Nuggets destroy Trailblazers!

Well I mean Bonzi didn't even play the game, and Wallace probably had his worst game of the season, so the fact that they only lost by 9 isn't that bad to me. Besides winning 2 out of 3 in Texas isn't that bad at all. Dallas is also the hottest team in the NBA right now, they are undefeated.

 

Undefeated - something that Portland isn't

 

Yeah, well, so much for that.

That too.

 

Well, at least that isn't Wallace's worst game of the season anymore:
R. Wallace 36 2-14 14.3% 1-4 25%

 

I was wrong, the Blazers lost, nothing I can do about that, the Rockets played a solid game. I am a Rockets fan after all, so it was good to see the team playing well. And addressing Portland I think they'll get it together soon.

 

no you're not.

 

Yes I am, and I'm probably one of the biggest Rockets fan on this board, despite being the biggest Pippen fan on this board. At least one of my teams is doing well.

 

A blow out is a blow out, even if it is the Clippers who were dominated the previous night by the Magic and who the Blazers play really well against. They have some days off, which should be good for the team, I see them defeating the Magic on Wednesday.

Portland 112, L.A. Clippers 88
Blazers Sink Clippers

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 15 (Ticker) -- This time, Derek Anderson gave someone else a headache.
Returning after missing four games with a concussion, Anderson scored a season-high 28 points as the Portland Trail Blazers continued their home dominance of the Los Angeles Clippers with a 112-88 rout.

Starting in the backcourt, Anderson showed no lingering effects of the injury, scoring 10 points in the first quarter and 16 by halftime, helping Portland build a commanding 59-38 lead.

Anderson played the first three quarters and finished 9-of-15 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the line in 31 minutes.

"I was fine. Knowing that your teammates have your back and that you definitely were appreciated, that's what you need," Anderson said. "You don't need your teammates worrying about you."

Bonzi Wells added 21 points for the Blazers, who never trailed and led by as many 34 in the second half en route to their 19th win in the last 20 home meetings with the Clippers.

Portland shot 54.5 percent (42-of-77) and held a commanding 48-28 rebounding advantage.

Andre Miller netted 19 points and Elton Brand had 10 and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, which committed 22 turnovers that led to 35 points for Portland.

Coming off Thursday's blowout loss to Orlando, the Clippers never were in this one, falling behind by 13 points less than six minutes into the contest and by 19 after the first quarter.

"I think it's the worst game we've played since I've been here," said Clippers coach Alvin Gentry, who is in his third season. "They manhandled us, that's all I can say. We didn't respond."

Anderson and Wells combined for 19 points -- two more than the Clippers -- in the opening 12 minutes.

"We always come out with intensity to say, 'You know what? Regardless of what they do, we've got to come out and do what we're capable of doing,'" Anderson said. "That's what our biggest problem was. We always allow someone to change our tempo and dictate the game. We have to have control over it. I think we had that and we stayed with our game plan and we just kept passing the ball."

Anderson and Wells were able to make up for an unproductive night from star forward Rasheed Wallace, who took just four shots and scored seven points.

Portland coach Maurice Cheeks elected to go with a bigger lineup, starting Anderson and Scottie Pippen in the backcourt while benching Damon Stoudamire.

"I like the way D.A. and Scottie play together," Cheeks said. "That's one of the reasons I wanted to make the lineup change. We missed D.A. on the road. He could have really helped us and made the difference in some of those games."

The Blazers continued to pour it on in the second quarter, taking their biggest lead at 53-27 with 3:50 remaining on a layup by Wells, who finished 8-of-14 from the field.

Portland maintained control the rest of the way, leading by as many as 34 points on two occasions, the last time at 103-69 with less than five minutes left.

 

A great win for the Blazers but they are struggling a bit with the Sonics as we speak, I hope they can pull this game out.

Portland 98, Orlando 84
Wallace, Anderson Lift Blazers

PORTLAND, Oregon, Nov. 20 (Ticker) -- Despite another stellar effort by Tracy McGrady, the Orlando Magic once again could not solve the Portland Trail Blazers.

Rasheed Wallace and Derek Anderson scored 26 points apiece as the Trail Blazers defeated the Magic for the eighth straight time, 98-84.

Wallace, who had been struggling of late, made 10-of-13 shots and pulled down 14 rebounds.

"It was a breakout game for Rasheed," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "I think he was due to have one, and I continue to say that he's going to have a game like that, because at some point you know he's going to break out of a shooting slump. We got him on the post a little bit, and when you're on the post a little bit more, I think it makes your jump shots a lot easier."

