Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Charlotte Bobcats Hornets.
The Hornets? You’re damn right. Death to the Bobcats. Hugo and his merry band of honeycomb aficionados are back. Break out the puffy Starter jackets.
After sneaking into the playoffs last season, the Hornets were expected to make another leap this year. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist upgraded his jumpshot from double helix to passable! Al Jefferson is still best post player in the league! And there’s lovable loon Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson! A top spot in the East seemed entirely possible.
I guess it’s true what they always say, though—you can take Charlotte out of the Bobcat, but you can’t take the Bobcat out of Charlotte. Things have…not started as well as planned. Despite a fired up Michael Jordan, the Hornets have been terrible offensively. They just got slaughtered by the dumpster fire that is the now 1-5 Los Angeles Lakers. But hey, at least Charlotte has a new fan in Charles Barkley.
All this wind today? You can blame the Earth’s rotation or the moon or whatever weird science, but Lance Stephenson being in town is not a coincidence.
PRE-GAME:
The Blazers will be without the services of Nicolas Batum tonight. Thankfully the injury he suffered against Denver was just a knee contusion—that sound you just heard was the city of Portland collectively exhaling—but he’ll still be out for at least the next two games. I would have donated both of my ACLs to the cause if it had been anything worse. Good injury news for the Blazers? 2010 called and is just silently weeping.
The game notes show that Dorell Wright will be getting the start in Batum’s absence, but according to Joe Freeman it’s actually going to be Allen Crabbe. Crabbe has been inactive in three of Portland’s seven games thus far, and was just activated tonight in place of the injured Batum. That’s a definite shocker. Needless to say, this will be Crabbe’s first career start.
If Will Barton is the People’s Champ, Lance Stephenson is the People’s Emperor. Shaking off his coaches to bank in a three-pointer at the buzzer? Got to give the people what they want.
Twenty minutes before tip-off and this place is a ghost town. Either people didn’t realize the Hornets were an NBA team, or they were scared away by the awful “Born in the USA” remix that’s blasting in the arena right now. Probably the latter.
FIRST QUARTER:
10:51 – If nothing else, be thankful the Bobcats are gone because these new Hornets jerseys are all the “100” emojis you can type. They’re amazing live. 4-0 Hornets.
9:56 – Lance for three. I’ll stop talking about Born Ready at some poin…oh, who am I kidding? This is going to be an all Lance blog, all night long. 7-2 Hornets.
8:34 – Al Jefferson in the post should be illegal. Dude just got Robin Lopez, a solid post defender, to leave his feet three times on one play. 9-6 Hornets.
6:51 – The Blazers keep going to LaMarcus Aldridge in the post because he’s being guarded by Marvin Freaking Williams. He should eight hundred points by this point, but after picking up an and one he’s sitting on just five for the night. 13-11 Hornets.
5:30 – Crabbe sits down after going 0-2 with a turnover in his first stint. Not the best opening shift ever. 17-13 Hornets.
4:13 – Lance is on fire—he’s got nine points and four rebounds thus far, and his mini 4-0 run has given Charlotte a nine point lead here early. 24-15 Hornets.
2:54 – Charlotte must not have liked getting run off the court by the Lakers. Their defense has been stifling thus far, and the Portland offense looks lost with Batum. 27-15 Hornets.
1:12 – Aldridge missed a bunny, PJ Hairston drained his second three of the night. Ugh. 32-17 Hornets.
0:00 – I would have called that an embarrassing quarter, but they just did a “name The Avengers” bit on the big screen. Players fumbled through naming three of them, but Robin Lopez came through and named roughly twenty. Redemption. 35-21 Hornets.
SECOND QUARTER:
10:40 – The Blazers are rolling with a mash bench unit out here right now—Chris Kaman, Steve Blake, Joel Freeland, Dorell Wright, and CJ McCollum. It had been sort of effective up until Kaman just fouled Cody Zeller and picked up a tech trying to argue the call. 39-25 Hornets.
9:28 – Brian Roberts. Three. Ugh. 42-25 Hornets.
8:59 – Brian Roberts. Floater. Double ugh. Portland desperately needs the timeout they just called. 44-25 Hornets.
7:39 – Portland missed two good looks from three. Brian Roberts picked up a basket and a foul on the other end. It’s that kind of night. 48-27 Hornets.
5:46 – Okay, maybe that Wesley Matthews dunk will wake everyone up. The Hornets take a cautious timeout just in case. 52-33 Hornets.
5:11 – Matthews for three! The Blazers are now up to 1-8 from deep, and have their overall shooting percentage up to 40%. Baby steps. 54-36 Hornets.
2:41 – Dame with a crazy beautiful move—he crossed over Kemba Walker right to left, got into the lane, and…threw it too hard off the glass. There’s only so many times you can say it’s been that kind of night, but it’s been that kind of night. 60-40 Hornets.
