Blazers vs Magic – Hot Live Blog Action

Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers welcome the Orlando Magic. After tonight we’ll arrive at the halfway point in the season, and all things considered it’s stunning that the Blazers are still holding steady in the playoff hunt with a respectable 24-16 record. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, the bad news is much worse. The injury bug plague that has devastated this Portland lineup has claimed a new victim: Brandon Roy. Sure, why not? Roy is out tonight with a hamstring injury, and Jerryd Bayless will get the start in his place.

Dry your eyes, we’ll get through this together.

PRE-GAME:
While Orlando is playing their worst basketball of the season, the team has knocked off Portland their last three meetings, including a sloppy 92-83 win on December 19th in Orlando. To make that four, the Magic don’t really have to do all that much. They have the best center in the NBA (Dwight Howard), who would pose a challenge to a healthy Portland lineup with Greg Oden and/or Joel Pryzbilla. Since both of them are currently tapping cadavers for precious knee cartilage right about now, Howard becomes unguardable. The Blazers best option for Howard is to dig a hole and strategically place foliage and branches over it—then wait for him to fall into the hole. It worked in Swiss Family Robinson.

Another Howard-related problem comes in Roy’s replacement, Bayless. The spark to the Blazers’ offense, Bayless does his best work slicing to the basket and shooting at the rim. Howard leads the league in blocks. You can see where this is going. The Blazers better hope for some liberal whistles on Howard, since if he doesn’t get in foul trouble, the Blazers don’t stand much of a fighting chance. Also Orlando has a lineup with Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, and the deepest bench in the league. Their coach looks like the man who runs Club Sesso. Oh, don’t act like you don’t know what that is. Google it, I dare you.

If you feel like you need a drink after all this bad news, join the club. Let’s look at the positives: Rudy Fernandez will see minutes tonight, perhaps even more action than the 15:22 he played on Wednesday. Also, Nicolas Batum is getting closer and closer to notching his first minutes of the season. He’ll travel with the team on their upcoming road trip, and he should make his return ten days from now. Also, Outlaw seems to be ahead of schedule as well. Healthy players are on the horizon. Now all Portland needs to do is make it there.

Also, tonight is an ESPN game, which means it’s national television for Bayless. He fizzled against the Cavs on Sunday, but the second year guard did have a career night (at the time) against Phoenix on December 17th. Eyebrows like that deserve a national audience.

After missing his last three games, Orlando’s leading scorer, Vince Carter, has returned for the Magic. Of course this happened.

FIRST QUARTER:
11:20 – The Blazers get a 24 second violation on their first possession. If they don’t shoot it, they can’t miss it. 0-0.

9:40 – Andre Miller sticks and moves past a Howard block, only to get stuffed by Carter. But he gets his revenge by scooping up an offensive rebound and sliding past Howard for the layup. 4-2 Blazers.

8:07 – Foul trouble for someone, but it’s not Howard. Bayless picks up a couple whistles. On the bench Brandon Roy wrinkles his suit by hanging his head in shame. 6-4 Blazers.

6:01 – Fouling Dwight Howard is about as dangerous as sticking your hand out of a moving vehicle. Miller nearly loses a limb—one armed Miller, still better than Blake—while trying to prevent an easy Howard dunk. 8-8 tie.

5:12 – Young Howard (Dwight) plows over Old Howard (Juwan) again. I haven’t seen this much elder abuse since that Dateline NBC show on my grandma’s nursing home. We’ll get you out soon, grams. (No we won’t). 10-8 Blazers.

4:25 – Martell Webster is well on his way to scoring in double figures for the eight straight game. With that three he now has five on the night to lead all scorers. 14-8 Blazers.

3:21 – Miller cuts through traffic and right before he is about to get pummeled by Howard, he dishes to Jeff Pendergraph for a dunk. Meanwhile the ESPN announcers are scrambling to find out just who the hell Pendergraph is. 20-11 Blazers.

3:07 – Vince Carter on the night. Two missed three-point attempts (one hit nothing but glass) and one clanked free-throw attempt. He’s no Martell Webster. 22-11 Blazers.

1:01 – Is this not enough? You want more? Fine. You get Rudy in the game now. I hope you’re happy. 22-11 Blazers.

0:01 – Webster with a breakaway dunk with .6 seconds on the clock. A ten point lead at the break? Yes, please. 24-14 Blazers.

SECOND QUARTER:
12:00 – The team with the double digit lead has a lineup of: Blake, Fernandez, Pendergraph, Bayless and Dante Cunningham. None of those five would see minutes on the Magic. Maybe Rudy, but someone would have to be injured for that to occur. Insane. 24-14 Blazers.