Scottie Pippen added 13 points and Ruben Patterson 12 for Portland, which shot 53 percent (39-of-74) from the field and limited the Magic to 37 percent (31-of-85).

McGrady had 33 points, extending his franchise-record streak of 30-point games to seven but had little help offensively.

"Tonight we had a tough challenge to cover McGrady," Pippen said. "Bonzi (Wells) and Ruben really stepped up for us. They limited his touches and a lot of his opportuities. He's a really great scorer and we just did a great job of keeping the ball out of his hands tonight."

Second scoring option Grant Hill played the first nine minutes, scoring just two points on 1-of-4 shooting, but departed with a sore left ankle and did not return.

"He told me in the first quarter that his foot was sore, so I took him out," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "At halftime he wanted to come back in and I said, 'Is your foot still sore?' and he said yes, so I said, 'You don't come back in.' He wanted to play again. To me, it's just not worth it. I'd rather drop some games, and keep it going because once he gets over this hurdle, he'll be fine the rest of the year. There's no reason to rush this."

"We didn't have Grant tonight so a lot of pressure was on me," McGrady said. "I didn't have another guy that could break down the defense and create for other players. It was really tough on both ends for us." Portland took the lead for good, 28-26, on a jumper by Zach Randolph 3:09 into the second quarter. The Blazers extended their advantage to 46-35 at the half and 71-58 entering the fourth quarter, and the Magic got no closer than 10 points thereafter.

Orlando last defeated Portland at home on March 20, 1998. The Magic fell to 2-3 on their season-high six-game road trip, which concludes Friday against red-hot Indiana.

"It looked like we played last night," said Rivers, whose team played for the fourth time in five nights. "I thought they (Blazers) played with great energy. ... We got back into the game, but this was a tough one for us. I thought we took too many jump shots. I thought for a team that has been extremely patient offensively, tonight we were a one pass stand around and watch basketball team."

"It was tough," McGrady said. "We definitely looked fatigued. I thought right away our play was out of shape. We didn't look well, we weren't executing on offense. Kind of had some breakdowns on the defensive end. We played extemely hard, but just playing hard isn't going to win you ballgames. Not with our ballclub."

Mike Miller and Shawn Kemp, who was making his return to Portland after two disappointing seasons with the Blazers, scored 12 points apiece for Orlando but were the only other Magic players to join McGrady in double figures.

Portland outscored Orlando in the paint, 52-26, and won the rebounding battle, 49-34.

"When we start playing together, that's what makes the team good," Anderson said. "We all passed the ball, we all played well. We just play together. Everyone was touching the ball and helping on defense, and the guys who guarded Tracy did a great job, and we kept everyone else in control. It was just a great team effort and you can tell by the way we played."

 

A good win for the Blazers, thanks in large part to their bench, I love their bench squard, their hustle and defense. Maybe they are on the right track, and hopefully they can continue winning.

Portland 89, Seattle 85
Blazers Clutch at Line to Top Sonics

SEATTLE, Nov. 21 (Ticker) -- Neither Derek Anderson nor Bonzi Wells shot well from the field, but both came up big at the line in the final minute, lifting the Portland Trail Blazers to an 89-85 triumph over the Seattle SuperSonics.

It was the Blazers' third straight victory over the Sonics at KeyArena and fourth in five meetings overall. The loss dropped Seattle one-half game behind Sacramento atop the Pacific Division.

Anderson made just 2-of-12 shots and Wells 4-of-13, but both were perfect from the line in the waning seconds. Portland was clinging to an 83-81 edge before Anderson connected on a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left.

"You've gotta keep playing and the game will come to you," Anderson said. "I just missed wide-open shots. I just never got in a rhythm."

Rashard Lewis made 1-of-2 from the stripe for Seattle with 13 seconds to play before Wells sank a pair one second later. Gary Payton nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 87-85 with nine seconds remaining, but Anderson restored the Blazers' four-point lead two seconds later with two more free throws.

Vladimir Radmanovic missed a layup, Rasheed Wallace grabbed the rebound and the Blazers ran out the clock.

"They probably went to the free-throw line probably 20-some times in the second half and we had only 10 free throws, so they were the more aggressive team," said Sonics coach Nate McMillan, whose team made 7-of-10 free throws while Portland sank 21-of-29. "In the second half, we had open looks late in the game that could have made a difference, but it just came down to them outworking us."

