Post-Game: Blazers at Clippers

Can I watch Blake Griffin during every Blazer game? I just want to see him play basketball always. I have an unabashed basketball man crush on the guy. If the Blazers could trade LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden for him, I would do it in a heartbeat. He's like Joakim Noah if Noah wasn't overrated and didn't frighten small children. Noah wakes up in cold sweats each night after dreaming of Griffin's freckles, knowing that he'll never be the insane rebounder that Griffin is. He's just good. I never would have guessed that someone who came back from season-ending knee surgery would fly around the court like that.

Apparently there was a game last night, too.

So, the team itself had a mediocre performance through the first three quarters, just like the Phoenix game, and during the fourth quarter, it flipped a switch, went on a huge run, stop me if you've heard this one before. Road wins are worth their weight in gold (weight of a road win: 3.43 kg) and the Blazers picked up one that maybe they shouldn't have gotten.

As Mike Rice suggested, if they kept a stat called "Most Improved 3-Point Shooter" (by the way, I think you can do that, easily - just subtract last year's percentage from this year's), Nico Batum would lead it. I think Batum would be happy to win Most Improved Player this year instead. On a bad shooting night for everyone else, Batum went 6-7 and 3-4 from deep, along with a few rebounds and a couple of steals. I guarantee there's some suburban Portland kid who decided to start studying French in middle school just to be more like Nico. Vous faites le travail de Dieu, Nicolas.

Brandon Roy put up a Brandon Roy-like line of 22-10-2. Dude is automatic. The three pointer over Gomes was some cold blooded business.

LaMarcus also had a double double, and played a large role in the fourth quarter spurt that won the game. He was abused early by Griffin, but came back and held his own. You can talk about how soft you may think LaMarcus is, or how he doesn't charge after rebounds enough, but the dude seriously knows how to pass out of a double team. It is a now-regular occurrence, and LaMarcus easily sees and recognizes it coming, finding the open man. It's a great way to be in the flow of the offense, even if he's not making his shot.

The other double double came from Marcus Camby, the ghost of Clipper rebounding past. He took Griffin's activity as a challenge, going for 11 and 14. During the first quarter he was driving from the top of the key for lay-ins, something he probably hasn't done for six years.

In terms of +/-, Andre was the game's MVP with an absurd +19, and he contributed with a bit from everywhere, as he got 14 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. His offensive rebounding extended some key possessions late.

The bench was really nothing special at all. Johnson and Cunningham were beset by foul trouble. Matthews didn't come close to duplicating his opening night performance (the countdown to the next Simmons Matthews insult starts now), and Oberto looked lost. Rudy looked good again, hitting half of his three point attempts.

Now, we have a long break until the next game, a time where we can reflect on the fact that instead of waiting three months for another game, we only have to wait three days. My recommendation for the downtime: play NBA 2K11 or read the Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History.