The Milwaukee Bucks rolled into town as one of the hottest teams in the league, riding high on the success of their ridiculously talented 7 foot tall point guard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, known as "The Greek Freak." Few teams have been able to stop the man, and as such Milwaukee has only lost one game all season. But then came Portland. The hometown Blazers held the Greek Freak to a relatively low 23 points while CJ McCollum caught fire and dropped 40. It was the best win of the Blazers young season, 118-103.
Here, just look at this crossover move by our man CJ, as he put poor rookie Donte DiVincenzo "on skates" and sent the Moda Center crowd into a frenzy late in the third quarter:
The Blazers and the Bucks each have top-5 rated offenses and the game started off quickly as a result. Both teams fired away from three point-land and each scored over 30 in the first quarter. Brook Lopez, twin brother to former Blazer favorite, Robin, couldn't miss from outside and had 16 points in the first half. Damian Lillard was relatively quiet, but this was mainly because CJ was so hot. Evan Turner also had a great game, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He's clearly found his groove leading the second unit.
Before halftime an interesting protest unfolded during the "hometown hero" segment. This is usually a time for everyone to stand up a cheer a local veteran as he or she receives hearty recognition from gun scope manufacturer Leupold-Stevens. Instead, as Blaze the mascot prepared to hand veteran Josh Hernandez his goodie bag, Hernandez unzipped his jacket to reveal this:
GOT EM #NoLeupold pic.twitter.com/rIcJIHrRvb
— Olivia Katbi Smith🌹أوليفيا كاتبي (@livkittykat) November 7, 2018
Usually they play "There Goes my Hero" over the PA and everyone cheers but in this case the camera cut away awkwardly and the crowd was left to wonder what was going on. Apparently local groups have been pressuring the Blazers to end their partnership with the company and this covert action was part of that effort.
Anyway, the Blazers carried a 6 point lead into halftime and here's a look at the fans roaming the hallways during the break:
Youngsters!
These guys have been living here in Portland for 14 years, but they still like the Bucks, especially now that they have such a good team. They said they are dreaming of a Bucks/Blazers final someday. Don't hold your breath, dudes!
Jim here has been following the Blazers "since the '70s". His jersey is "Detlef Schrempf," the killer 6th man from the 1990's.
Diggin' the hats!
The second half saw the Blazers take a more substantial lead as CJ McCollum went off for 19 points in the third quarter alone. It was a nice performance from the Blazer guard, who had experienced an early season dip in production until this game. Meyers Leonard saw increased playing time after his strong play versus the Timberwolves two nights before. He looked all right, pulling down 5 rebounds and hitting 2 of 4 from deep. Nurkic and Collins held their own in the middle as well. Most notable, besides CJ's many buckets, was the Blazer defense which stifled a Bucks team used to scoring in the 120's to only 103 on the night. Aminu and Turner did a good job of minimizing the damage from Antetokounmpo. It was pretty amazing to watch him play, by the way. No doubt he will be tearing up the league for years to come. Such long limbs!
The Blazers had a 14 point lead going into the 4th quarter and at one point Milwaukee cut it down to 5, but things never really got too close. The Blazers took care of business and improved their record to 8-3 on the season. They play the LA Clippers here in Portland on Thursday, a game they should win, but will likely be a challenge.
