Tag: Portland Trail Blazers

Spurs ready to close out Round Two on the Road

After a 118-103 victory Saturday night, a heart shot to the Portland Trailblazers, the San Antonio Spurs are preparing to sweep and move back home to wait for the winners of the Oklahoma Thunder/LA Clippers match up.  That series is currently tied at two games apiece and Spurs fans hope that it goes all seven games.  The closeout game is the hardest in the NBA Playoffs and  Tony Parker, who is averaging 26.3 per game this series, knows it will take all the Spurs effort to put the Blazers away.

“The close-out is always the hardest game,” Parker said.  “We know Portland is going to come out and play with a lot of motivation. They (the Blazers) have nothing to lose. I’m sure they want to win a game in front of their hometown. We’re going to have to match their energy, but it would be great to get it and get a rest.”

The Blazers know that they will have to perform at a higher level if they want to stretch this series out any but fighting from behind is something they cannot do if they expect to win.

“It’s the same story, We kept digging ourselves a hole,” Portland point guard Wesley Matthews said.

“You dig a hole and then fight back and give yourself a chance, and they have an answer,” Portland guard Damian Lillard said.

If the Blazers pull off a victory tonight, Game Five is scheduled for Wednesday May 14th.  Great seats and cheap tickets will be available here so get yours soon!

“Sleepers of the West” rock Heat at home

Miami never led in game two of the season match up.

The talk at the mid point of the season was that the “Old” San Antonio Spurs we able to beat up on sub-par teams but could not muster wins against the top tier teams of the league. And, quite frankly, they couldn’t.  But you never heard the “P” word – Panic- come from the organization and anyone who resides withing the Spurs viewing range were not really concerned, since it was the Spurs being the Spurs, after all.

And now, with less than 20 games remaining on the regular season schedule, the Spurs are beating those team that they “couldn’t beat.”  In the month of February, the Spurs took care of the Clippers (113-103), the Trailblazers the following day (111-109), the Mavericks (106-112), thumped Cleveland (122-101) while setting an All Time NBA Team Record for Assists then handled the Heat 87-111 who served up their worst performance of the year.

With 21 games remaining  with a handful of top tier teams on the schedule to include the Bulls, Blazers, Jazz, Pacers, Grizzlies, Thunder and the Rockets.  Be sure to get out and support your Spurs as they prepare for a run through the playoffs.  Great seats and tickets still remain!

Aldridge celebrates return home by beating Mavs at buzzer

LaMarcus Aldridge always has a little extra for a trip back home to the Dallas area.

The former Seagoville High School and University of Texas standout hit the game-winning 17-footer jumper that gave the Trail Blazers a 99-97 overtime victory at Dallas Friday night.

It was part of an effort where Aldridge singed the Mavericks for 25 points and 12 rebounds.

“This is big because it was in the crib (his hometown),” Aldridge told the Associated Press about the game-winning shot and the victory, which improved the Trail Blazers to 7-6 under interim coach Kaleb Canales of Laredo.

Aldridge made the game-winning fallaway jumper over the outstretched arm of Dallas 7-foot center Brendan Haywood. After hitting the shot, he was then mobbed by his teammates at center court in celebration. 

“LaMarcus is our All-Star,” Canales told the AP. “We were going to LaMarcus. Big-time player, big-time shot.”

It was also a performance that put him on top of Friday’s Studs and Duds for the top performers across the association.    

STUDS

Portland F LaMarcus Aldridge: Tallied 25 points, 12 rebounds, was plus-3 and hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to lead the Trail Blazers to a victory at Dallas.

Portland G Raymond Felton: Notched 30 points, seven rebounds, six assists and shared team honors at plus-20 in the Trail Blazers’ triumph at Dallas.

Utah F Al Jefferson: Went for 30 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and two assists and was a game-high plus-22 in the Jazz’s victory over Golden State.

 The Spurs’ bench: Erupted for 82 bench points — most in the NBA in more than 12 years — and was a collective plus-95 in the Spurs’ victory over New Orleans.

Houston G Goran Dragic: Went for 26 points, 11 assists, four rebounds, three steals and was plus-14 in the Rockets’ victory at the Lakers.

Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant: Went for 44 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the Thunder’s loss at Indiana.

DUDS

Miami G Mario Chalmers: Limited to one point on o-for-4 shooting from the field with four turnovers and was minus-2 in the Heat’s loss to Memphis. The defeat snapped their 17-victory home streak.

Oklahoma City G James Harden: Went 1 for 5 from the field with five turnovers in the Thunder’s loss at Indiana.

Toronto F Alan Anderson: Missed all four shots, had two turnovers and was a team-worst minus-13 in the Raptors’ loss to Cleveland.

Golden State G Nate Robinson: Hit 2 of 10 from the field with three turnovers and was minus-4 in the Warriors’ loss at Utah.

Charlotte G Kemba Walker: Clanked through a 6 for 26 shooting night with four turnovers in the Bobcats’ loss at Milwaukee.