Trail Blazers-Pistons: Travis Outlaw Returns to Fourth-Quarter Heroics

Drew Barton by Analyst Written on January 08, 2009
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The names are impressive. Brandon Roy. Rasheed Wallace. Richard "Rip" Hamilton. 

And those are just the guys who did not play in this game. The guys who did play weren't half bad either. 

Allen Iverson has had a Hall of Fame career and isn't done yet. LaMarcus Aldridge is doing damage down on the blocks to go with his silky smooth mid-range jumper. Rodney Stuckey has shown enough to make trading away Chauncey Billups seem like a good idea.

Tayshaun Prince and Travis Outlaw are outstanding role players who fill key functions on their respective teams. Greg Oden is showing some flashes of developing an offensive game to go along with his defensive presence.

With all that talent, it seemed like a pretty good game might break out. 

Instead, we were treated to a slow-paced game that looked much worse in person than the shooting percentages of 50 and 48.5 would indicate. That had a lot to do with the Pistons getting off just 72 shots and the Blazers going six better (worse?) by hoisting just 66 shots. 

It got worse. From the charity stripe, the Pistons managed just 56 percent, while Portland was marginally better but still embarrassing at 63 percent. 

The third most entertaining portion of the game occurred outside th

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written on January 08, 2009 Game Recap

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