Game 35: Blazers 105, Warriors 89

As the injuries mount, so do the wins for the Trail Blazers. Against additional odds, the Blazers overcame having only eight active players and finished off the Warriors in Portland, 105-89.

At a certain point, I guess basketball is about who wants it more.

The Warriors came out hot in the first quarter tonight, piling up 41 points and making every shot they took.

But Portland, playing the Tortoise role in this adventure, worked their way back into the game and eventually dismantled Golden State with rebounding, clutch shooting and pure effort.

You already knew about all of the injuries, but over the New Year's Holiday, there was more bad news.

LaMarcus injured his ankle badly enough in the Clippers game to leave and not come back. He didn't play tonight and he will not play in Los Angeles on Monday.

Things got even more bizarre when it was determined that Steve Blake had Pneumonia. He had been playing under the weather, and was taken to the hospital.

He is currently slated to miss the next seven days as he remains in the hospital. Incredibly bad luck; speedy recovery to Steve.

The Blazers took on Golden State with only eight players available. That included our first two second-round draft picks and newly acquired Shavlik Randolph. The whole team played their hearts out.

Nate made a nice coaching decisions like playing the more athletic Dante Cunningham over Jeff Pendergraph.

Basically Brandon Roy continued to shine. His ridiculous night included big numbers and ultimate efficency.

He showed Monta Ellis that guarding BRoy is no easy task and you best not talk publicly about your accomplishments in only one game against our All-Star.

The Good

Like I said, Brandon Roy was tremendous in this game. At first glance, from a comparison perspective, you could say he and Monta Ellis had fairly similar numbers.

But if you look more closely, besides the 7 more points Brandon scored, he shot a most efficient 12 of 16 from the floor while Ellis took 25 shots and made 13.

Roy also committed only 1 turnover while Ellis had 6.  Brandon set the tempo, adjusted pace when necessary, and really was the ringleader who created this victory.

BRoy couldn't have done it without a huge game from Martell Webster and Andre Miller. Miller began the game with serious motivation and intent to get to the free-throw line. He was crafty and outstanding despite a relatively poor shooting night.

He made up for it at the line and in other facets of the game. Martell put up 21 points and 11 rebounds and really was that small forward piece we needed, at least for one night. He hit his threes, shot the ball efficiently and committed to the boards.

The rest of "The Replacements" contributed in their own ways. Dante Cunningham had a season high 10 rebounds and played well off the bench. His size and athleticism was a perfect match for this smaller Warriors team.

Juwan Howard had 12 big points, I felt like every single shot was huge. He seemed to hit that jumper when it mattered and helped keep hope alive in the third quarter.

Then Bayless, who despite a poor shooting night, managed a team high +20 in the +/- category. It may not mean much, but when he's not scoring, he's at least contributing defensively and staying active.

The Bad

The only bad thing about this game was the first quarter. Portland looked a little lost, unable to find a scoring option, and their defense was lackluster.

Really, if the Warriors wanted to take advantage of Portland's injury situation, they would have given the ball to Biedrins in the post. Instead, they shot jumper after jumper and eventually fell to the Blazers in Portland.

The Ugly

I can't stand Corey Maggette. He gets away with so much on the basketball court. I swear a whistle would blow before there was even contact, when he went drove into the lane.

He gets steps for whatever reason and it frustrates me to no end. This is probably one of my favorite videos involving him, it's ugly:

Box Score