Thoughts on Dre Day

Rather than commenting in the moment, I thought I'd sleep on it and reflect a bit. Even with a day's reflection, though, Andre Miller's offensive explosion against Dallas is just as inexplicable. He shattered his career high of 37 points, a mark he set way back in 2003. He scored his 52 while making only one three pointer. And though he added 7 points in overtime, he only played 42 minutes total. He also did it on the second night of a back-to-back. Quite simply, this was one of the more improbable 50 point games in the history of the NBA. And what makes it so much better is that the Blazers literally needed every one of those points to pull out the win, a win they desperately needed. It was one of the most satisfying and entertaining basketball games I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

Lost amid the superlatives rightfully directed at Miller is the fantastic play of several other guys last night. Nicolas Batum didn't do much on offense, but his defensive play, especially at the end of the game, was sensational. Guarding the much bigger Dirk Nowitzki, he played about as well as anyone could, forcing Nowitzki to take tough contested shots and then pulling down three crucial rebounds off the misses.

Jerryd Bayless also played well. He was aggressive and had 17 points in 29 minutes. He finished with a team high plus/minus of +20. He also made a fantastic transition lob alley-oop pass to Aldridge in the 2nd quarter.

One other player that deserves a mention is Dante Cunningham. He only played 13 minutes, but in those minutes I thought he played really well. He had only 1 point and 1 rebound, but he had 2 blocks and looked great on the defensive end. The more I watch this kid play, the more convinced I am that, if nothing else, he will carve out a niche for himself in the NBA as a defensive specialist.

The most remarkable stat of the night is that the jump-shooting Blazers managed to score a whopping 60 points in the paint. That's a testament not only to Portland's aggressiveness, but also Dallas' complete inability to stop dribble penetration. Miller owned them in the paint, scoring 8 field goals at the rim and another 3 from within 10 feet. Bayless added 3 field goals at the rim and 1 from within 10 feet. The Blazers are the worst team in the league at scoring in the paint, so these are pretty amazing numbers.

As improbable as it was, this win was an enormously important one for the Blazers. The very real possibility of a six or seven game losing streak was looming. This win will, at the very least, serve as a jolt of confidence to a beleaguered team. Dallas is a very good team and one that has won just about every close game they've been in this season. To go into Dallas without your best player on the second night of a back-to-back and to win, in overtime, is just so huge.