Okay class, here we go. The best of seven series is tied at 1-1. Game Three, in Houston, is starting at 6:30 PM, on KGW (Channel 8) and ESPN. I have the feeling that we are about to get absolutely crushed, but I am holding out hope that our team can continue the great momentum started by my cheering on Tuesday! I will be live-blogging it in the comments, though I am not exactly sure what sort of superstitions to follow, considering the last time I did my walk to Subway resulted in the catastrophe that was Game One. Follow along and comment away! Let's do this thing! :-)
Fired up and ready to go! KGW is showing footage of people filing in to Pioneer Courthouse Square for a viewing party.
ReplyDeleteI decided that in order to most help the Blazers in the workmanlike mentality they are going to need tonight to win, I had to make my own dinner. So, tuna melts it was! Basically, it's grilled cheese with some tuna in the middle. Serve with milk, and yum! My cats got super excited when they heard the can of tuna being opened, hehe.
Mike Rice tells us that the X-Factor tonight is the "Twin Towers" of Joel and Greg, playing together. Somehow, I really doubt that both of them playing at once is going to make the difference. As I said in the post, I am not at all confident about tonight.
Just texted Scott his feelings, and he put the Blazers odds tonight at 10-15%. I will be happy if it is close to start the fourth.
Of course, having the game available on two channels begs the question: which one to watch?
ReplyDeleteLast time, I actually went back to the local broadcast, because the court colors looked really weird on ESPNHD. Plus, you can't go wrong with the homer announcers. Let's see what ESPN brings tonight. The Cleveland game needs to end already, so this one can start!
Guessing game: how many times is Tony Luftman going to say, "back out to Mike, Mike, and Rebecca" tonight? I say 5.
ReplyDeleteJust as I posted that comment, he did it! Oh wow, predictability is great.
ReplyDeleteESPN has a countdown clock that says there is six minutes until tip off. Really? A whole 15 minutes after you said it would? I do not understand this. Why is there never a correct starting time for the game, before the game?
ReplyDeleteMike Rice's keys to the game:
ReplyDeletePoints in the Paint (agreed)
Roy outscore Yao (An incredibly dumb one - if Yao outscores Roy in this game, we are going to lose 99% of the time. Why even mention it?)
Foul line (What about it? That's a key? The foul line? Do you mean, getting to the foul line? Because I don't think the foul line actually plays basketball...)
Once again, we will see!
Oh wow! ESPN has Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy working this game! I am definitely going for ESPN, even though Mike Breen isn't working the three man booth with them tonight.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! The Blazers won the tip? Wow!
ReplyDeleteUh oh... watch out Houston. If LaMarcus is hitting that long jumper all night, oh boy...
ReplyDeletePortland's rim is so miked up that it rings whenever the ball hits it.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Roy is good at basketball.
24 second violation, Houston. I have to say, I really like the Blazers defense right now.
ReplyDeleteThe technical on Joel was ridiculous. 9-6 Houston, 6:03 left in the first.
Note to Rockets fans: merely touching Yao is not a foul.
ReplyDeleteOkay. 15-8 Houston, 1:36 left in the first. Brandon with two fouls (and had one good play before going out). The Blazers defense is fine, but Houston's is on absolute lock down right now.
ReplyDeleteNotes after one quarter, 21-15 Rockets.
ReplyDeleteSteve Blake is getting abused by Aaron Brooks. This is not good. Though I disagree with Van Gundy's statement that if Houston wins the point guard battle, Portland will have a very hard time winning the series.
The refs are having a big impact on the game. No more to say.
Brandon has to realize that he can't do it all himself. In particular, that second foul was terrible - he was trying to lead a one (him) on four (Houston) fast break. Calm down man.
Like the Blazers defense. Just happen to think Houston is playing defense much better.
Glad we got a Channing Frye siting, and he actually hit his long jumper.
Nate McMillian says the the Blazers are rushing some things and that the team needs to calm down and set screens. Great. Bill Simmons had a great column about the lack of value to these in between quarter coach interviews this week: Bill Simmons: We Now Interrupt This Coach.
ReplyDeleteBecause it is going to irk me for the rest of the night, but I can't correct it because I already made another post, that should be a Channing Frye "sighting" - not siting. Usually, he is sitting, so I got confused. ;-)
ReplyDelete34-22 Houston, 7:54 left, Portland forced to call timeout. This is not good. Not good at all. When Channing Frye is your main offensive weapon, you have a problem.
ReplyDeleteAhem. Portland needs to start getting some calls. It is completely possible that this is just not their year for that - the refs know that they are a young, inexperienced team.
Ugh...
