Blazers stay unbeaten at home with destruction of Heat

The Portland Trailblazers ran their home record to a perfect 6-0 with a 38 point annihilation of the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.  Before a crowd in excess of 20,000 at the Rose Garden Arena, Portland scored a season high 37 first quarter points en route to a lopsided 106-68 victory.  Portland led 37-17 after one quarter and 59-40 at the half.   The Blazers punished the Heat by a 30-11 margin in the fourth quarter to produce the final margin.

Six Blazers scored in double figures, led by reserve forward Channing Frye with 17 points.  LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points, Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw scored 15 each while Rudy Fernandez contributed 13 points.  Greg Oden had another double/double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandon Roy chipped in 8 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.  After the game, Roy quickly dismissed talk of a Rose Garden winning streak to instead emphasize the toughness of the NBA’s Western Conference:

"We're not thinking about a streak. We're trying to win every home game when we're in this building. We've got to win games because the West is tough and we've got to win as many home games as possible."

While Roy maintained his “game face”, Portland coach Nate McMillan took time to praise his team after their 9th win in 12 games:

"I thought the guys played great tonight. It was beautiful basketball from start to finish. I liked the unselfish way to we played."

Michael Beasley led the Heat with 14 points as Portland held the NBA’s #2 scorer, Dwayne Wade, to a season low 12 points.  It was also the Heat’s lowest point output as a team this season and Miami coach Erik Spoelstra made no excuses:

"From the beginning of the game, all the way through, they outclassed us and outplayed us.”

Of particular significance was Portland’s dominance on the boards, outrebounding Miami 55-28 including a 19-10 advantage in offensive rebounds.  The Blazers also had 31 assists to 14 for the Heat. 

Despite the team’s impressive victory and solid play of late, LaMarcus Aldridge underscored the importance to remain focused on the long view:

"It's only six games so far, and we have 35 left. We have to continue to get better every game if we want to become one of the elite teams.”

After a Friday night contest with New Orleans, Portland will hit the road for a tough five game stretch traveling to Detroit, New York, Washington, Boston and Toronto.  Miami, meanwhile, continues a west coast swing in Phoenix on Friday night before road games against the L.A. Clippers, Golden State and Utah.