The Blazers were coming off their worst loss of the young season, a demoralizing 31 point trouncing at the hands of arch rivals, the LA Clippers. But the nice thing about basketball is you don't have to wait say, four years, for a shot a redemption. Last night, the Blazers got a much needed victory, beating out the Sacramento Kings in a gutsy 120-122 overtime thriller.
I'd heard rumors that Damian Lillard and Sacramento big man Boogie Cousins were friends, so I was on the lookout for any camaraderie before the game. Dame was all business though, tuning up his deep three shot while Boogie and Co. practiced trick dunks off the backboard.
Portland starting forward Al-Farouq Aminu is injured so folks were wondering who would get the start in his place. It was this guy, Meyers Leonard:
Many have noted that Meyers looks a little lost out there, but he wasn't a bad option because he's one of the few Portland big men who have had any success guarding the beast that is Demarcus Cousins.
Early on, the Blazers looked solid, but then Boogie Cousins starting having his way on offense. Meyers and his man-bun gave it a shot, but Cousins, who ended the night with 33 points, was pretty much a wrecking crew out there. Here we see him and Meyers wrapped in a love embrace:
The crowd let out a big whoop when Coach Stotts made a surprise substitution and put in feel-good rookie Jake Layman during the first quarter. Layman has been a pleasant surprise in his very limited playing time, and tonight he looked good again, scoring 5 silky smooth points and dishing out a few assists to boot. More Jake please!
The game was tight at the half, with Blazers leading 62-57. Time to hit the hallways and check out fans in their Blazers gear:
And then there was this guy. He said he made this shirt "as a reaction to the election." Right on, man.
The second half was a real back and forth nail-biter. CJ McCollum busted out a few sweet moves and it looked like the Blazers were going to hold onto their slim lead, but then old Boogie Cousins went nuts and tied the game with 9 seconds to go. The ball ended up in the hands of Damian Lillard, of course, and many of us figured he'd end things right there. But he missed his shot and so the game went into overtime.
During the break they announced over the PA that I-5 and I-84 were closed down due to the protests going on outside. Many of the fans booed at that news, though it wasn't clear if they didn't like the protests or simply that fact that it might take a while to get home. Maybe it was both.
Overtime treated the Blazers well, and although things stayed close, CJ and Dame hit their shots when it counted, and none other than Meyers Leonard sunk two key free throws to put the Blazers in the lead for good. Lillard was the top scorer with 38 points, a total that made him the highest scoring Trailblazer ever in the first 10 games of the season. The dude is a young legend.
Shortly before the game ended they announced that the highways were back open, and everyone cheered. By the time we got outside the protests had moved on downtown and we could see a little chaos brewing across the river. It sure was nice to have something like a simple basketball game, and a victory, to distract us from greater troubles out in the real world.
Arthur Bradford co-hosts the live call-in show "Sex, Drugs and Basketball" Thursday nights 8-9pm on 107.1, XRAY.FM.