ReplyDeleteVan Gundy had an excellent point about Portland's defense being geared around letting Houston's Power Forwards have open jumpers. Yep. Scola and Landry are combining to shoot 9-15 for 19 points, which one point less than HALF of Houston's total.
ReplyDelete40-25, Houston, 5:35 left in the half. If the Blazers don't mount a rally right now, this game is over.
Ouch. ESPN graphic: Roy and Aldridge have 38 combined minutes and 4 combined points. Bad times.
ReplyDeleteRight after that, Roy with the And-1. 43-32, 2:00 left in the half.
48-37, Rockets at the half. That score doesn't look nearly as bad as our offense did during those 24 minutes. We got NOTHING. I'm confident the Blazers are going to get it going on that end eventually tonight, but the question is, will they be able to do both come back and play defense at the same time?
ReplyDeleteKeys to the Game update:
ReplyDelete14-26, Houston is killing us in the paint.
8-7, Roy up over Yao.
Don't want to talk about free throws.
Roy and Alridge combine to shoot 4-15 in the first half. Terrible.
mwahahahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteportland is losing
hopefully rockets win
Finally a good run for the Blazers. Down by 10, 54-44 with 6:33 left in the third. That looked a whole lot easier. Nice to get the calls there too. Timeout Houston. Big few minutes coming up.
ReplyDeletedid you see the picture of the girl wearing the blazers jersey
ReplyDeleteshe was from the philippines
thats amazing that people in manila are blazer fans
WOW! Back to back to back HUGE dunks for the Blazers! Oden x2, then LaMarcus. Portland cut it to 7, now Houston up 9. 4:07 left in the third.
ReplyDeleteThis game is REALLY heating up...
ReplyDeleteI am not sure it is possible to love a man more than I love Rudy Fernandez.
ReplyDeleteYES BLAZERS! Lead cut down to seven going into the final quarter. Just an EXCELLENT end to the third. Our shooters are getting hot because of Greg getting in the lane and being aggressive. If we continue to play this way, it is going to be a great finish.
I said before the game that I wanted to be close headed into the fourth. Down seven after trailing by as much as seventeen is not exactly "close," but I will take it.
COME ON FELLAS!
78-69, Houston up, 3:20 left in the game. Wow. This suddenly got very interesting, very fast. Shane Battier hit an absolute dagger of three for the Rockets a little bit ago. It is going to be hard to overcome that. Brandon is having a terrible night. He is 4-14 from the field.
ReplyDeleteFouls: Portland 21. Houston 14.
Brandon scores with 2:37 left in the game. It is his first field goal of the second half. We are not going to win.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I take that back. 1:26 left, Portland down 78-74. We can definitely win this, with some defense and Roy starting to spark.
ReplyDeleteThis is killing me. 81-77 Houston with 19.7 left. It's like a really slow death. We have not led since the opening minutes of the game. Brandon has fouled out. This is no fun.
ReplyDeleteRUDY!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHUGE THREE!!!
Portland only down one! 16.9 left, 81-80 Houston!
And... Steve Blake just lost the game for us. Sorry to say it, but that was an absolutely atrocious shot.
ReplyDeleteBattier ices the game.
Blake hits a three. 85-83, 2.7 left. Aaron Brooks to make extra sure.
Ugh. Brooks misses the second foul shot, which would have given the Blazers one last shot, except that he got his own miss (the smallest guy on the court) and dribbles out the clock.
ReplyDeleteWow. That was an insane second half. The Blazers toyed with me for the entire time! At least Houston had to expend a lot of energy, and Brandon Roy is most likely going to be a man possessed on Sunday after that performance. Steve Blake, too.
Final score: 25 to 16, Portland. Wait, that is fouls. My bad.
86-83, Houston wins it and goes up 2-1 in the series. Bad times. Not a fun way to lose.
Sunday, just like Tuesday, will be the determinant if we have a series or not.
Dang we were so close. Brooks is just a little fast kid out there. We might have gotten a chance if he didn't get the ball after his free shot.
ReplyDeleteby the way, I don't know if you watch South Park Mr. Fritz but there new episode is about the Somolian pirates and it was really funny. If you wanna check it out here's the link:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1307/
Thuy,
ReplyDeleteHaha! Thanks for the link, I will have to check it out when I get the time. Glad you were watching the game!
YES
ReplyDeleteROCKETS WON
BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME BLAZERS
Dang a big loss tonight. why did roy keep shooting even though he sucked. the should of given to rudy. good night
ReplyDeleteAbe,
ReplyDeleteThe big one was the Steve Blake shot in transition that he airballed at the end of the game. Why take that shot? Why not wait a second and give it to the ultra hot hand in Rudy?
Anyway, I know that you wanted an English translation of the Koran for your project. Here is a link to one: University of Michigan - The Koran.