| 09 April 2011
In a physical, chippy game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Gerald Wallace and company made sure the Portland Trail Blazers wouldn’t be swept in the season series against their rival by winning in impressive fashion, 93-86.
Blazers torch Lakers in transition, get easy baskets to build lead
Portland head coach Nate McMillan wanted his team to run against Los Angeles, but even he couldn’t have expected the success they had offensively in the first half.
The Blazers ran the Lakers ragged in transition, pushing the tempo off the 10 first-half turnovers they forced and even off Los Angeles’s made baskets. The Lakers simply couldn’t keep up, as Portland had 14 field goals in the paint by halftime.
The Blazers mindset was brilliant, taking it to the Lakers to show quickness can neutralize size and bulk. As a result, Portland made 11 straight field goals in the second quarter.
“We wanted to get out in the open floor,” Wallace said postgame. “Get up and down and make it a fast-tempo game.”
Kobe Bryant keeps Lakers close with late second-quarter burst
That hot-stretch helped the Blazers grab a 12-point lead, but the Lakers star would lead his team back. He had five field goals in the final three minutes, dunking once and hitting four three-pointers to score Los Angeles’s final 14 points.
He was in a zone, but Portland shrugged off his run to continue their excellence into the third quarter.
Blazers play beautiful basketball for first seven minutes of third
What went right in the first half went right for all but five minutes of the third quarter, as Portland continued to orchestrate layup and alley-oop drills. Over those seven minutes they scored on 12 of 14 possessions. Seven of their eight baskets were assisted on, with Andre Miller dishing five helpers to balloon Portland’s lead to a whopping 24 points, 74-50.
In being so successful they ran their offense to perfection, completely overwhelming a usually superior team. When Miller is making plays the entire team clicks. There was that vibe, exuding confidence with precision and execution that will give whomever they face in the playoffs a serious fight.
Kobe-less Lakers turn tables on Portland
After that superb stretch, Portland’s offense fell flat and a Los Angeles team without a resting Bryant torched them with a furious run. The Blazers didn’t score over the final five minutes if the third. Los Angeles, in comparison, poured in twelve, with subs Matt Barnes and Shannon Brown inflicting most of the pain.
The Blazers lineup during that stretch, without their most effective players in Wallace, Miller, and Wesley Matthews, settled for three-pointers and ran their offense late in the clock.
Tempers flare as Wallace ultimately sinks Lakers
It’s not a Blazers-Lakers game without jawing, bodies flying, and technicals, and this edition illustrated how much hatred flows through the rivalry. Wallace and Lakers forward Ron Artest, two of the more physical players in the NBA, went at it repeatedly, with Artest wildly flailing his elbows and Wallace continuously retaliating.
In the fourth quarter, the Rose Garden was consumed in 'Ger-ald Wall-ace!' chants after their most celebrated scuffle. Wallace was flattened twice by Artest, and this turned into something more, as Aldridge had words for Bryant then tangled violently with fellow forward Pau Gasol.
Wallace finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and seven of the Blazers 28 assists as all five starters scored in double-figures.
“We’re not afraid of them,” Wallace said of the Lakers postgame. “We came out with the intensity, with the composure.
Playing as good as we did as a team, it just shows our focus and determination heading into the playoffs."
photo: espn
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