9:02 – Cunningham has his jumper batted out of the air, but he’s bailed out by drawing a charge on J.J. Redick. Homophobic? Sure. Juvenile? Yes, very. But I still love this sign. 28-20 Blazers.

7:35 – This small bench lineup brings a lot of energy to the game. Chaos, too. And no defense. But they are fun to watch. Rudy chips in with three, but the Blazers’ lead is slowly fading away. 31-26 Blazers.

4:38 – The Magic are two-for-14 from beyond the arch. Oops, make the 2-for-15. With that Aldridge tip-in, the Blazers now have tied their biggest lead of the game: 37-26 Blazers.

3:08 – Miller with a fantastic move and finish, and the lead gets bigger and bigger. The Magic might be struggling, but scoring 28 points in 21 minutes is pathetic. 42-28 Blazers.

1:51 – If you were hitting under 12% of your three-point attempts, would you continue? No? Well, wrong answer. You’ll never be on the Magic. Orlando is bombing away—and missing—while Portland pads their lead. 44-28 Blazers.

0:59 – Carter passes on a three and instead throws the ball away. He then fouls Webster during an attempt from behind the arch. Three shot penalty. The only way that series could have been worse for Carter is if his drawstring broke and his shorts fell around his ankles. 49-30 Blazers.

0:08 – Unbelievable. Blake for three from the corner. And to make matters better, Blake and Howard (mismatch!) get in a little shoving match. They both pick up technical fouls. 20 point lead! 20 point lead! 52-32 Blazers.

THIRD QUARTER:
12:00 – No one could have predicted these stats: The Blazers are not just out-rebounding the Magic, they are dominating on the boards, 30-17. Portland has more assists, steals, and less turnovers. They are better than the Magic in pretty much every major category except blocks. 52-32 Blazers.

11:25 – It took about 24+ minutes but Howard gets his first dunk of the game. Hopefully it’s his last 54-34 Blazers.

9:01 – 10-2 Magic run to start this half. We knew it could not last, right? 54-42 Blazers.

8:23 – Oh, I saw Daniel “The Other Other” Baldwin at the half. He has nice skin. Lots of it, but it’s still nice. 56-42 Blazers.

7:13 – Lewis got whistled for knee Aldridge in the back. Why not just dropkick him? 59-42 Blazers.

6:01 – After an excellent performance by Aldridge—deflecting a pass, racing down the entire court fighting against two defenders for the loose ball, and finally tipping to Bayless under the basket—Jerryd fumbles the ball out of bounds. He was under the basket and there wasn’t an Orlando player within 5 yards of him. He owes Aldridge lunch. Or a new car. 61-45 Blazers.

4:08 – Miller is just owning Jameer Nelson. He tricks him with a pump fake and then banks home a wide open six-footer. 68-49 Blazers.

2:05 – Webster for three. Blake for three. Webster for three. Just like that. Biggest lead of the game. I am stunned. 74-51 Blazers.

0:21 – As long as he doesn’t pass the ball, Blake is having a fine game. Once again he connects for three, and his presence has stretched out the court for the Blazers. Portland is shooting 53% from three, which is a nifty 30% better than Orlando. 77-59 Blazers.

FOURTH QUARTER:
10:46 – Rudy with a pretty reverse bounce pass to Webster, and you can guess the rest. He has 22 on the night. This is the Martell Portland has been waiting four years to see. 82-62 Blazers.

9:52 – Less than ten minutes left in the game and Old Howard is outscoring Young Howard. None of this makes sense. 82-66 Blazers.

7:27 – It’s a battle of the hair gel: Redick with a jumper of Rudy. Let’s hear it for styling product. 86-72 Blazers.

6:50 – It’s a two touchdown advantage for Portland. When does the lead get small enough for Portland to start panicking? 12? 10? 2? 86-72 Blazers.

5:38 – Howard comes down with a rebound under the basket and Miller just flings his entire body at him. That was like a soldier throwing himself on a grenade. That is one brave man. He should get a medal for such a heroic foul. 88-72 Blazers.

2:40 – Did Blake just juke and pass Howard on the dribble? Guess he would have won in that fight. Howard is going to watch tape of this game and openly weep like it’s Marley and Me. 95-81 Blazers.

0:00 – Wow. In what is probably the most impressive victory of the season, the Blazers—without their leading scorer—deliver a performance we won’t soon forget. Your final score: Portland 102, Orlando 87. The team leaves for a roadtrip this week (10am game on Monday), but we’ll be back on Monday, January 25th. Have a good night.