The Portland fans were on pins and needles. The fading Sacramento Kings had given the Blazers everything they could handle just two nights before. Now Dwayne Wade and the much better Miami Heat were in town.
Sure, Portland pulled off the win in Miami, but it was a close game. Just a break or two going the Heat's way and it would have been a different result. That was easily a game the Blazers could have lost.
They were having none of that on this night. They started out with a quick 8-0 run. Moments later Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had to call a second time-out with the score 19-4.
In past years the Blazers would allow the other team back into games like this. In this one, it started to look that way.
After building a lead in the low 20's, Portland saw the Heat creep back to within 13 at 46-33. It was at that point that coach Nate McMillan made an interesting choice. He inserted Nicolas Batum to defend Dwayne Wade.
Typically Batum has played the Ervin Johnson role. That would be the Ervin who played for the Seattle Supersonics, not the more famous Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
Ervin would come in, soak up five to 10 minutes at the start of each half, and then work on polishing the bench. Batum is similar.
He plays the first six minutes or so of each half. He is in there specifically to defend the best opposing wing player. Any offense or rebounding he provides is purely a bonus.
Once he comes out, he is generally done for the half as McMillan fills the other 18 minutes of small forward with Travis Outlaw or Rudy Fernandez. That is a hard decision to argue with. Both Outlaw and Fernandez are dynamic scorers, and each helps in other ways.
On this night, however, McMillan quickly identified the problem. The Heat wings were driving to the hole at will and bringing the Heat back within striking distance. He reinserted Batum with 4:16 remaining in the second quarter. Portland proceeded to rebuild the lead to 19.
The shift was immediately felt. The Heat still scored a little bit, but the nature of their shots changed. It was no longer easy drives and uncontested shots. Now every shot was contested and the lane was closed down. The moment Batum came back in the game, the entire flow of the game turned back in the Blazers' favor.
That was not the only time Batum was instrumental in turning the tide. In the second half the Heat pulled within 14 after a quick 5-0 run. Batum snatched the ball out of a big scramble, retreated to the three-point line, and put the Blazers back on track. Miami would never seriously threaten again.
The rest of the game was simply seeing how many Blazers would score in double figures (six, but two more had eight points apiece), how many blocked shots Joel "Jolezilla" Przybilla would end up with (four), and whether Ike Diogu would ring up a trillion (no, but he did manage a suck differential of +2).
The game was very out of hand. But there were still some great moments. Joelzilla was called for goaltending after blocking yet another Michael Beasley shot. It was a bad call, but when you are ahead 90-61, does it matter?
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about 1 month ago
Nice analysis and re-cap, Drew.
I think coach pulled Przybilla because he sensed a testoterone surge which might have resulted in an unnecessary altercation - and to give Przy his due with the crowd. A classy move.
about 1 month ago
Joelzilla is the man, no doubt. In time, Oden will be. I think it is good for him to see that Joelzilla can change the game without ever having a play run for him, rarely taking a shot...just dominating on defense and the boards. In time, Oden will regain his quickness and agility, stop trying to dunk every other possession, and become a huge, huge factor on both ends. But meanwhile, it is just great to watch a few blow-outs. Have not seen this level of domination in years.
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