Not a great win for the Blazers, but it's a good enough bounce back after being blown out by the Bucks on Friday. Pip had a nice all around game, especially with his nine assists. The t-wolves are not really that much of a high caliber team but they usually give the Blazers trouble. GAME DAY RECAP Saturday, December 14 Blazers recover from woeful fourth to win in OT MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers made only one field goal in the fourth quarter and still managed to win. Derek Anderson scored 24 points and Rasheed Wallace added 18 points and 11 rebounds as Portland bounced back from a blowout loss at Milwaukee the previous night and held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-92 in overtime Saturday night. The Trail Blazers, who snapped a two-game losing streak, overcame a dreadful 1-for-20 shooting performance in the fourth quarter and outscored the Wolves 13-7 in overtime. "Tonight, we came together for a strong win,'' Anderson said. "We're learning and growing as a team.'' Kevin Garnett hit a fadeaway to pull Minnesota to 89-88 with 3:45 left in the extra period. But Bonzi Wells hit a free throw and a layup off a steal before Anderson made a 3-pointer to give the Blazers a 95-88 lead with 1:48 remaining. " I think everyone's a little upset with this loss. If they're not, they should be. " — Kevin Garnett Minnesota had a chance when Anthony Peeler answered with a 21-foot jumper and Wells was called for charging on the next play. But Peeler turned the ball over and Dale Davis sealed the win with a powerful dunk with 32.7 seconds left. "To come back and get this game tonight was big for our team,'' coach Maurice Cheeks said. "It was a great, gutsy win.'' Wells and Davis, who had 14 rebounds, each had 15 points for Portland, who played the last of a five-game road trip that included a one-point loss to New Jersey and a 101-79 defeat at Milwaukee. Cheeks chewed out the team during Saturday morning's shootaround. "Sometimes those conversations work, sometimes they don't,'' Cheeks said. I guess it depends on the tone of the conversation.'' Wells put it simpler: "Coach put a fire behind us this morning. He doesn't raise his voice too often, so when he does, you definitely listen.'' Garnett led the Wolves with 21 points, but shot 9-of-27 from the floor. Troy Hudson scored 14 for Minnesota, but only had two after halftime. "The shots that I was making in the first half, I rushed a couple in the second,'' Hudson said. "The shots were there. I just missed them.'' Portland clung to a two-point fourth quarter lead after Joe Smith hit a pair of free throws to make it 85-83 with 55.7 seconds left. But Scottie Pippen turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and Garnett nailed a baseline fadeaway to tie the game with 28.7 seconds left. Smith tied up Davis underneath the basket on the next play, and Davis won the jump ball with 7.1 seconds left to give the Blazers one more chance. But Wallace's jumper from the top of the key missed as time expired. The Blazers outworked the Wolves in the paint, outrebounding their opponents 59-47, including 21-18 on the offensive glass. Portland outscored Minnesota 40-24 in the paint. "They're a big team,'' Garnett said. "We knew it was going to be a physical game.'' Minnesota trailed 76-68 after the third quarter, but got a couple of buckets from Garnett and a free throw by Strickland to close the gap. The Wolves also took advantage of poor shooting by the Blazers, who had only nine points in the fourth and whose only field goal was a dunk by Pippen with 1:13 left. But the Wolves didn't fare much better, going 6-of-20 from the floor for 17 points. "I think everyone's a little upset with this loss,'' Garnett said. "If they're not, they should be.'' Neither team shot well in the first half. The Wolves missed their first six shots and Garnett went 0-for-5 before hitting his first field goal at the 7:26 mark of the second quarter to pull the Wolves to 33-31. His second field goal came with just over a minute to go in the half, and was followed by a jumper by Kendall Gill to give the Wolves a 47-45 halftime lead. Game notes Minnesota has won seven of its last 11 games against the Blazers. ... Wells was given a technical early in the second quarter after dunking over Marc Jackson to give the Blazers a 25-22 lead. The referee got Wells for mouthing off to Jackson after the dunk. Wells barely avoided a second technical in the fourth quarter when he tussled with Gill. Gill was hit with the technical instead. ... Blazers G Damon Stoudamire sat out the second half with a head cold.
