Game 28: Portland vs New Orleans 6:00pm SNW

[DaVoiceMaster]

Another 1st quarter lead gets pissed away as soon as the bench comes in. Can't wait for CJ and Nurk to get back. Bring em off the bench and see if they struggle to score.

[Moonbeam]

Lillard scored or assisted on 82 of Portland’s points. That’s got to be up there for the most in his career.

[monopoman]

Very nice road B2B win, it's a very tough situation and you could tell that shots were having trouble falling tonight. Though I think the Pels would be one of the worst teams in the NBA without Zion, I was extremely unimpressed with almost every other Pel player in this game.

I also really don't like the Pels announcers, they are pretty damn annoying.

This was a gutsy win for the Blazers especially since they were forced to take the plane flight the same day as the game which is rough.

I will say almost every other Blazer besides Lillard was having trouble scoring in the first half, Gary ended up with a nice game but if you look at the stats in the first half he and Melo were missing everything.

[mojomarc]

Very nice road B2B win, it's a very tough situation and you could tell that shots were having trouble falling tonight. Though I think the Pels would be one of the worst teams in the NBA without Zion, I was extremely unimpressed with almost every other Pel player in this game.

I also really don't like the Pels announcers, they are pretty damn annoying.

This was a gutsy win for the Blazers especially since they were forced to take the plane flight the same day as the game which is rough.

I will say almost every other Blazer besides Lillard was having trouble scoring in the first half, Gary ended up with a nice game but if you look at the stats in the first half he and Melo were missing everything.

I was going to

I haven't had a chance to watch every game this year (for two years in a row, just too busy with work after decades of not missing any game available). But what I'm seeing from Dame right now with this game and the few others I've seen this reminds me a lot of the leap we saw from him two seasons ago. Then, his stats didn't necessarily show a massive leap, but the way he commanded the game evolved to the point where it was clear he was on a next level. The speed he is getting to the rim with is tremendously better than few years ago, and he appears almost unstoppable once he is at the rim. His range is not just last season long, but to my eye even more effortless. Maybe it helps that we now have more floor spacers, so Dame is more efficient in punishing teams for doubling him 35 feet from the rim but not really improved himself per se? Don't know. But he looks like he's controlling the game like a LeBron controls the game, which to me looks like another leap that I didn't know was in him.

Go ahead--call me nuts.

[BlazersBroncos]

Very proud of how this team has responded to the injuries. Dame is back to playing at an MVP level after a slow start, arguably controlling the game and imposing his will better than ever before.

Kanter has always been the unsung hero. He isnt perfect, but he brings a ton on the court and he is such a culture fit. \

RoCo as well is finally coming around.

[JasonStern]

Have to admit, this has been one of the most impressive win streaks given the overall health of the team combined with multiple back-to-back games and half of the wins coming on the road. Unfortunately, it just makes that Knicks loss all the more baffling, as that game should have been winnable and the Blazers' streak would be at nine without that loss. Winnable game against the Wizards at home, then a Suns/Nuggets (B2B)/Lakers road trip that likely ends the streak.