0:58 – Wedgie alert! LaMarcus missed on a jumper, and the ball got stuck in the rim. Portland secured the resulting jump ball, and Dame drained a three off of a Lopez offensive rebound. 62-46 Hornets.
0:35 – Back to back threes for Dame! Life! 62-49 Hornets.
0:00 – On the final possession of the half, Dame and Aldridge ran a pick and roll to perfection. LaMarcus set a screen, crashed the rim, and Dame found him over the top for the easy layup. Funny what a few made threes will do to the score—Portland has chipped their way back into this thanks to a couple of Lillard bombs. Now, about that 17 to 6 free throw disparity in favor of Charlotte… 64-51 Hornets.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:39 – Aldridge gets the scoring started by draining a twenty-footer. So far, so good. 64-53 Hornets.
9:34 – The Blazers try to double Al Jefferson in the post, but he passed to a wide open Kemba Walker for three. 71-55 Hornets.
9:06 – But Dame gets it right back with a triple of his own! 71-58 Hornets.
6:02 – Single digits? Single digits. Portland is going zone on defense and the switch is doing just enough to throw off Charlotte’s offense. 73-64 Hornets.
4:32 – Well, so much for that. Charlotte has responded with their own 5-0 run, and Portland has come up empty on four straight possessions. 78-64 Hornets.
3:15 – Dame with another three. His 24 points (on 10-16 shooting) are pacing the Blazers. I would be okay with him launching from deep on every possession from here on out. 81-67 Hornets.
2:41 – Matthews for three! Just like that, Portland is right back in this one. 81-70 Hornets.
0:55 – CJ McCollum with the vet move, stealing the ball and then initiating contact by cutting off his defender’s path. Since Charlotte is in the penalty, CJ picked up two freebies the easy way. 85-75 Hornets.
0:00 – Ten points is not insurmountable. Time for some of that newfangled defense. 85-75 Hornets.
FOURTH QUARTER:
11:44 – Right on cue, Portland forces the Hornets into a turnover. Boom. 85-75 Hornets.
10:29 – Steve Blake forced a turnover! But then gave it right back by picking up an offensive foul! 87-79 Hornets.
10:07 – Another forced turnover from Steve Blake! He had the open lane to the rim, slowed down to absorb the contact from his defender, and picked up two foul shots in the process. 87-81 Hornets.
8:55 – Steve Blake behind the back pass, Chris Kaman jumper. Exactly as Neil Olshey drew it up this off-season. 87-83 Hornets.
8:28 – A questionable foul call on Allen Crabbe leads to an extra possession for Charlotte…and a Brian Roberts three. Just brutal. 90-83 Hornets.
6:18 – Back to back traveling calls on the Blazers, one for Dame and one for Wesley. Portland is getting the stops they need, but just can’t convert on the other end. 92-85 Hornets.
5:46 – No traveling on that Dame three, he made sure of that. Timeout Charlotte. They’re doing a Kiss guitar solo contest during this timeout, and for some godforsaken reason they chose to go with “Lick It Up” as the song. If the Blazers lose, we know why. 92-88 Hornets.
3:04 – Oh man. Dame missed a short jumper that would have tied things up. LaMarcus was able to get up and back tap the rebound to the perimeter. Steve Blake was there and open, and just calmly gave Portland the lead from deep. Another Charlotte timeout, and this crowd is going nuts. 97-96 Blazers.
2:20 – Matthews had the ball stripped as he drove to the hoop. The loose ball bounced up, off the rim, and LaMarcus was right there to sink the tip-in. 99-96 Blazers.
0:34 – Wesley Matthews with the play of the night, and it isn’t even close. After ending the previous possession with an off balance and bad look from deep, Matthews bodied up Lance Stephenson on the perimeter. Lance tried to drive left, but Wesley straight picked his pocket. He hit the deck, superman style, and was able to knock the loose ball off of Lance. He deserved the chest pump he gave himself after that one. 100-98 Blazers.
0:14 – The Blazers worked the clock down and got a great look for Steve Blake in the corner. He missed, but Aldridge was there to grab the offense board and put it back up and in! That’s 25 points and 14 rebounds for Aldridge now. Wow. 102-98 Blazers.
0:04 – Uh, what? Gary Neal successfully went for a quick two. The Blazers just had to run the clock out. Lillard caught the inbound pass, traveled (but wasn’t called for it), then tried to take it to the hoop? He shot it? And missed? Charlotte ball with a chance for the win? I don’t even. 102-100 Blazers.
0:00 – Wild finish. Gary Neal drove right past Lillard to the hoop and dunked it home as the clock expired. They called it good on the floor. After a quick review…he was too late! The ball was still in his hands when time had expired.
FINAL: 102-100 Blazers. After digging a massive hole early, Portland ratcheted up their defense late and rode a raucous home court to victory. Escaped with a victory, that is. I still don’t know what the hell Lillard was doing on that last Portland possession, but a win is a win. On to the next one.