The eight game home winning streak over the Lakers is impressive, but meaningless. Most of the Blazers were not around to take part in that streak. What is important is that the Portland Trailblazers are playing playoff basketball, right now.
With only three games left, Portland is already the winningest team in the Rose Garden. They are reaching the stride as the other teams in the Western Conference are staggering over the finish line. They've gone from a group of jump shooting rookies to a team that no one wants to see in the playoffs, especially Los Angeles.
A couple things from last night:
1. Traveling - I still have no idea what travelling is in the NBA. Greg Oden caught the ball in the post, and even on a replay, I could not see any movement on the feet. Yet he was called for a travel. In the third quarter, he shuffled his feet about seven times for his much admired "up and under" dunk - yet no call. Can someone please explain the travel rule to me?
2. Nicolas Batum - Huge block on Kobe Bryant, and a strong all around defensive performance. This kid is going to be scary good in a few years.
3. Greg Oden - If this were stat-happy baseball, we would have an official statistic for the "bother", which is a defensive play that is not a block, but where the shooter is forced to change his shot. Greg certainly racks up those. He changes the way opponents play in the paint, just by standing there. Even Kobe did not dare to attempt a dunk with Greg on patrol, he settled for the step back jumpers.
4. Brandon Roy v. Kobe Bryant - At the end, with the game on the line, you put the ball in the hand of you best player. Both teams did that. Portland won. Draw your own conclusions.
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