Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Memphis Grizzlies.
Nine in a row? Nine in a row. And that’s wins for the Blazers, not hours I spent today at Best Buy trying to get a sweet deal on an iPad.
Portland returns home having gone 3-0 on their most recent road trip. Sure, it was against three teams with a combined 8-36 record, but any undefeated road trip is a good road trip. It’s not Portland’s fault the Eastern Conference is terrible.
Not terrible: the Memphis Grizzlies. The grit and grinders are out to one of the best starts in the league, boasting a 13-2 record with an offense and defense rated in the top ten. Marc Gasol is playing out of his head, and has to be considered the MVP frontrunner at this point. Yes, that Marc Gasol.
Let’s hope the tryptophan hangover doesn’t last too long—this is going to be Portland’s toughest game of the year so far.
PRE-GAME:
Winning nine games straight will make any team look good, but the clues are mounting that this Portland team is for reals—they’re the only team in the league with offensive and defensive ratings in the top five, their bench is no longer a glaring liability, and Meyers Leonard’s mustache is coming in nicely. A couple of signature wins and this team will edge their way into the championship conversation.
Portland was able to come from behind to defeat the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, which isn’t that impressive on its own until you factor in LaMarcus Aldridge’s 3-18 shooting night. The Blazers won with their main star unable to hit anything, clanking open jumper after open jumper. It’s a testament to how well this team is playing—how many games would they have won last year, on the road, with Aldridge shooting that poorly?
It’s twenty minutes until tip-off, which means you have time to watch the new Star Wars trailer at least ten times in a row. And if you think Robin Lopez is doing anything different right now, you’re wrong.
FIRST QUARTER:
11:44 – Well, Aldridge’s shooting woes didn’t carry over. The first play of the game was designed to get him an open look, and he sunk the twenty-foot jumper with ease. 2-0
9:33 – And the hot shooting of Wesley Matthews spilled over into this game as well. He’s hit both his shots, and leads all scorers with five points. 9-4 Blazers.
7:58 – This crowd is feeling it tonight. After Nicolas Batum blocked Mike Conley, he raced down and spotted up for three. He missed the triple, but it felt like this place would erupt if he hit it. Must be all that holiday cheer. 13-6 Blazers.
7:11 – And Batum made up for his miss by stealing the ball, driving the length of the court, and laying it in over two Grizzlies. Timeout Memphis. 15-6 Blazers.
5:45 – The Grizzlies are never truly out of a game because their defense is so stifling, and it’s still incredibly early, but the Blazers are out here trying to make a statement. 18-6 Blazers.
4:41 – Aldridge shook Z-Bo out of his shoes, driving left but pulling back for a step-back jumper. It rimmed out initially, but the ball took a friendly bounce and rattled down. 20-9 Blazers.
3:34 – Aldridge sunk another fadeaway over the outstretched arms of Z-Bo, but this one was as he was falling towards the baseline. Or, you know, an even harder shot than his typical step-back. It looked good as soon as it left his hands. 24-16 Blazers.
1:46 – Dang, Portland had three good looks at the rim on that one due to some timely offensive rebounding. The last, a three by Allen Crabbe, just missed. The crowd made a noise like someone had kicked a puppy at mid-court. 24-18 Blazers.
0:00 – It was a hot start for the Blazers, but the Grizzlies just keep grinding. Those dudes are always grinding. 25-23 Blazers.
SECOND QUARTER:
10:12 – And the Grizzlies have their first lead of the night off of a Quincy Pondexter corner three. 28-27 Grizzlies.
9:29 – Steve Blake and Kosta Koufos got mixed up at half court and picked up offsetting technical fouls. Not sure what the problem was, but thankfully that one didn’t come to blows. That would have been the ugliest fight ever. 30-30 Tie.
7:45 – Did you know Vince Carter was on the Grizzlies? He’s out here revving his imaginary motorcycle into the sunset. 32-32 Tie.
7:02 – Wesley Matthews just went back to the locker room, and now there’s a timeout on the floor as the mop up crew is wiping up what appears to be blood. Whatever happened, I missed that one. Matthews didn’t appear to be too banged up, so hopefully it’s just a bad scratch. 33-32 Blazers.
6:45 – Or that whole blood thing was just an excuse to get Will Barton into this game. The People’s Champ sunk a jumper just a few seconds after checking in. 35-32 Blazers.
5:22 – That was one of the worst offensive possessions I can remember the Blazers throwing together in some time, with dudes just standing around and looking like lost kids. Chris Kaman tried to drive the lane but missed. A bad offensive possession is one thing, but Portland then gave up an easy bucket to Jon Leuer on the other. Terry Stotts wants time. 38-35 Grizzlies.
