Trail Blazers vs Hawks Tuesday, 11/03/09 AT 07:00PM

Trail Blazers Get First Taste Of Eastern Conference

11/02/09

  1. Written by: Max Mandel



    The Portland Trail Blazers (2-2) will return to the friendly confines of the Rose Garden tomorrow night when they host the Atlanta Hawks (2-1). With the opening tip scheduled for 7:00 PST, the Trail Blazers will look to build on the gritty win they were able to secure against Oklahoma City on Sunday night.

    One of the common aspects of early season NBA games is the inconsistency on both ends of the court. While every team would love to build a consistent offensive attack, the key to winning games is to have high energy and effort on the defensive end of the court every night. After a lackluster defensive performance against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, which saw the Trail Blazers allow 111 points and 12 three pointers, Portland responded with a defensive performance of historical proportions. In the 83-74 victory on Sunday, the Thunder were limited to only 6 assists as a team, which is a franchise record for fewest assists allowed in Trail Blazers history. It certainly wasn’t a fun game to watch, but there is no doubt that head coach Nate McMillan would consider his 150th win with the team to be a thing of beauty.

    The way that Portland limited Kevin Durant and the Thunder offense is what made the rebound performance so impressive. Durant, who came into the game averaging 25 points per game, could find no rhythm or confidence against Martell Webster. Webster limited Durant to 3-21 shooting from the field, and only 16 points for the game. Greg Oden established himself in the post on both ends of the court and completely shutdown Nenad Krstic. The Thunder big man was scoreless on the night and grabbed only four rebounds. In his best performance of the young season, Oden scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, for his first double-double of the year.

    Atlanta will come to the Rose Garden looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season. After opening the season with home wins against Indiana and Washington, the Hawks were soundly beaten by the Lakers in Los Angeles. Last season, these two teams split the season series, with each team protecting their home court. The Trail Blazers have won 13 of the last 15 meetings against the Hawks, dating back to 1998. Portland’s run against Atlanta includes a franchise-long nine-game winning streak from 2002-05. Portland has defeated Atlanta in nine of the past 10 games played at the Rose Garden.

    Martell Webster will face another great test on the defensive end, as he will likely be matched up against Joe Johnson. Johnson has started this season strongly, and is averaging 23 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.7 boards per game. Although he is undersized for the center position, Al Horford is tenacious on the glass and can be tough to guard on the offensive end when he is able to establish position in the paint.

    After injuring his knee in the first half of the win over Oklahoma City, LaMarcus Aldridge remains questionable heading into the game tomorrow night. Nicolas Batum, Jeff Pendergraph, and Patty Mills remain out for the foreseeable future, with all three recovering from serious injuries. Mike Rice and Mike Barrett will call the game on Comcast SportsNet, while the game can be heard on 95.5 FM The Game. Antonio Harvey and Brian Wheeler will provide the commentary for the radio
  • Rate This
    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. 3
    4. 4
    5. 5
  • Add to Favorites
  • Blog This
  • Share
  • Flag

This photo: Aldridge vs Hawks / put this photo on your page

The latest from
Everybody
Lenwen76 commented on Is Greg Oden A Top 5 Center? / qualitytoys1 joined group Season Ticket Holders / FamousRoy created new forum topic 2010-2011 Blazers vs. 2003-2004 Pistons; Undeniable similarities / gary444 updated their fan statement / FamousRoy updated their scrapbook / darbpunk and MollySS02 are friends now / watsonsl98684 updated their Starting 5 / CuttingEdgeGuy uploaded new video / Bama Blazer uploaded new photo /