Blazers vs Wizards: Why They Play The Game

As much as we enjoy analyzing things and pretending to know what is going to happen, we often get reminders of how random sports are and how our pursuit of predictive knowledge means nothing. Last night was one of those nights. Let me set the scene.

The Blazers played a playoff team. LaMarcus sat out with a sprained ankle. Roy played only 14 minutes due to a groin injury. In the past I've talked about what a great opportunity such short-handed scenarios can be for some other young players to come out of their shells, and for the team as a whole to learn some autonomy outside of their Everything. Guess what? In this game, it actually happened.

Jack had one of those great nights he has from time to time, as did Webster. Pryzbilla managed 17 boards in 24 minutes. LaFrentz got minutes and added 6, 7, and 3 blocks. Steve Blake aka The Port of Miami was solid again, and Travis Outlaw broke out of his funk and took advantage of a rare appearance in the starting lineup.

Portland 102, Washington 82 (ESPN)

A blowout win for some very shorthanded Blazers. A team that built a lead and actually maintained it, which has been a very rare thing this season. This was one of the most fun nights of the year to be a Blazer or a fan.