Good win for the Blazers and it's great that Pippen sparked the Blazers by hitting those two crucial three pointers. The Blazers are now 2 games over .500. Despite stringing together a few wins in a row, everything is in all good in Portland, which is blatantly evident by some of Pippen's choice comments. Anderson with 10 assists, thats a nice statistic for him, I didn't even now he could pass that well or that much. Wells had his second 30 point game in a row, he and Wallace are leading the way which I've been waiting for a while now. They play Goldenstate on Friday which should boost their record to 14 and 11, no offense to Goldenstate but they are over matched and going to lose. GAME DAY RECAP Wednesday, December 18 Blazers' late 15-0 run is too much for Clippers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Scottie Pippen's seen it all before, of course, so there was no panic when his team was down by 14 early in the fourth quarter. Pippen, Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace led the comeback as the Portland Trail Blazers rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 97-93 Wednesday night. "It was just a matter of time for us to close the gap,'' said Pippen, who made a pair of 3-pointers to start a late 15-0 run and finished with 11 points. "When we got the lead, they lost some of their poise. It's tougher to keep a lead than it is to get it.'' Bonzi Wells scored 30 points for the second consecutive game as Portland won for the sixth time in eight games. Wallace added 19 points and Trail Blazers reserve Jeff McInnis added 17 points in 17 minutes against his former team. "Even though we were down 14, our guys still plugged away, took it one basket at a time, kind of ground it out,'' Wells said. "Everyone is playing well. I don't care if somebody scores 30 or 40 in one night, it still takes a team to win.'' Portland trailed 81-67 with 11:15 remaining, but the Trail Blazers went on a 15-0 run that began with 6:24 remaining and carried them to a 92-87 lead with 1:15 left. The Clippers went scoreless for 5:33 of the quarter until Andre Miller made two free throws with 1:09 remaining. Miller led the Clippers with 25 points and Quentin Richardson added 24, going 5-of-9 from 3-point range. "We had a 14-point lead and the way we finished the game was bad,'' said the Clippers' Elton Brand, who was held to 10 points and four rebounds. "Scottie Pippen hit some big threes and Jeff McInnis made some good shots.'' Los Angeles coach Alvin Gentry, who has watched his team blow a string of late leads this season, said, "We played great basketball, beautiful basketball up until the fourth quarter. It's a shame because everybody's just going to remember that stretch where we just couldn't score. "When we get to that point of the game, we've got to start executing.'' Wells drove the lane all alone for a layup that pulled Portland to 87-84. After Los Angeles' Marko Jaric threw up an airball, Wells hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 4:45 remaining. Wallace made a free throw to give the Trail Blazers an 88-87 lead with 2:45 remaining, and they led the rest of the way. Richardson's tip-in put the Clippers up 73-60 with three minutes left in the third quarter, their biggest lead to that point. They led 77-67 heading into the fourth. Game notes Portland G Damon Stoudamire missed his second straight game after an illness forced him to sit out the second half against Minnesota on Saturday. ... Los Angeles G Eric Piatkowski missed his fourth game with a lower abdominal strain. ... Brand blocked three shots and is the only player in the NBA averaging as many three blocks a game, leading the league with a 3.16 average. ... Wells matched his season-high set in Tuesday's 102-93 victory over New Orleans.
Another solid win for the Blazers, with a great game winning shot by Wallace. I'll post a recap of the game later today once they have the whole story about the fight and all. I'll still think it was all started by the Warriors and their ill tempered fans, the Blazers were simply defending themselves. And as far as I could see Scottie Pippen did not get involved.
