It was a western conference showdown at the Moda Center on Friday night and the Blazers came up just short against the second place Oklahoma City Thunder. These two teams always seem to play close and this night was no exception. Portland led at halftime but OKC surged ahead in the third quarter. Portland nearly completed a comeback before succumbing 109-111.
Recent Trailblazer trends continued as Nurkic played another strong game and CJ McCollum remained in his slump. McCollum, usually a stellar outside shooter, has hit just two of his 11 three point attempts over the past two games. Aminu had a great game, turning in a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double. He has reached double-digits in his last three games. Nurkic, meanwhile, is playing at an all-star level, scoring 22 and even sporting some sweet under the basket moves, like this one:
SHEESH, @bosnianbeast27 pic.twitter.com/DEa6mDlK4W
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 5, 2019
The game started well for the Trailblazers, with the second unit bench guys shining particularly bright. Jake Layman replaced Nik Stauskas in the second unit and took advantage of the time, scoring nine points in the first half, including a couple of crowd pleasing dunks. The Blazers led by as much as 11 in the first half, but the second half, sadly would be a different story. Let’s take a look at the fan scene in the Moda Center before we delve into that though, okay?
These kids made their parents drive 7 hours from Vancouver, BC so they could see their hero Russell Westbrook play. Wrong team, but great attitude!
Look, it’s Trailblazers radio announcer, Wheels. This guy is a legend. If you’ve never listened to a Blazer game on the radio, try it. His enthusiasm is infectious:
I stopped this crew because of the kilt, but the guy on the left was also sporting a funny “Meyers” shirt that he made himself. Meyers Leonard played alright on this night:
Rip City kids!
Okay, OKC put the clamps down on defense in the second half and the Blazers lost their lead in the third quarter. OKC got up by as much as 10 points late in the fourth. Paul George was the man for OKC. The guy is great. So is Steve Adams, their enormous Kiwi center. It was fun to watch him and Nurk bang at it down low.
The Blazers almost completed a furious comeback in the final minutes, missing several good looking shots which would have tied the game with seconds to go. But, ugh, they couldn’t convert and OKC took the first meeting between these two top teams in the West.
Lillard put it best after the game:”We just didn’t come up on the right side of it.” No time to dwell on this one though, as the Blazers face fierce rivals, the Houston Rockets, on Saturday, a brutal back-to-back game schedule and true test of this team’s mettle. Go Blazers!