3:11 – Kosta Koufos blocked Robin Lopez at the rim, and Memphis leaked out into transition and picked up an easy layup in transition. Man, this team is good—their defense is on another level. The Portland offense has completely stalled since that initial outburst. 43-39 Grizzlies.
1:37 – Just what the doctor ordered: a strip of Marc Gasol on one end, and a behind the back pass from Dame to Aldridge on the ensuing fast break for the easy dunk. 45-43 Grizzlies.
0:00 – Well, maybe not. After that impressive fast break from Portland, Memphis ripped off a 7-0 run to end the quarter. With that Memphis defense on point, the Blazers are going to have a tough hole to dig out of in the second half. 52-43 Grizzlies.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:07 – It’s now going to be a double-digit comeback if Portland pulls this one out. 54-43 Grizzlies.
9:17 – Back to back Portland turnovers, back to back Memphis transition buckets. 61-47 Grizzlies.
8:09 – Things are getting rough. The Blazers turned it over trying to get a simple entry pass into Aldridge, then gave up a bucket on the other end when Z-Bo secured an offensive rebound. Timeout Portland. 65-50 Grizzlies.
7:56 – The good news is Matthews is 4-7 from deep. The bad news is the rest of the Blazers are 0-9. Not going to win many games that way, especially against this defense. 65-53 Grizzlies.
6:44 – Wesley for three! Timeout Memphis, after a quick 8-0 Portland run. 65-58 Grizzlies.
5:35 – Lopez missed two good looks at the rim off of pick and rolls, and Memphis converted on both of their subsequent trips. Ugh. 69-58 Grizzlies.
4:29 – The Blazers had nothing doing on that possession. Like, literally, the whole possession was spent thirty feet from the basket. Dame drove, tried to pull back for three, but missed it short by a mile. The refs gave him that superstar call, though, and he was able to convert all three freebies. 71-61 Grizzlies.
3:21 – Dame for three! Finally someone other than Matthews! Still, every point is hard-earned right now, and it’s tough to see Portland chipping their way back into this. Memphis is the real thing. 75-64 Grizzlies.
0:56 – This is the best I’ve seen a team play all year. It’s a thirteen-point lead, but it feels closer to thirty. 81-68 Grizzlies.
0:00 – When Portland came back against the Pelicans, I proclaimed them dead heading into the fourth quarter. They came back in that one. They aren’t coming back in this one. 83-70 Grizzlies.
FOURTH QUARTER:
11:49 – Wesley is definitely feeling it from three. Portland ran a play to get him a look to start the quarter, and he sunk his sixth three of the night. 83-73 Grizzlies.
9:19 – Chris Kaman throwing his body around down low, grabbing an offense rebound off of his own miss and putting it back in. The crowd appreciated that hustle. 89-77 Grizzlies.
8:55 – And if you thought a Kaman hustle play got the crowd going, imagine what an and one opportunity did. Portland went right back to the big man, and he managed to hook it in while picking up the foul. He’ll get his chance to convert out of this timeout. 89-79 Grizzlies.
8:04 – Dame just found Wesley Matthews on a wraparound pass from under the basket. I have no idea how he even saw him behind the line, but somehow he did. Money. Matthews is NBA Jam level on fire right now. 89-83 Grizzlies.
7:23 – Lillard with another slick pass, this time to a cutting Kaman on the pick and roll. Holy hell, are the Blazers going to prove me wrong again? 89-85 Grizzlies.
6:21 – Batum got called for a foul trying to guard Gasol in the post, and the Blazers are now over the foul limit. Free throws from here on out, but thankfully Gasol was only able to convert one out two. 92-85 Grizzlies.
5:25 – Lillard had two clean looks from the corner on the same possession. He missed the first three by a hair, but Batum grabbed the rebound. Batum kicked to a still open Lillard in the corner, but Dame missed the second as well. And, just like Memphis has been doing all night, they converted the easy two on the other end. That was a huge five point swing. Timeout Portland. 94-85 Grizzlies.
4:17 – Marc Gasol with a huge answer to a Kaman dunk, driving the lane and picking up the and one on Aldridge. Portland is close to running out of time. 97-87 Grizzlies.
3:28 – Batum missed an open three, Aldridge missed an open jumper. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you. The looks have been there for Portland this quarter, but the shots just aren’t falling. 99-88 Grizzlies.
2:42 – Lillard has missed two free throws this quarter. That’s all you need to know. 101-91 Grizzlies.
2:07 – Portland made it interesting there for a minute, but these Grizzlies were just too relentless. The fans are on their way to the exits. 105-91 Grizzlies.
1:37 – Tony Allen is out here sinking threes. The end is nigh. 108-93 Grizzlies.
FINAL: 112-99 Grizzlies. No shame in losing this one—Memphis played like the best team in the NBA tonight. Even with the loss that was still fun as hell. How about seven more of those for the Conference Finals?