BLAZERS WIN! BLAZERS WIN! On the road against the league leading Chicago Bulls, the gutted Blazers played with heart for the first time in two months, and got the win.
Derrick Rose was injured though.
Portland managed to stay competitive in the first half against a pussyfooting Chicago Bulls team. The second half saw a pair of pivotal threes by Matthews and Crawful turn momentum around. Portland went on a massive run in the final period, limiting the Bull to 10 points, and making Thibodeau's Bulls 49-1 at home after leading through three quarters.
Wesley Matthews, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum and even Raymond Felton led the way for Portland in this one. However, the game ball went to new coach Kaleb Canales, whose creativity (playing 10 players in the first half, going small in the second half) and spirit is refreshing after six and a half years of Nate-ball.
Portland is three games out of a playoff spot with 22 games left. The top 8 is not untenable with the Nuggets coming off a trade of their long-time leader Nene and the Rockets' tendency to finish 9th every season. However, it's likely that this game was a flash in the pan (Rose wasn't even playing). When Jonny Flynn gets plugged in to the lineup, tanking will likely resume.
For now though, WOOOOOOOO!
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