Sans-Roy Blazers beat the Boston Bullies

Blazers 91, Boston 86 (Box score)

In the most engrossing ugly game I have ever seen, the Blazers finally beat those assholes Celtics. Despite Brandon Roy and his sadly passe attitude lines sidelined due to injury, Portland finally stood up to the team that had bullied them with such ease in recent history. Although Boston has been sputtering a bit as of late (now just 1-3 on their current road trip), this game is the latest example of just how special this Blazer team can be.

Greg Oden played his most impressive game as a Blazer. This time we did not see him shrink from a daunting challenge. We saw him back it down and shoot a jump hook over it. Then grab some rebounds from it. Then even nail a baby J over the thing. With all the crap Greg takes for his alleged shortcomings, it was especially satisfying to see him succeed against the roughest interior defense in the League. Respect that.

Steve Blake has dedicated this season to making all those Rip City fans that clamor for a sexy pointguard finally shut up. He nailed shot after shot tonight, being that rudder to steer the Blazers enthusiastic youth. While Rondo certainly got Blake at points throughout the game, Blake never let it get out of control. He was a rock, he ran the team, and he hit a ton of shots.

I know a few Blazer fans that scapegoat Travis Outlaw and constantly question McMillan for playing him in critical moments. If you want to know why he is in there, watch the play where he spins baseline past one defender and surprises KG at the hoop with his Mr. Fantastic inspired lay-up. Travis has his shortcomings, we all know exactly what they are. We also know, as was evident tonight, that Travis can make certain plays that no other Blazer can. Deal with it.

This post could go on and on. About how LaMarcus stood up to KG while staying within himself, the result being a steady dose of buckets. About how Rudy, maybe pressing a bit in an attempt to make the most of his first NBA start, found other ways to contribute when his shot wasn't falling.

Not all victories are created equal. For me, and I suspect many others out there, tonight's was the most satisfying in a long time. Watch out World.

Portland vs Boston Recap; I don't wanna talk about it

BOX SCORE

This game was a sobering reminder. For all their winning ways the Blazers can still be reduced to playing like one would expect the second youngest team in the league should. They are not yet an elite team contending for a title. Boston is.

...

My soul hurts.

Portland at Boston, Pre-pregame

Big huge nationally televised game for Portland tonight. A win will be tough to earn, but would raise the Blazers national profile to elite status. All they have to do is beat the defending champ Celtics (18-2) in Boston.

This game will be a good opportunity to see how much growth the Blazers have achieved. Last season the Celtics intimidated and muscled Portland. This time around Portland is a tad more experienced and loaded with even more talent.

If you can pick out a semi-weakness of the C's defense it would be that they don't have much in terms of long athleticism to defend the outside. This helped Travis Outlaw average 20 a game against them last season. Portland has been winning lately without hitting a ton of jumpers, but they will need to hit those outside shots to be victorious tonight.

It will be interesting to see how Oden responds to the rough interior Celtic defense. Will Perk get in his head? Will KG totally punk him out? Some things we do know; GO's bad habits (making himself smaller, bringing the ball down low, putting it behind his head) will simply not be tolerated in Boston.

Anyways, more game links to get you excited:

Canzano wins prestigious DeceptivelyQuick award for best pre-game column of the day [Oregonian]

Bust a Bucket picks the Celtics to win (booooooooooh!)

Blazers Edge preview

OLive stuff

Blazers want payback

Blazers popularity hurts procrastinators

Some of the more hard-core pinwheel fans seem a little peeved that the fair-weather folks are turning up in droves. As one who defended this team through the mini-dark ages I would agree that it isn't totally enjoyable all the time. To see the same uninterested folks you were trying to convince of this team's potential just a season ago all of a sudden parade around like they've had a Travis Outlaw portrait tattooed on their chest since 2003 can be infuriating. But overall, I have to say I enjoy watching this city support this team again, even if the majority only fall in lust. The Blazers as a big deal in Oregon just seems right.

They're the hottest ticket in a town where they really have no excuse not to be. As evidence, I'm going to the wings place to watch the game tonight. Tried to get tickets, sold-out. I got gift certificate tickets as a gift, and needed to pick which games to see. I redeemed these the last week of December and couldn't get tickets to Boston on February 24th. I was lucky to get San Antonio on April 6th.

