Steve Blake: 9 games, 197 minutes.
Joel Przybilla: 5 games, 35 minutes.
Michael Ruffin: 19 games, 254 minutes.
That is the total amount of playoff experience we have on the active roster of the Portland Trail Blazers, making Michael Ruffin our most experienced playoff player. Let’s not forget he’s only played 35 total minutes this season for the Blazers.
Not scared yet? Okay, how about this…
Thursday, November 6th, Houston 99, Portland 101. How? Brandon Roy’s incredible shot at the buzzer in overtime to sink a Houston team that just had Yao Ming hit a two point field goal and foul. The free throw put Houston up one with 0.8 seconds left.
Tuesday, February 24th, Portland 94, Houston 98. How? Ron Artest’s 21 points. Aaron Brooks’ 20 points. Luis Scola, 15 points and 11 rebounds. Sound familiar?
Sunday, April 5th, Portland 88, Houston 102. How? Houston out-rebounded Portland 42 to 34, out-shot Portland 51.4% to 45.2%, and just plain out-hustled Portland (Portland scoring 8 points off of Houston turnovers versus Houston’s 18 points).
Let’s not forget that Portland played their best basketball at the end of the season, winning 10 out of 11 games by an avarage margin of 19.2 points. What were some of those wins? Utah by 21, Lakers by 8, San Antonio by 12 (in San Antonio after overcoming a 19 point deficit), and Denver by 28. Heck, we took Cleveland into overtime. IN CLEVELAND.
Don’t try to tell me that Denver had nothing to play for so they “laid down” for Portland. Billups, Anthony, and Nene all played for over 30 minutes.
Not too bad going into the playoffs. And what about that one loss in those 11 games?
You guessed it. Houston by 14.
Let’s say we actually come back against Houston and win. What’s next? A rested Lakers team. A series in which we have to win in L.A., at least once, in order to advance. Something we haven’t done since February 21st, 2007. A game in which Jarrett Jack had 30 points and 7 assists, and Zach Randolph had 22 points and 9 rebounds. Both of which no longer play for Portland.
So Portland isn’t going to win a NBA Championship this year. So what do we look for in playoffs that are still in the first round but already headlining Lakers versus Cavaliers?
Experience. Something the young Portland team is getting plenty of.
Game 1: Yao Ming goes 9 for 9 leading all scorers with 24 points. Game 2: Portland adjusts and holds Yao to 11 points. Despite Aaron Brooks going 9 for 12 from the field, including 4 for 5 from beyond the arc, Portland holds on for the win. The Blazers continued to make their adjustments in Game 3 by holding Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks to a combined 5 for 18.
These are moves that experienced veterans do in the playoffs. They acknowledge their weaknesses, and they adjust.
A lot of analysts predicted Portland to win in 7, claiming it’s all about the home team.
The home team isn’t going to win every game, but I do expect it to go to 7.
Keywords: Portland Trail Blazers Houston Rockets