The 4th victory in a row for the Blazers, hopefully the Blazers can make it 5 in a row today, playing the Sonics who are coming off of a tough loss against the Hornets. I was correct about the huge altercation, it was essentially all Warriors but the Blazers have a bad rep that will follow them around for quite some time. GAME DAY RECAP Friday, December 20 Melee occurs after Wallace's shot sinks Warriors -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers' already poor image has been tarnished again -- drugs, domestic violence, and now an ugly on-court fight. Wallace After one of Rasheed Wallace's finer performances, he suddenly found himself right in the middle of an all-out brawl that even reached into the stands. Wallace scored Portland's final six points, including a game-winning fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, in the Trail Blazers' 113-111 victory over Golden State on Friday night, then things got completely out of control. After racing to congratulate Wallace, his teammates rushed to the aid of Bonzi Wells. Wells and Golden State's Chris Mills were battling for position on the shot and were still tied up after the ball went through. As the two exchanged words and then began angrily pushing each other, the Warriors' Troy Murphy entered the fray and threw punches. Golden State coach Eric Musselman ran across the court and shoved Wells. Ruben Patterson and Murphy then began fighting as both teams were pushing each other around and officials tried to break it up. "We've got to make sure we don't fight,'' Patterson said. "But when three or four guys are jumping on us, we've got to support each other.'' Police officers ran up into the stands as fans started yelling, rushing the court and throwing things at the Blazers as they made their way to the locker room. One man in the crowd was handcuffed and subdued by four security officers. He threw a wad of gum at Wallace, sparking another confrontation with several Blazers. One Portland player, who could not immediately be identified, started running into the stands and a couple others -- including Wallace -- were trying to grab the fan. Trouble is nothing new for this team, though this time Portland's Scottie Pippen pointed the blame at Golden State. "It's not about reputation,'' Pippen said. "They lost the game. It's about their reputation, too.'' Wallace led the NBA in technical fouls the last three seasons, including a record 41 in 2000-01. He also threw towels in the faces of teammate Arvydas Sabonis and referee Gary Benson that season. Last month, Patterson was charged with assaulting his wife less than a week after guard Damon Stoudamire and Wallace were cited for mar1juana possession. Stoudamire and Wallace both admitted smoking mar1juana to the arresting officer, according to a police report. The alleged offenses by Portland players range from underage drinking to drug possession to attempted rape. After things calmed down, "Ave Maria'' played over the public address system as fans exited in a state of disbelief. "I don't think we dislike each other,'' Golden State's Antawn Jamison said. "In a close game like that there's a lot of emotion involved. Sometimes guys go over the top.'' Wallace made two free throws with 1:14 left and a basket with 37.6 seconds remaining that tied it. He also had a key block in the final minute. The Blazers won their season-high fourth straight and snapped Golden State's three-game home winning streak. Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson scored 23 points each to lead the Warriors, but Richardson was scoreless in the second half. Jamison added 21 points. Wells just missed having his third straight 30-point game, finishing with 28 points, six rebounds and five assists. He led six Trail Blazers in double figures. The lead changed hands six times in the fourth quarter and there were five ties. Murphy's baseline jumper went in and out with 15.6 seconds left, then Portland called timeout. Pippen inbounded the ball near midcourt to Derek Anderson, who passed back to Pippen. He got the ball to Wallace, who took the fadeaway shot that swished through. Wallace finished with 16 points, eight in the fourth quarter. "You want to make him take that fadeaway,'' Murphy said. "It's an extremely difficult shot and he made it. It's disappointing to lose on a last-second shot after playing so hard.'' Murphy refused to discuss the fight, as did Mills and Richardson. Game notes Both teams shot better than 50 percent. ... Jamison is donating $4,000 in shoes to homeless men in his hometown of Charlotte, N.C. ... Stoudamire missed his third straight game after an illness forced him to sit out the second half against Minnesota on Saturday.
Outstanding victory for the Blazers, despite the League making it very difficult for them. With the suspension of Bonzi and all, Anderson stepped up and hit the game winner. Recap coming on the way, probably tomorrow afternoon as soon as it becomes available.
Is it really necessary to post a recap(Especially since it isn't an original work and is available somewhere on the internet) after every Blazers game/win(Or Whenever you've been posting them)?
Yes of course it is, to keep everyone updated with the Blazers, why post my own, ESPN does a much better job than I could. Also because Portland is one of the more talked about teams on this board. And on Friday they are going to do what the Rockets failed to do, defeat the sorry old Jazz.
