BLAZERS RIP THUNDER BEHIND ALDRIDGE’S ‘DOUBLE/DOUBLE’

The Portland Trailblazers continued their torrid play down the stretch on Friday night as they routed the host Oklahoma City Thunder 107-72.  The victory was the Blazers’ seventh in ten games and moved the team into 4^th place in the NBA Western Conference.  The team has set their sights higher, however, as they’re only one game behind San Antonio for third place and 1 ½ games behind second place Denver.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 35 points and a career high 18 rebounds.  Brandon Roy scored 14 while Steve Blake contributed a ‘double/double’ with 14 points and 10 assists.  The Thunder struggled on offense all night long, and their paltry ‘high score’ totals reflect this:  Kevin Durant led the team with 13 points, Jeff Green added 12 and Shaun Livingston contributed 10 off the bench as the only Thunder players to score in double digits.  For the game, OKC shot a woeful 35.5% from the field as the Blazers won their fourth straight game by 20 points or more.

After the game, Aldridge commented that the Blazers’ recent run of solid play was a sign that the NBA’s youngest team was rapidly maturing:

"It just shows that we are growing up. I think that this team is coming together. Guys are growing up, guys are getting better and I think this is the perfect time to do it."

Portland is on the verge of clinching their first playoff berth since 2003 and the end of the ‘JailBlazer’ era.  Aldridge noted that the team had loftier goals than merely making the postseason:

"That'd be great, but we still have work to do. We don't want to let down. We want to try to get better."

Blazers’ coach Nate McMillan was obviously pleased with the outcome, but hoped his team could maintain their intensity down the stretch:

"We're playing good basketball. I think we have a little bit of a rhythm. But it's still for us finishing strong. We've been able to win four games, but we want to finish the season off strong."

‘Finishing strong’ will require that the Blazers continue playing well on the road.  Portland will travel to Houston on Sunday, Memphis on Tuesday and San Antonio on Wednesday.  The Thunder will host Indiana on Sunday and San Antonio on Tuesday before heading to Denver for a Wednesday night game against the Nuggets.