The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night, 135-118. While the result and final score was impressive, perhaps the most exciting development for Blazers fans was seeing nearly a full 48 minutes of high-flying, fast-action basketball from the guys from Rip City. The Blazers punished every half-hearted rebound, lazy pass, and slow retreat back to the defensive end with devastating results.
The Blazers got off to an electric start, pushing the pace and shooting well from deep. They were able to build a seven-point lead in the first quarter, but it wouldn’t last. Philadelphia switched to a man-to-man defense, gumming up the works a bit and forcing five turnovers. The 76ers erased their deficit to take a 31-29 lead into the second.
In a bit of a role-reversal, Philadelphia built an eight-point lead in the second quarter, but Portland came storming back to finish the half down only one, 65-64. Not a bad score line considering the Blazers finished the half with 11 turnovers.
In the third quarter the game was decided. Once Portland stopped coughing up the ball everything started to click. Toumani Camara couldn’t miss, Deni Avdija did his best Deni Avdija impression, and the Blazers stormed out to an insurmountable lead. Portland outscored the Sixers 49-22 in the third to finish the quarter up 113-87. Just a relentless stretch of high-tempo basketball for which Philadelphia had no answer.
The fourth quarter provided no scares for the home team, and they held the 76ers at bay without much discomfort.
The Blazers shot 48.5% from the field, an impressive 40.7% from deep, and racked up an impressive 20 offensive rebounds. Critically, they committed only four turnovers for the entire second half. Toumani Camara went for 30, Deni Avdija finished with 26.
Here are some instant reactions to tonight’s game.
Toumani Camara had a career night. Whenever the Blazers needed bucket, Camara was there at the arc knocking down a triple. He went 8-10 from deep, 2-2 from the free throw line, and shot an amazing 83.3% from the field. His 30 points set a new career high for the third-year Belgian.
It wouldn’t be a great Camara game with some stellar defense as well. He often guarded the electric Tyrese Maxey. While Maxey scored 30 as well, he needed eight more field goal attempts and four more free throws to do it. He was also held to percent 22.2% from deep. Maxey got his points, but he was made to work for every one of them.
There is so much to choose from here, but it’s impossible to ignore the second-chance points. Indicative of the hustle Portland showed all night, the Blazers nearly doubled the 76ers total with 30 second-chance points to 16 for the Sixers.
Remember the early season pace, effort, and defense that made Blazers’ fans hearts flutter? That brand of basketball was back tonight. Full-court pressure, fast breaks, offensive rebounds, alley-oops, blocked shots, it was all on display, especially in the electric third quarter. They didn’t execute with precision for 48 minutes — those dastardly first half turnovers — but my goodness, if the night of electric, heart-pounding basketball are a look into the crystal ball of the Blazers future, Rip City is going to be a mighty fun place to be when the future becomes the present.
The Blazers hit the road for a two-game road trip, starting with a Wednesday battle against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 5:00PM Pacific. They’ll then head to Salt Lake City for a Thursday matchup against the Utah Jazz before the long All-Star break.