Some post-game thoughts (Mavs edition)

Good grief . . .

• Toward the end of the first quarter, the Blazers' starting center crumbled to the floor holding his knee.  His kneecap was visibly displaced.  He was helped off the floor by his teammates and soon thereafter the news came back that he had dislocated his patella and is likely gone for the season.  Stop me if you've heard this one already.  Seriously, what are the odds that this exact event would happen twice to the Blazers in one season?  That we'd lose not only our starting center, but his backup as well, in the exact same way?   The odds are vanishingly small.  But that's what happened.  The Blazers' season is starting to feel like one of those Final Destination movies, where all the characters are slowly dispatched in one freak accident after another.  


• And somehow the Blazers managed to pull the game out.  In Dallas.  A place where they NEVER win.  Nowitzki even started for the Mavs.   


• I'll get to some observations about the game in a minute, but first a bigger picture observation.  With both Oden and Przybilla gone, the Blazers no longer have a center on the active roster.  All of our rotation worthy players (except LaMarcus) are back-court players.  It's time to throw the original game plan out the window and go permanently small.  It's time to run, Golden State style.  Nate's going to have to adjust to the realities of the situation and let his team try to get some easy buckets in transition.  There's just no other way.  Our defensive and rebounding assets are gone.  


• Now back to tonight's game.  LaMarcus Aldridge absolutely carried the Blazers in the first half, scoring almost all of his 19 points.  He also nabbed 12 rebounds.  Troubling, though, was the fact that Aldridge was forced to play 45 minutes.  That's not sustainable.  Nate is going to have to give more minutes to guys like Cunningham (zero minutes tonight) Tolliver (3 minutes), and Pendergraph (4 minutes).  


• With Przybilla gone, Juwan Howard played virtually the entire rest of the game, logging 34 minutes.  He did pretty well, getting 10 points and 10 boards.  But this too is unsustainable.  


• Brandon Roy had a typical Brandon Roy game.  He wasn't particularly hot, but he seemed to find his groove late, ending up with 23 points, 6 assists, and 3 boards.  At the end of the game, he was holding his left shoulder and seemed to be in pain.  The way this season has gone, you just have to hope he's not nursing a torn labrum.  


• Webster pulled his typical Jekyll and Hyde act.  Tonight was a Hyde night.  He had 3 points in 28 minutes.


• There was no clear winner in the point guard derby tonight.  Blake, Miller, and Bayless all got roughly equal time (less than 30 minutes each).  Blake was was only 2 for 7, but both makes were big threes.  He had 6 points and 4 assists, and he got to finish the game on the court.  Miller had 12 points on 4-11 shooting, along with 3 assists and 4 boards.  He was not in the game down the stretch, but did come in and hit two clutch free throws to ice the game.  Bayless was 3-8, with 9 points, 2 assists, and 4 rebounds.  He got to finish the game on the court.  He hit a key 3 pointer and layup down the stretch.  


• Overall, it's hard to say that the Blazers really deserved to win tonight.  They didn't play very well.  But they played better than the Mavericks, who, with the exception of the 3rd quarter, looked absolutely terrible.  But a win is a win.  Even when it's bitter-sweet.  This was a good win.  I just don't know what to realistically expect going forward.  Przybilla was a huge loss.