Wallace's 3-pointer with 5:06 to go started a 7-0 run and gave Portland the lead for good, 79-77. Seattle climbed within 83-81 on a dunk by Lewis with 40 seconds left before the Blazers closed the game from the line.

Wells had 16 points and Wallace 13 to pace the Blazers, who have won three in a row. Ruben Patterson and Arvydas Sabonis added 10 points apiece as Portland's bench outscored Seattle's reserves, 34-18.

"I think our bench outdid theirs," Patterson said. "We just came in and turned the whole game around. That's what we need. When things are wrong for the first unit, the second unit has to come off and do the job. And that's what we did tonight."

"They came out aggressive and we knew they would and put a lot of pressure on that first unit. And, you know, our second unit came in and we just got outworked," McMillan said. "We completely got outworked. They brought in fresh guys and were able to wear us down and outwork us."

Payton had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Predrag Drobnjak scored 18 points and Mason and Brent Barry 14 apiece for the Sonics, who outscored the Blazers on the break, 20-4.

"They've got a lot of guys who come out and play," Mason said. "They do have a deep bench, but I don't think that was a big factor. We just got ourselves in trouble."

The Sonics led by 27-19 after one quarter and 49-40 at halftime. Seattle took its biggest lead, 55-42, on a jumper by Payton 1:21 into the second half.

But Portland scored the final 12 points of the third quarter, including the final seven by Patterson, to take a 65-62 lead. Sabonis nailed a jumper to start the final period.

"We always talk about all these players that we have, and tonight we benefited from having all those players," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "This was a back-to-back game that the guys came out and looked like they were in slow motion. We went to the bench and the guys that we went to just came up big. They got into it defensively and they got rebounds. That was an effort by the second team that I have never seen before."

The action went back and forth, with Seattle taking its last lead, 77-76, on a layup by Payton with 5:15 to play. But Wallace countered with his shot from the arc, Sabonis made a hook shot over Drobnjak and Jeff McInnis hit a jumper to give Portland a six-point cushion with 2:40 to go.

The win boosted the Blazers to .500 for the first time since they were 1-1 on October 31.

"They were just quicker to the ball," McMillan said. "They wanted it more and they got it, were able to get to the free-throw line, stop the clock, set the defense and the press and take us pretty much out of what we wanted to do."

 

Perhaps you should eat less.

 

You consider Stoudamire a guy their going to build around, even though he doesn't start anymore and he doesn't even play period. Personally I've never really cared for Stoudamire, and now that he's shooting poorly this adds more fuel to the fire.

Pole thanks for the fat crack but I'm probably in the best shape of anyone on this board.

 

Sac won tonight despite Peja not being there. Well at least Wallace had a great game, Pip and Wells did not play all that well. I can't really complain they had a chance to win it but Sabonis missed a hook shot that could have won the game, other than that he played pretty well. There next game is against Houston on Tuesday, as always I'll predict that Portland is going to win this game.

 

It wasn't a pretty game to watch at all but luckily the Blazers pulled through with their tough defense. Hopefully they cand do more of the same on Saturday, when they defeat the Nets.

Portland 77, Houston 71
Blazers Use Defense to Rattle Rockets

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 26 (Ticker) -- Despite all their troubles and all their firepower, the Portland Trail Blazers have been winning with defense.

The Blazers had their best defensive performance of the season and used a balanced attack for a 77-71 victory over the Houston Rockets, their fourth win in five games.

Coach Maurice Cheeks has juggled his rotation, having Damon Stoudamire join fellow point guards Jeff McInnis and Antonio Daniels on the bench and giving more playing time to young power forward Zach Randolph.

"After seeing Damon, I wanted to try Jeff," Cheeks said. "In the second half, I wanted to try something else, because I think we were just in a funk."

"Coach is getting a lot more confident in me," said Randolph, who scored six points in 15 minutes. "He's calling plays for me more times when I'm getting out there."

Through it all, the Blazers have continued to defend, allowing an average of just 84.1 points over their last 10 games and surrendering more than 88 just once in that span. It was more of the same Tuesday as Portland limited Houston to 35.5 percent (27-of-76) from the field.

"Offensively we're struggling in a lot of areas," forward Scottie Pippen said. "Bonzi (Wells) putting up the numbers he's been putting up. Damon's numbers haven't been up and I don't think Sheed is going as well. We have to find other ways. Offensively might not be the answer. Being able to stop teams is important to us."

