Blazers vs Lakers – Hot Live Blog Action

Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers take on their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. Anytime the Lakers roll through town it’s a big deal, and tonight is no exception, but yesterday’s falling out between Andre Miller and Blazers’ Coach Nate McMillan has been the talk of Blazerville these days. Well, good news. We have exclusive photos (take that, TMZ) of the newfound relationship between Miller and his coach. You could say that those two really are best friends.

PRE-GAME:
The last time the Lakers won in this building, Barack Obama was just a junior Senator from Illinois—and a super secret Muslim—and the Blazers had Nick Van Exel in their starting roster. Since then, the Lakers have dropped eight in a row at the Rose Garden. Tonight, they’ll be short Pau Gasol, while the Blazers will be short… um, just about everyone.

I’m not going to lie, Blazers fans. The odds of them getting their ninth straight home victory over the Lakers is looking grim. In addition to having a motivated superstar (Kobe Bryant) with local ties (Nike), the Lakers have a deep roster and the ability to win games on the road with ease.

The “BEAT LA” chants have already started and we’re not even at introductions yet.

FIRST QUARTER:
11:37 – He’s not much of a big man—or that big—but Juwan Howard sure can pass. He fires off a bounce pass through traffic to a cutting Andre Miller. 2-0 Blazers.

8:21 – It’s good for Portland to stay in this game early—a Lakers blowout lead would smother the crowd volume, which is loud—and up until this point they definitely have, trading baskets with the visitors throughout. 11-6 Blazers.

5:44 – Not a bad start. The Blazers are shooting an unholy 67% from the field and are moving the ball with ease. Quick out of the gate again, Miller leads all scorers with seven points. 16-11 Blazers.

4:29 – Jerryd Bayless is in the game for a handful of seconds before draining a three. He hasn’t even broken a sweat yet. 19-17 Blazers.

1:45 – Make that a two for Bayless. He’s hit a pair of the longest two-pointers possible, as his feet have been on the arch while hitting both his shots. 26-20 Blazers.

0:48 – Again! Bayless hits a three with his foot on the line. And then he did it again. Wow. Bayless is 4-4, with all of his shots coming within inches of being threes. Don’t think I have ever seen that before. 30-24 Blazers.

SECOND QUARTER:
10:34 – Tough time to run out a lineup of Cunningham/Pendergraph/Miller/Webster/Bayless, especially as the Lakers just tied up the score. 31-31 tie.

9:23 – Bayless for an actual three. About time. He hasn’t missed (5-5) tonight. 36-34 Blazers.

8:07 – Want to know why Portland is in this game? Look no further than Jerryd Bayless. He is getting walloped under the basket, but pops right up, and has been an outside shooting force. The Lakers are already in the penalty, and that can be credited to Bayless as well. 38-34 Blazers.

6:21 – The Lakers are in a mess of foul trouble. That is eight in the quarter and the Blazers are shooting on every whistle. Bayless has 16 in 11 minutes to easily lead all scorers. 43-37 Blazers.

2:18 – The Blazers are getting all the bounces—Kobe anticlimactically dribbling off his foot is not going to happen again—and their lead has reached double digits. Plus, Bryant has three fouls and his on the bench until the third quarter. 51-41 Blazers.

0:00 – We are halfway through the Blazers best game of the season. Woah, that was impressive. 55-43 Blazers.

THIRD QUARTER:
11:41 – Kobe airballs a three to begin the quarter. Nice start. 55-43 Blazers.

8:26 – The Lakers are a remarkable nine-of-20 from beyond the arch and have pulled themselves within four. This would be a blowout if the Lakers weren’t shooting threes so accurately. 61-57 Blazers.

6:01 – Odom tosses to Bynum for an alley-oop and now the lead is down to a single basket. Lakers have outscored Portland 18 to nine this quarter. Timeout. Panic. 64-61 Blazers.

2:22 – Three points is as close as the Lakers have gotten. The Blazers will pile on a few more baskets—thanks to Roy—but then the Lakers slice it down to a single basket. 74-71 Blazers.

0:31 – Oh, dear lord. Webster has his three blocked, then he recovers, and tosses up a heroic layup before the clock expired. Ten point lead. This quarter was dominated by the Lakers, but Portland came on strong in the final two minutes. Very impressive. 81-71 Blazers.

FOURTH QUARTER:
11:41 – Cunningham comes out of nowhere to boldly wrestle a rebound from Odom, leading to a jumpball, which the Blazers fearless rookie wins. That was fantastic. 83-71 Blazers.

8:53 – In 30 minutes of play, Roy has missed a single shot on the night. He’s seven-for-eight with 21 points, plus a nice five assists thrown in the mix as well. Is that a 13 point lead? It is, thanks for asking. 86-73 Blazers.

7:17 – Aren’t we all just waiting for Kobe to takeover and do something amazing? He better hurry up. With that Cunningham jumper, the lead is inching towards 20. Good lord. This Blazers team is anything but predictable. 92-74 Blazers.

5:43 – What a mess for the Lakers. Bayless is making Odom look ancient—don’t tell Khloe!—and the team is mired in foul troubles. And Kobe? He’s on the court, yet nowhere to be found. (Okay, well, he just hit a three while getting fouled, but I already typed that sentence and my keyboard does not have a delete key.) 95-76 Blazers.

3:48 – Could this be the Lakers’ run? They’ve trimmed the lead from an embarrassing 19 to a less shameful 12. Baby steps. 99-87 Blazers.

3:33 – Thanks for that graphic close-up shot of Brandon Roy with a bloody scratch on his chest, Comcast. 99-87 Blazers.

1:39 – Well, the lead is now down to a single digit. Batten down the hatches. 101-93 Blazers.

0:49 – Webster with a missed three that would have iced the game, and Aldridge fouls on the rebound. Bynum hits only one for Los Angeles. They tried, but right now it’s the clock versus the Lakers, and the clock is going to win. 103-96 Blazers.

0:22- Kobe fouls Roy—the better player, at least tonight—and this game is all over. The only thing left to do is for the fans in Lakers jerseys to make a hasty retreat back to the ‘burbs. 107-98 Blazers.

0:00 – And that will do it. Your amazing final score, Portland 107, Los Angeles 98. See you Sunday. Let’s go out and celebrate.