Post-Game: Blazers vs. Suns, Game 3

It's really easy to think you're screwed. It's even easier when Jason Richardson drops 42 points.

Still, the Blazers are not screwed. They lose tomorrow? They're screwed. They absolutely lose Nicolas Batum for the rest of the season? They're screwed. But as of this moment, right here. They still have a season. They still can win three games. After all, they went 3-1 against the Suns in their first four meetings, why can't they repeat that feat? Of course, the response would be, the Suns went 3-1 in the last four meetings. To that, I would say I'm pretty done with your logic.

You could do a statistical breakdown and everything that made the Suns offense work, but for all intensive purposes, there's just one thing Jason Richardson. If Jason Richardson even plays okay, we probably are in this game, or are winning it. He's the guy that, when he's on, transforms the Suns offense from something really good to something transcendent. If the Suns were the TV show Lost, he would be Desmond, invisible for stretches of time, but takes it to the next level when he shows up. Honestly, what do you do in response to this? Do you start guarding him and laying off the double teams on Amar'e? If you asked any Blazer fan which poison they wanted to pick before the series, 99% of them would select Jason Richardson over Amar'e. Too bad we were wrong.

Let's get to the Blazers. The team showed life in the second half, and even had the lead whittled down to 12 in the fourth quarter, behind a parade of Rudy (or as the guys at the sports bar called him, to my endless adolescent giggles, "Fruity") Fernandez threes. Enter J-Rich.

Anyway, if there's one Blazer who has absolutely stood out in the past two turds of games, it's Martell Webster. He's the only one that is mixing both desire to take the series and actual production. In 38 minutes, he was a leader in +/- at -3. I know, that's not good, but consider that in the ten minutes he was out, the Blazers were outscored by 16. There is no excuse to not start Martell Webster in the 2-spot with Brandon out. Our biggest weakness in the last two games has been a lack of effort and confidence at the start of games. Marty is a massive improvement over Rudy in those departments.

LaMarcus Aldridge needs to grab an espresso or something. He just looks dazed on the floor. It took getting elbowed in the face for him to even wake up. He's missing shots, and he passes way too late out of double teams, killing our offense in its tracks. Credit to the Phoenix defense and Alvin Gentry for going after him, but LaMarcus should be able to handle this by now.

Another problem that overwhelmed the team was terrible free throw shooting, something that is inexcusable at home. The Blazers missed 12 free throws. Listen, I understand those clear backboards are confusing, but I figure by now the team would be used to it.

Beyond that, the rest was basically a product of malaise. This thing isn't over yet, and the fans need to be there on Saturday to let the Blazers and the Suns know that.

Wild Conspiracy Theory Update

We all know the Suns have serious issues while playing games on TNT. They basically disappear. They had an 18-game losing streak on the network. Now think: our first game was played on TNT, and won. Each game since has been on NBA TV. Coincidence? The next game is on TNT, so maybe we can expect a win.