Rasheed Wallace scored 16 points, Pippen added 14 and Derek Anderson 12 and nine assists for the Blazers, who avenged an 86-83 loss at Houston on Nov. 12.

Steve Francis scored 19 points and rookie Yao Ming added 10 for the Rockets, who have dropped two in a row. Houston used a zone defense for much of the game.

"Us being short-handed, we felt it was going to be hard to match up athletically through the whole game, so we gave the zone a shot," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We hustled on the boards, we got more free throws, but we didn't put the ball in the hole."

In the 7-5 Yao's matchup with 7-3 Arvydas Sabonis, Yao made 3-of-4 shots but just 4-of-10 free throws. Sabonis had six points, nine rebounds and six blocks.

Portland, which shot just 41 percent (32-of-78), took the lead for good at 22-21 on a jumper by Pippen with 8:11 left in the second quarter. The Blazers led 34-32 at halftime and 57-53 after three periods.

"Tonight was one of those games when neither team really shot the ball well," Pippen said. "I thought we could have made some shots, could have really helped to open this game up, but we weren't able to do it. But we were able to gut game out. Defense was the key."

A jumper by McInnis, two free throws by Anderson and baskets by Randolph and Sabonis gave Portland a 68-57 lead with 6:15 remaining. Houston went scoreless for more than 3½ minutes.

Another jumper by McInnis, who had seven points in 10 second-half minutes, kept the lead at 73-63 with 3:15 left. Francis had a three-point play and driving layup around a free throw by Yao to make it 73-69 with 1:46 to play, but Wells -- who had been 1-of-8 from the field -- hit a jumper with 1:28 left.

"When you're missing, it doesn't matter," Anderson said. "You've got to keep shooting and these guys make sure they know we are the ones who are going to be shooting the ball."

 

This is a two game winning streak, we've squared our record at 9 and 9. I'm predicting a victory for the Blazers on Tuesday vs the Wiz, Mj vs Pip that'll be a great match up to watch. I love Stoudamire being on the bench, I feel Anderson, Wells, and Pippen function well together, with the exception of Anderson they are all excellent defenders.

Portland 104, Toronto 91
All Wells That Ends Well for Blazers

TORONTO, Dec. 8 (Ticker) -- The snow swirling outside the Air Canada Centre did nothing to cool off Bonzi Wells and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Wells scored a season-high 29 points and the Trail Blazers shot 59 percent from the field as they opened a five-game road trip with a 104-91 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

More than holding his own against Vince Carter, Wells made 12-of-18 shots as he scored more than 20 points for the first time since November 15 against the Los Angeles Clippers. His hot hand powered Portland, which made 41-of-70 shots.

"Every day I feel like it's going to be my day, but I'm a team player and sometimes have to take a back seat," said Wells, who had a brief courtside chat with actor Delroy Lindo during the third quarter. "Coach really came to me today. I got a lot of transition buckets, hit a couple spot-ups and I was just happy they went down for me."

"He was excellent," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He made shots, he defended, he tried to defend Vince Carter as much as you can."

The Blazers made 5-of-10 3-pointers, including three early in the fourth quarter that doubled the lead to 14 points and gave them control of the game for good.

"We made some timely 3-pointers, 3-pointers that allowed us to pull away a little bit," Cheeks said. "But really, that's not our game. We'll take them if they're there."

Rasheed Wallace made 6-of-9 shots for 20 points and Derek Anderson sank 7-of-10 for 18 for Portland, which has won five straight visits to Toronto. The last time it lost here was January 28, 1997, when current Blazer Damon Stoudamire played for the Raptors.

Portland's longest trip of the season resumes Tuesday with four games in five nights against Washington, New Jersey, Milwaukee and Minnesota.

"Today was a good team effort; everybody seemed to be hitting and playing and we're just happy we started this trip out with a victory," Wells said.

Carter scored 25 points and Morris Peterson added 22 for the Raptors, who have lost six of their last seven home games to fall to 4-6 at the Air Canada Centre.

Toronto was without injured center Antonio Davis, a late scratch with a swollen right knee. It showed as the Raptors were outscored 44-18 in the paint and had no answer for the interior offense of the Blazers.

"It is tough to have his scoring, his presence and his rebounding absent," Carter said. "It is important for us as a team to pull it together and everybody has to step up their game another level as long as we can until he gets back."

