Rapid Reaction: Blazers 117, Nuggets 97
Sean Highkin | Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 9:50PM 
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Gerald Wallace, SF 33 MIN | 8-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 17 PTS | +6 A solid night of work for Crash on both ends of the floor, marred only by a few too many three-pointers. He also led all players in this game in segregationist icons being mistaken for by Mike Rice. In Rice’s defense, though, he and George Wallace are both from Alabama. It’s a mistake anybody could have made. |  |
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LaMarcus Aldridge, PF 41 MIN | 13-18 FG | 3-3 FT | 9 REB | 5 AST | 29 PTS | +27 Fantastic showing all around: 29 points on 13 of 18 shooting, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Hope a few Western Conference coaches were watching. |  |
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Marcus Camby, C 30 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 20 REB | 2 AST | 4 PTS | +11 20 rebounds in a game is good, right? | |
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Raymond Felton, PG 24 MIN | 2-6 FG | 1-1 FT | 0 REB | 4 AST | 6 PTS | +1 Felton was playing well before leaving with a sprained ankle. X-rays were negative, but as of now it’s undecided whether he’ll play Monday against Oklahoma City. |  |
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Wesley Matthews, G 30 MIN | 4-8 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 5 AST | 11 PTS | +29 Not a great night by any means, but shooting 50% from the field is an improvement for the slumping Matthews. | |
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Kurt Thomas, C 13 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | +13 A solid game for Thomas, but not one that stands out. |  |
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Jamal Crawford, G 30 MIN | 3-7 FG | 1-1 FT | 0 REB | 8 AST | 8 PTS | +17 When Crawford has more assists than shot attempts, good things usually happen. This was a relatively quiet game by his standards, but the Blazers were in control pretty much the entire time save the end of the second quarter, so they didn’t have to live or die by what he did. | |
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Nicolas Batum, SF 25 MIN | 11-19 FG | 2-3 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 33 PTS | +19 You decide what’s more impressive: that Batum hit a franchise-record nine three-pointers, that he scored his 33 points in only 25 minutes, or that he did all of this while visibly struggling to get up and down the floor on a banged-up knee. |  |
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Elliot Williams, G 3 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -5 Not giving grades to anyone else who played garbage time, but Elliot merits mentioning for having a nice dunk off a missed Batum three and hitting a three of his own. It would be nice to see him get more minutes even with Batum back, but I doubt it. | |
Three Things We Saw
- I know Denver was on the third night of a back-to-back-to-back and coming off a brutal, down-to-the-wire loss to the Lakers last night, but with the Blazers’ inconsistent play lately, any win against one of the elite Western Conference teams is one to be happy about.
- Speaking of that inconsistent play, I’m legitimately starting to think Paul Allen has secretly pioneered human cloning, only he hasn’t figured out how to replicate the original subjects’ exact abilities in the new models. That’s as good an explanation as any as to why this team is all but unbeatable at home and continuously drops winnable games on the road.
- I heard a few reports on Twitter that fans at the Rose Garden were booing Greg Oden on the jumbotron. Really? Like, really? Indefensible.
Reader Comments (2)
I was at the game and I can confirm people were booing Greg on the big screen. It was during a video package for the Blazers to pick a Super Bowl winner. I really doubt he was booed for who he picked for the winner so it was basically them booing him. But I'm sure these are the same people who cheer for Chalupas and think Canzano is always right. I also don't understand the Rudy booing too.
Why would you doubt they would boo him for the winner he picked? People are very passionate about their football teams: those they love and those they love to hate.