Tired Legs
The Phoenix Suns opened a can of “Whoop-Ass” , destroying the Portland Trailblazers by 25-points on Friday night. The Blazers looked awful against the much lesser Suns just one night after beating a much-better Lakers at home.
BOXSCORE | Q’s POST GAME RECAP
Phoenix 102, Portland 77
When: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, January 6, 2012
Where: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Officials: #72 Kevin Cutler, #52 Pat Fraher, #9 Derrick Stafford
Attendance: 16235
Everything that typifies Portland’s weaknesses showed up in this one.
Love ‘Em
1. LaMarcus Aldridge and the first two minutes
For those looking for any kind of positive for the Blazers, Aldridge had a first good couple of minutes, catching the ball with his feet in the paint once and scoring on a quick hook shot.
A little later, he caught a pass during a baseline cut and dunked.
He finished with a team-leading 14 points.
The rest of the starting five combined for just 21 points on 6-for-21 shooting.
2. ESPN
The only other thing good about this game is that ESPN actually showed the entirety of the West Coast game in their Friday double-header.
Something TNT has not done on Thursday nights.
Hate ‘Em
1. Defense
Again Portland showed its inability to defend in this one. Time after time, the Suns forced them to collapse inside, leaving jump-shooters wide-open.
Trailblazers vs. Suns Friday Night
When they did clost-out on the jump-shooters, they couldn’t prevent the drive or interior buckets.
The Blazers tried to solidify their defense in the second period by playing zone – but it didn’t help
2. Shooting
Shooting under 30 percent for the first half, led to a 34-point total at the halftime buzzer. The Blazers also went just 2-19, 10.5 percent from the three-point arc for the game.
Portland couldn’t generate anything inside if it wasn’t off of a clear fast-break, and those were rare.
Desperation threes killed their chances in the fourth.
The Blazers play Cleveland at home on Sunday and then will face then take on the Clippers in a little revenge game at the the Rose Garden.
So fans should feel better by Tuesday night as the Blazers record gets a boost.
Until then Portland sports fans, Happy New Year !
About Matt Martz
