The Portland Trail Blazers (46-27) came out strong from the tip Saturday night, soundly defeating the Memphis Grizzlies (18-54) 86-66 in front of 20,680 at the Rose Garden.
“We wanted to lean on them all night,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “We wanted to make them shoot from the top and keep them out of the paint, where they could get easier shots.”
The win, coupled with a Suns loss earlier in the night, reduces Portland’s magic number to four games.
The Trail Blazers established their dominance early, getting ahead 22-12 on the second of two made free throws from Brandon Roy with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter. Roy finished the opening quarter with nine points, helping Portland to a 25-16 advantage after 12 minutes. Both lead changes in Saturday’s game happened in the first three minutes of the first quarter.
Portland began to pull away in the second quarter. Rudy Fernandez buried a 25-foot three-pointer with 2:46 remaining in the half, putting the Trail Blazers ahead 43-32. The home team hit the halftime locker room leading 48-36, having outrebounded their opponent 22-11.
“(Memphis) is a second shot team,” Roy said. “That was the key to the game, not giving them as many attempts offensively, and we did a really good job on that.”
Roy finished the opening half with 14 points. LaMarcus Aldridge collected eight points in the second quarter to finish the first half with 12 points.
“We knew (Memphis) was going to be tired,” Aldridge said. “We wanted to come out an put them down early, and then try and build on that.”
The Trail Blazers came into the second half intent on playing strong defense, and putting the game out of reach. Nicolas Batum put back an offensive rebound with 6:43 remaining in the third quarter, putting Portland ahead 59-40, and capping an 11-4 home scoring run. Portland held Memphis to 11 points in the second to last quarter of the evening, and entered the fourth quarter of the night with a healthy 68-47 lead.
Portland’s bench played out the final quarter of the night, with every player on the active roster seeing action, and only Michael Ruffin and Jerryd Bayless failing to score a point. The Trail Blazer’s achieved their largest lead of the night at 86-62 on a 21-footer from Channing Frye with 57.6 seconds remaining in the game.
Roy led all scores on the evening with 21 points, followed by Aldridge with 18 points. Greg Oden was the only other Trail Blazer to reach double figures, finishing his evening with 12 points. Portland’s rebound total nearly doubled that of Memphis; the home team finished with a 50-28 edge on the glass.
Memphis’ 66 points was an opponent season-low for the Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers finish out their home stand on Tuesday, March 30th against the Utah Jazz.
NATE MCMILLAN
“We wanted to lean on them all night. We wanted to make them shoot from the top and keep them out of the paint where they could get easier shots. I think it was one of our better defensive efforts. I knew from the start that they weren’t aggressive in attacking us. That was reflected by the fact that they didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half. Our goal was that we wanted to make them work to score and not let them get on a run where they would think they had a chance to get back in the game.
“I thought LaMarcus was really good. In some ways it was his best game of the year in terms of his reads and his kick-outs when they double-teamed. He made great decisions. In the future we’re going to need our bigs to do that if we are going to win. What LaMarcus is learning is not settling for a jumper, knowing when to attack the hoop and when he’s doubled knowing how to get the ball back out quickly. If he continues to play like this, he will be a very difficult to player to defend in this league.
“We’ll take Sunday off because Utah is coming in to close out the homestand and they’re always a load. We need to continue to take care of home court and these next games on the road are critical.”
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
“I was trying to go inside. I felt like their bigs were kind of slow so I ran the floor. The coach wanted us to pressure the ball. We tried to get after them since they were on a back-to-back. Our defense was better. It wasn’t easy but I think tonight we are better from playing those guys. It was good to help us get ready for the Utah game.”
• The Trail Blazers are now a season-high 19 games above .500 for the first time since 2002-03.
• Portland won its sixth consecutive game against Memphis, including four in a row at home.
• Portland’s 30-7 home mark is its best after 37 games since equaling that record in 1991-92.
• The Trail Blazers are now 19-4 against teams in the second game of a back-to-back ... Every opponent on Portland’s current four-game homestand comes to town for its second game in as many days.
• The Grizzlies’ 66 points marked a season low for Memphis and a Portland opponent … Memphis’ 47 points after three quarters set a new Trail Blazers opponent season low ... The Grizzlies scored 11 points in the third quarter, one more than a season low for a Portland opponent.
• The Trail Blazers brought down a season-best 21 offensive rebounds … Portland has pulled in 10-plus offensive boards in 12 straight games … The Trail Blazers held a 28-8 edge in second chance points and were only two shy of a season high in second chance points.
• Portland won by 20 or more for the ninth time this season, five more 20-point wins than the Trail Blazers totaled all of last season.
• Portland ran its record to 23-0 when leading at halftime at the Rose Garden … The Trail Blazers are 33-4 overall when leading at the break ... Portland is 20-2 when leading after the first quarter at home.
• Portland’s 22-rebound advantage marked its second-largest of the season … The Trail Blazers have now outrebounded their opponents by double digits in 19 games this season, including 13 games with a plus-15 advantage or better ... Memphis had just four rebounds in the second quarter.
• Portland led by nine or more points after the first quarter for the 10th time this season (seventh at home).
• The Trail Blazers are now 29-6 against teams with below .500 records.
• Rudy Fernandez has made a three-pointer in all 35 of his appearances at the Rose Garden.
• Joel Przybilla has grabbed double figures in rebounds 29 times and led the team in boards 37 times.
• Memphis did not make a three-point shot, the first time a Trail Blazers opponent has not done so.
• The Grizzlies tied a Trail Blazers opponent season low with 12 assists.
• The Grizzlies did not attempt a free throw in the first half.
• O.J. Mayo’s team high 12 points is the fewest Portland has allowed all season to an opponent’s leading scorer.
• Hamed Haddadi tied a career high with seven points and made a career-best five three throws.
