Posted 01/16/2010 1:14 PM

Post-Game Thoughts
The make-shift Blazers do it again, this time without Brandon Roy. Portland demolished Orlando with a wire-to-wire 102-87 to run their record at the half-way point to 25-16. The Trail Blazers had to do two things to win the game tonight, hold Orlando under 100 points and win the rebounding battle. Portland held Orlando to 14 points below their season average of 101, mainly due to their closing out on Orlando shooters. The Magic shot a dismal 7-30 from downtown and their coverages on Howard were quick and different each time down the court.

"It started with Howard and included Jeff (Pendergraph) and LaMarcus," McMillan said. "We tried to mix up our defense on him. The guys did a good job of beating (Dwight Howard) to a spot and making him work. The guards did a good job with double-teaming and also in defending the three. They did a great job of rotating out."
"We did a good job of not letting them have anything easy in the paint," Webster said. "Everything they had down low. we made them work for. Particular guys (read: Howard) weren't going to get a shot. We executed our game plan perfectly tonight."

Speaking of Howard, I haven't been so underwhelmed by a supposed "superstar" in a long, long time. For a "Franchise" player, he certainly didn't find a way to take over like superstars are prone to. When your best player can' be counted on down the stretch to hit foul shots, he becomes a liability. Dwight was 3-10 from the charity stripe and only tallied 11 points in all. The most surprising statistic of all had to have been 11 rebounds against a front-line of Juwan Howard and LaMarcus Aldridge. In the last meeting, he was +19 on the glass versus LaMarcus. This time around, Aldridge was +3 in the rebounding battle. Maybe Orlando is just in a team-wide slump, but I just don't see it in Howard. When it all boils down, he can't make free throws, especially worrisome since he leads the NBA in free throw attempts a game, he can't hit a mid-range jump shot, and he really can't create any offense from himself whatsoever. He's a more-athletic prime Ben Wallace.

Back to Aldridge, how amazing was his effort tonight? He was all over the floor, diving for loose balls, boxing out, and showing so much more desire than the Magic players. You could tell the 1 rebound last meeting was on his mind, because he was always in the middle for a rebound, and in the end, he grabbed 14 boards, which helped Portland win the rebounding battle 42-38, to go along with his 14 points (7-17) and 3 assists. Personally, what really impressed me was his intent on getting good post position and if he got knocked off of his spot, he'd go right back and keep fighting. The will he played with last night is exactly what Blazer fans want to see from him, because he is simply a different beast when he plays with a chip on his shoulder.

Andre Miller was Andre Miller of late, with his 19 points (8-14) and 9 dimes, Steve Blake dialed in a few from long distance to tack on 18 points, handed out 6 helpers, and got inside to grab 4 rebounds, but make no mistake about it, Martell Webster was the star of the show again tonight. Every single time Portland needed a big basket it was Webster. It was Webster who was the catalyst in the 1st half to run the lead into double figures. In 38 minutes of play, he had another stellar scoring outing with 24 (8-14), including 5-9 from I-5 as Mark Mason likes to put it, and pulled down 9 boards. Like many Blazers fans already knew, it is all about confidence for Marty. Lately, he has been just shooting with a purpose, not even thinking about his past few shots. During his last 5 games, he is averaging 17.2 points and 6 rebounds a night, which means it's going to be hard to take away his playing time.

"The guys keep rising to the occasion," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "It's been a collective effort. We just keep stepping up."
Box Score