Rapid Reaction: Portland 95, OKC 111

Portland Trail Blazers

95

Final Recap | Box Score

111

Oklahoma City Thunder

	LaMarcus Aldridge, PF 38 MIN | 6-19 FG | 3-5 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 15 PTS | -15 0 for 3 in the fourth quarter isn’t going to cut it against the best team in the West. Aldridge started the game strong but wasn’t able to feed off of the energy from his teammates down the stretch.
	Nicolas Batum, SF 40 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 6 PTS | -10 Batum simultaneously looked bored, annoyed and completely checked out throughout the game. He managed to put up only seven shots in 40 minutes, his first make coming with 4:45 left in the third. With Wallace gone, Portland needs another offensive threat in the starting lineup and Batum failed to threaten anything more than his starter status.
	Joel Przybilla, C 24 MIN | 3-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 11 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | -4 Someone had to get a rebound.
	Raymond Felton, PG 34 MIN | 6-10 FG | 5-7 FT | 3 REB | 7 AST | 19 PTS | -17 His best game in a Blazer uniform and I still can’t give him an A, not when the opposing PG scores a game high 28 on 12-21 shooting. Credit where credit is due, though. Felton’s aggression, though sometimes misguided, kept the Blazers closer than they should have been after the 6-23 shooting performance in the first quarter. Felton picked his spots, got into the lane, and was an effective distributor for a team who needed every easy bucket they could get.
	Wesley Matthews, G 35 MIN | 6-12 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 16 PTS | -10 Matthews, if nothing else, got into the lane repeatedly against a tough defensive front line. Yes, he botched another (!) fast break, but his defensive aggression helped give Portland a spark coming out of the break.
	Kurt Thomas, C 8 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -15 Thomas’ crazy-eyes nearly stole the show for me, but otherwise his eight minutes were uninspired.
	Jamal Crawford, G 29 MIN | 10-22 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 23 PTS | -7 Crawford’s offense had him trending on Twitter for all the right reasons. His jumper and assist to start the fourth brought Portland to within eight––before Harden was fouled on a three-pointer for the second time tonight. Jamal’s 23 were a team-high for the Blazers, and a welcome sight for those wondering who was going to pick up the offense with Batum checked out.
	Nolan Smith, G 14 MIN | 4-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 8 PTS | +1 Another solid performance in limited minutes.
	Luke Babbitt, SF 11 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | 0 An incomplete would be more appropriate here. With Wallace’s 13 points per game on their way to New Jersey, Portland will be looking to pick up points wherever it can, and Babbitt is going to have a chance to make an impact. But, he’ll need to connect on more than one basket to keep himself in the rotation. Oh wait. I guess there’s currently no one after him in the rotation.

One Thing We Saw

1. Portland came back after a terrible first quarter to tie Oklahoma over the next three quarters. Of course, that’s not how this game works, but I’ve got to believe that Canales’ incredible energy helped the Blazers stick with it at the end of a long road trip.