POR @ SAC

[SacKingZZZ]

What were the keys to the game? Didn't watch it bc I'm in Chicago and don't have League Pass.

But looking at the numbers:
-We got to the charity stripe A LOT! (Looking at the Bulls/Cavs game, this line also seemed to be the difference in that one.)
-Took care of the ball - check.
-Dominated the glass - check.
-Kept the opponents below 45% from the floor - check
-Shot better than 45% from the floor ...

I don't see offense as being our week spot going forward. I'm not worried by our ability to score. I just want some consistency in these categories. That's all I really want for Christmas.

The offense wasn't exactly good tonight, it was more the defense, which I guess is good, and kid of surprising. The biggest keys were Gay going superstar on the opposing team, Collison looking like he can maybe fill this teams desire and cure it's infatuation with Rajon Rondo, and this team, and in particular Cousins coming up huge defensively in crunch time. That and Derrick Williams didn't play. Coincidence? I think not.

The rotation at the end worked really well together. He pretty much ran a short rotation of Collison, McLemore, Gay, Landry, and Cousins with Omri as kind of a multi-position glue guy off the bench. Omri had to have solidified that backup SF spot for good after this performance. He's an energy role guy on a team in major need of anything role player oriented. There was some confidence being built towards the end of the game and it had some nice chemistry building plays sprinkled in here and there.

[zhp]

Great win. But going forward, we really need Ben and Nik to step up. As well as the PF position. Offensively we are playing 3 on 5. Rudy isnt going to put up 40pts every night.

Can we start Reggie, or Landry, or even Casspi over JT? I'll be disappointed if JT is still on the team after trade deadline.

[Wolfay]

I don't think we can rely on Rudy approaching his career high every night, but it also wasn't like he was forcing it and taking extraordinary difficult shots like he was against Golden State. He was for the most part either left open, or used his superior strength/size to out-muscle or simply shoot over his defender, and that is exactly what Vivek is paying $19 million for him to do.

The defense was much improved, but I feel like some of it was Matthews and Batum having bad shooting nights, and Portland were one of those teams that counted on good shooting from the perimeter last season. The defense on Aldridge was pretty good though, and Lillard was mostly ineffective except for his outside shooting.