Wright the new People's Champ? Will should have to give up the championship belt at halftime. 26-23 Blazers.
0:44 - Or not. Will threw the in bounds pass off Wright's back, then took it baseline for a huge dunk. The champ stay the champ. 26-25 Blazers.
0:00 - They're running the mascots here during the break. Robin Lopez is giving them all the stink eye from an appropriate distance on the sideline. I fear for us all. 31-25 Blazers.
SECOND QUARTER:
11:05 - CJ McCollum for three. Dude has been straight killing it for the last five games. 34-25 Blazers.
10:18 - CJ again, this time with a nice move to the rim around three Denver defenders. 36-27 Blazers.
8:12 - Former All-Star (heh) Jameer Nelson has two threes in the last minute and the Blazers need time. I mean, if Jameer Nelson is lighting you up, you should probably do something about your defensive scheme. 40-35 Blazers.
5:57 - Batum and Afflalo with back-to-back triples to restore order in this game. 45-37 Blazers.
4:00 - It should come as no surprise that Afflalo is his best game as a Blazer. Not because he's playing his old team, but because his old team is just awful. 49-42 Blazers.
1:44 - Dang, Randy Foye is firing away. Randy Foye revenge game? 50-49 Nuggets.
0:40 - They just showed the end of the Kentucky game on the Jumbotron and it didn't even elicit a mild reaction from the crowd. Not a murmur. For those of you keeping track at home, from least to most this crowd cares about: college basketball, professional basketball, mascots. 53-51 Blazers.
0:00 - Woah! With two seconds left, the Blazers called time to run a play before the half. Aldridge threw a full court football pass that Batum grabbed in mid-air. Nico kicked it to a wide open Afflalo in the corner, and Arron sunk the three as time expired! Hey, Notre Dame, that's how you run a play to beat the clock. 58-53 Blazers.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:39 - Lopez with a thunderous dunk to start the quarter. He saw that halftime mascot show. The blood of mascots flows through him and makes him stronger. 60-53 Blazers.
9:29 - My bologna has a first name, it's J-J. 66-55 Blazers.
6:51 - Randy Foye for three. He has two triples and three the hard way this quarter. Dude is beasting. 70-66 Blazers.
6:20 - And LaMarcus got it right back on the other end, hoisting up a three to beat the shot clock and finding the bottom of the net. 73-66 Blazers.
5:47 - Steve Blake for three! That's six straight for the Blazers, and Denver needs time. 76-66 Blazers.
2:36 - My bologna has a second name, it's N-U-R-K-I-C. LaMarcus is up to twenty-nine points after that and-one. 85-72 Blazers.
0:30 - Kaman versus Nurkic was my favorite episode from season two of The Wire. 85-78 Blazers.
0:00 - Robin Lopez took down Slamson during the break. Time to go home. 86-78 Blazers.
FOURTH QUARTER:
11:07 - Nurkic with four straight points. Nervous time? 86-82 Blazers
10:03 - Yep, nervous time. Nurkic and the People's Champ are doing work. Timeout Portland, and it might be a short rest for Aldridge and his thirty points. 88-86 Blazers.
8:31 - Kaman with two buckets in a row, making Nurkic look silly on both. You don't make Nurkic look silly. He will/must break you. 95-89 Blazers.
6:22 - The Blazers forced a turnover, ended up with a 3-0 fast break, and Dorell Wright slammed it home with ease. Portland is firmly in the driver's seat once again. 101-93 Blazers.
5:36 - Or not. That was a quick 5-0 run for the Nuggets, capped by a Jameer Nelson three, and the Blazers need time. 101-98 Blazers.
5:14 - Aldridge in, Aldridge bucket. Rinse. Repeat. 103-98 Blazers.
4:45 - Faried nearly had the chase down block of the year, but the refs waved it off and called goaltending instead. Also, I think I'd like Faried twice as much if he went by Kenny instead. Kenny Faried seems like he'd be a chill bro. 105-98 Blazers.
2:28 - And there go the fans. Aldridge had nice position on Wilson Chandler, but instead opted to kick it back out to an open Batum for three. Money. 108-98 Blazers.
1:00 - And that Dame dagger will officially do it. At least the Nuggets gave it the college try. 114-104 Blazers.
FINAL: 120-114 Blazers That's three in a row for the Blazers. Granted, this little winning streak has come against a bunch of lesser teams, but it's a welcome change from that rough five-game losing patch. Once again LaMarcus did the heavy lifting, bum hand and all. Portland will go for their fourth straight, and likely a playoff berth, on Monday against the Suns.