"We knew Antonio Davis wasn't going to play today, so it was going to be a little light on the inside," Wells said. "We made it a focus of our meeting pregame that we wanted to get it down low and try to take advantage of them missing their big player in the middle and use our size to our advantage."

The Blazers took the lead for good at 27-25 on a jumper by Stoudamire, who was booed every time he touched the ball. Wells had 14 points at halftime, offsetting 15 by Carter and helping Portland build a 58-52 lead.

"They shot the ball extremely well in the first half and it kept them right there," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said. "Their front line was a little stronger than ours and they hurt us there."

Toronto got within 75-73 with 4:19 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Alvin Williams, who had 17 points and seven assists. Wells answered with a basket and two free throws and Anderson converted a three-point play before the Raptors closed to 82-75 entering the final period.

Anderson and Wallace made 3-pointers 37 seconds apart to open the fourth quarter. After a basket by Voshon Lenard, Stoudamire ran down a loose ball in the backcourt following a wild scramble and found Anderson, who beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer to give the Blazers a 91-77 lead with 8:50 to play.

"It was nice, but we knew we had to start that (inside play) back up again," Anderson said.

Toronto got no closer than nine points thereafter.

Scottie Pippen scored 11 points and Wallace swept nine rebounds for Portland, which made 17-of-19 free throws.

Jerome Williams and Michael Bradley grabbed 10 boards each for the Raptors, who shot 45 percent (36-of-80) and made 10-of-22 from the arc.

 

Good sound victory for the Blazers, they've won three in a row now and hopefully they can beat the Nets tonight on ESPN at 6 P.M. They are playing unselfish ball which I feel is the reason for their success, lead by Pippen's great example. They've got their rotation pretty much set, and that has helped the team a great deal.

Portland 98, Washington 79
Pippen Bests Jordan, Wizards

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Ticker) -- While they each own a share of six NBA titles, now Scottie Pippen can boast one thing Michael Jordan can't -- a win over his former teammate.

Pippen and Derek Anderson scored 14 points apiece as the Portland Trail Blazers continued their domination of the Washington Wizards with a 98-79 victory.

Teammates with the Chicago Bulls from 1987-97, Pippen and Jordan were the backbone of a team that won six NBA championships. But Tuesday marked the first time they faced each other in the NBA.

Jordan scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting, while Pippen added seven rebounds and five assists.

"His horses were ready and my mules were sick, you take it and you move on with it," Jordan said. "We just didn't play the type of game he played tonight and I wanted to play tonight."

"He's still the greatest, it was great," Pippen said. "Michael's presence in the game was still felt. It may not show on the scoreboard, but he can still do a lot of things out on the court."

Four other Blazers scored in double figures as Portland posted its eighth straight victory over the Wizards. The Blazers used a decisive 16-7 run spanning the first and second quarters to take a 36-21 lead.

Washington failed to climb within single digits thereafter.

"No one scored 20 points. Everybody was like, 'Man, good shot,'" Anderson said. "If somebody missed something, it was like 'So what,' and come right back at you."

The Blazers have won three in a row for the first time since starting the season 3-0.

After Larry Hughes' jumper cut the deficit to 20-14 with 3:05 left in the first, the Blazers closed the quarter with a 9-4 run.

Portland took its biggest lead just before halftime when Dale Davis made a bucket for a 57-39 advantage.

Davis scored 10 points and had a team-high 11 rebounds. Rasheed Wallace netted 13 points and Bonzi Wells added 12 for Portland, which shot 50 percent (40-of-80) from the field.

"I think we were playing unselfish ball," Pippen said. "Everybody is saying to themselves, 'What can I do to protect this team? Can I get a jump shot, score, a rebound, what?'"

Hughes collected 17 points and six assists and Jerry Stackhouse contributed 14 points and five assists as the Wizards hit 44 percent (34-of-77) of their shots and missed all 12 3-point attempts.

The 19-point defeat was the worst of the season for the Wizards, who trailed by as many as 26 in the second half.

"It was tough, and I think we need to realize that we got our butts kicked," Hughes said.

 

Does anybody remember that "poor shooting" thread that somebody started at the beginning of last season?? He kept adding to it every night, and it eventually got a life of its own. All of Pipdady33's replies remind me of that thread...I think it got deleted by one of the admins...

Ah, meeeeeeeemories....

 

Well I'm simply adding to an old thread because I'm considerate enough not to start a new thread each time the Blazers win a game or lose a game. Although I didn't start this thread, I do feel like it is under my control now.