Last season, you could pretty much pick your spot by going to the box office right before tipoff. I will always miss the days of being able to walk down from the balcony and see the action up close. But don't get me wrong, its more fun to be part of a full-house of energy. Just don't procrastinate.

P.S., I hate when other life demands inconvenience DeceptivelyQuick, so inconsiderate like. But these demands are flying at me right now, so hot-blogging action will likely be sporadic for a while. One thing that could help is if any of you would like to contribute to the blog, send submissions: deceptively.quick(at)yahoo. There's a lot of you that are on your game: H.T., Brrrrrrrrrr!, and goonerluke I see you. There's more of you out there. If anyone wants to put something up let me know, could be interesting.

Hottest team in the League: Your Portland Trailblazers

Moments ago I watched an extra crafty Chauncey Billups ice some freethrows to beat the Celtics in Boston juuuuuust barely (boxscore). Portland has yet to take the floor for their game against the Raptors, but as of this moment they own the longest current winning streak in the NBA.

Am I jinxing things? Yikes. Toronto has a dynamic team, one of the few non-Blazer squads I always make sure to watch. Could they take this joy from us? On the birthday of the great stArvydas Sabonis? Should be fun, enjoy.

The Reggie Miller Comeback; at least he'll go away

When I heard the news that Reggie may comeback and play for the Celtics, a whole bunch of feelings came up. It goes largely undocumented by this blog, but the Indiana Pacers are easily my second favorite team in the league and have been for a very long time.

All the way back in Park & Rec ball (we're going pre-junior high here), I would have killed to wear #31. They never had it, so I settled for 13 and had my mom shave a 31 into the back of my head. Yeah, maybe they thought I was dyslexic. I celebrated many of Reggie's game winners by running around the house with no shoes on, and with ritualistic reenactments in the driveway. He is a significant part of why I became addicted to the NBA in the first place. These sort of memories make you want to write a special post in blue and gold.

Then he retired, and I moved on. He popped up on TNT, which never has seemed right to me. Don't get me wrong, he has his moments of comedy and insight. I just can't ignore that he seems to be the dog in the kitchen much of the time, as in being irritating and in the way of things.

Now we come to this. A comeback. Maybe. A chance to join up with the big party in Boston, contribute on what looks to be a contender. And I'm about as shocked as Jordan must have been after Reggie pushed off to hit that game winner.

Sure, I want to remember him as the Pacer I idolized. But really, won't he be that no matter what he does with Boston? I want to remember him in his prime, but won't I do that anyways?
The bottom line is, Reggie loves basketball and has an opportunity to play at its highest level again, for what looks like a contender. You can't be in the NBA forever, and I can't fault anyone for wanting to stay as long as possible. It would be a treat to see Reggie back on the court, even if he just stands in the corner and hits the occasional three during his 10-15 minutes a game. If nothing else, at least it keeps him out of the booth.

Oden's Debut: Boston Notes

I just finished watching Portland kick-off their summer league in Vegas against the Boston Celtics. Oden's debut will obviously command much of everyone's analysis, but there was quite a collection of young talent on both squads to be excited about.

(Because of blogger length limitations, I've broken my Portland and Boston notes up into two separate posts: Portland Notes are here. Also, read why David Stern wants you to hate him.)

The Celtics won 74-66 (boxscore). It wasn't as close at the final score, Boston was comfortably in control a majority of the time:

Notes from the game:

Former Celtic and color commentator for the game Mike Smith made multiple blatant defenses of Danny Ainge during the game. He loves him very much and thinks he's doing a great job as GM. They have some good talent, but a great job? This guy must want a job with the front office very badly.

Leon Powe absolutely took it to Oden, or whichever Blazer was guarding him. He goes hard and adjusts his game well to make up for his lack of height much of the time. The other times, he gets swatted.

Gerald Green was the best perimeter player for the C's tonight. The ups looked as good as ever, putting up some nice highlights.

Pruitt brought it, despite very limited burn (box score shows 1:27 and 7 points). His impressive burst of points had me hoping he would get more minutes, but they never came.

Brandon Wallace can jump. I don't know much about the guy, but he had a few very nice athletic plays that got oooh's.

Basically, all the young C's can play. Powe and Green were the only Celtics to show consistency, you always knew when they were in the game. Rondo, Allan Ray, and Big Baby had shining moments, but would also disappear for long stretches.

All in all Boston fans should be happy with this group of young guys. But seriously, don't get too attached, or Danny Ainge will trade them for (insert worst nightmare here).