Blazers Lose 3rd Straight Game

Friday, March 20, 2015

Andrew R Tonry, GoLocalPDX Contributor

MAGIC 111, BLAZERS 104

In Orlando Friday, the Blazers lost their third straight game, falling to the Magic 111-104.

The Blazers were beat on both ends of the court, but harangued mostly by their defense--or lack thereof.

In the fourth quarter, Portland simply couldn't get a stop. Down the stretch the Magic scored on eight consecutive possessions.

A number of those buckets came on second chance opportunities. The Magic grabbed a whopping 18 offensive rebounds.

Five of those came from Magic point guard Elfrid Payton, who notched a second consecutive triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Some of Payton's offensive rebounds were particularly impressive, as they came amongst a forest of Blazer defenders. Payton also added four steals.

Portland got similarly stout contribution from Aldridge, who scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

With his 10th rebound tonight, LaMarcus Aldridge passes Clyde Drexler and becomes Portland's all-time leader in rebounds (5,340).
— Trail Blazers PR (@TrailBlazersPR) March 21, 2015

But unlike Payton, who had two teammates who scored 22 points, Aldridge didn't get enough help.

The Blazers, who were outscored 36-23 in the final period, travel immediately to Memphis, where they take on the Grizzlies, Saturday.

More bad news for Portland: Chris Kaman left Friday's game with a strained shoulder and did not return. No word yet on his status for Saturday.

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A-	LaMarcus Aldridge Aldridge was a beast, Friday. He scored a game-high 31 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds. He also gave the Blazers a huge boost in the third quarter, where he scored 18 points. To be sure, though, his game was not perfect: his defense--like the rest of the Blazers'--was lacking.
C-	Nicolas Batum Batum managed 11 rebounds, but didn't take near enough shots, Friday. He attempted only five, of which he made two. When the Blazers aren't rolling, and aren't sharing the ball, that's when Batum needs to do more. There was no point forward to speak of, Friday.
C-	Robin Lopez Rising star Nikola Vucevic got the better of Lopez, Friday. Lopez scored 10 points, but grabbed only three rebounds. I think the Blazers might've been better off if those stats were reversed.
C-	Arron Afflalo Against Victor Oladipo, Afflalo couldn't not get it done on either end. He gave up buckets and couldn't score them back. Afflalo shot 3-of-9 from the floor to finish with seven points in 32 minutes.
C-	Damian Lillard Lillard had a few nice stretches, but failed to put together a complete game. He also failed to make any of his five three-point attempts, which left him shooting 6-of-15 from the floor. He finished with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists, and was generally outworked by Payton.