Posted 03/08/2010 1:54 PM

Post-Game Thoughts
Anytime your two stars shoot a combine 9-28 for only 28 points while playing in one of the most difficult arenas in basketball, it will be a recipe for disaster. Denver came out like a team on a mission and it was evident in their basketball moves and decisions on the court. Each shot, pass, or drive to the hoop was made with quickness and decisiveness, while Portland was slow to react to everything the Nuggets threw at us. It was their game plan to take Aldridge and Roy out of the game and force our role players to beat them. Job accomplished. While LA was slow kick it out of the double teams, Roy was literally non-existent on the court. I truly hope it was the hamstring bothering him, because he looked a step slow all night, lethargic, and really not completely into the game. If it weren't for Rudy, Bayless, and Miler, it would have been a 40 point blowout on national television.

"We didn't establish an offensive rhythm the entire game," Roy said.

Speaking of those three players, it was nice to see them, for the most part, stay in their comfort zone and not try to do things out of their skill level. When we cut the 21 point lea down to 7, it was Bayless scoring from inside or outside, getting to the line at will, Miller pushing tempo at every single opportunity, and Rudy spotting up from distance and killing it outside. Outside of a few jump-pass turnovers, this was one of Jerryd's best games as a Trail Blazer. When his jump shot is on, he is one of the most difficult covers in the league, as well as crazy efficient. In just under 24 minutes, Bayless dropped a team-high 24 points, on 6-10 shooting, including 3-3 from beyond the arc and 9-11 from the stripe, 5 assists and 2 rebounds. Although the score, 118-106, was not indicative of how badly Denver outplayed us, I wasn't too upset after this loss, because games like these are evidence that Jerryd Bayless is going to be a very good player in this league and our future floor general.

The Nuggets shot the living daylights out of the ball, to the tune of 58.9% and even getting a few shooter's bounces, but that is to be expected when a team scores 112 a night on their home floor. I thought Billups, Anthony, and Smith needed to be held below their combined 64 points for a chance to win, but Portland did nothing to even slow down one of them as they tallied 73 points. Even though Melo got some very questionable superstar calls, he was the aggressor all night, always getting to the line or finding a way to put the ball in the hoop to stop the bleeding. Letting Melo get 30 and Chauncey 21 is acceptable, because really the only people who can stop players of their caliber are themselves. What really got ticked me off was our defense on J.R. Smith. Do we not watch game film or pay attention to player tendencies? I lost count of how many times Smith was left open in transition, given way too much space, or was not closed out on. In the end, Smith was a smooth 4-8 from 3 which always seemed to be a break the backs of our Trail Blazers.

"Every time we would get it under 10 we would turn the ball over, missed some free throws or did something to allow them to get momentum back," Portland coach Nate McMillan said.

Portland's next five games (Kings,@ Warriors, @ Kings, Raptors, Wizards) are all winnable, but after the loss in Denver, the Trail Blazers now see themselves four games behind the Spurs in the loss column. Luckily for Portland, the Spurs have an incredibly difficult remaining schedule and must play without point guard Tony Parker who fractured his 4th metatarsal and is now out for six weeks. The bottom line is if Portland can't catch San Antonio for the 7th seed with everything seemingly in their favor, I'm not sure we even deserve to make the playoffs. I didn't expect the Blazers to win the game last night, but I expected it to be a much more competitive game than it really was, especially considering their injuries. If we don't start beating some of these +.500 teams, a little bit of doubt is going to creep into my head about this team. We have been so resilient this year, which is why I have hope we will bounce back from this loss, but these next five games will tell the story for the rest of the season. There is no easier stretch of games for Portland than these upcoming five, where we need to win at least four of them if we want to be taken seriously in the playoff picture.
Official Game Photos

Box Score