LaMarcus Aldridge’s Lights-Out 4th Quarter Lifts Blazers Over the Suns

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Friday, March 27, 2015

Andrew R Tonry, GoLocalPDX Contributor

BLAZERS 87, SUNS 81

Scoring 10 straight points in the game's final minutes, LaMarcus Aldridge single-handedly carried the Blazers over the Suns in Phoenix, Friday, 87-81. 

Aldridge was simply marvelous, almost unconsciously on, and there was nothing the Suns could do. Possession after possession He posted up on the left block, caught the entry pass, dealt with the double-teams and made jumper after turnaround jumper.

It was a bookend performance for Aldridge, who scored 12 points in the final period and 12 points in the first. He finished with 27 points and nine rebounds.

The Trail Blazers were much the same--they dominated the first and fourth quarters and were feeble in the middle two. 

Outside of Aldridge (and Robin Lopez) the Blazers starters couldn't buy a bucket. As a team, Portland shot only 40% from the field, 27% from three and an astoundingly poor 44% (8-of-18) from the free throw line.

To be sure, with numbers like those--particularly the free throws--Friday's game in Phoenix could've easily been another supremely disappointing loss.

Instead, though, for about two minutes late in the final period, Aldridge went wild, and saved Portland from not only a dispiriting defeat, but from losing their eighth-straight game on the road.

They return home to host the Nuggets Saturday night at Moda Center.

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A	LaMarcus Aldridge Aldridge simply carried the Blazers down the stretch. He might've been cold in the second and third quarters, but it doesn't matter. He got them the win. He finished with 27 points and nine rebounds.
C-	Nicolas Batum Another offensive stinker for Batum, who took only six shots and made just one. His measly five points are buoyed somewhat by nine rebounds and five assists, but diminished by four turnovers.
A-	Robin Lopez Against the physical Suns, his former team, Lopez was stout. He netted 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and grabbed 10 boards. He struggled from the free throw line, though, making just 2-of-5.
D+	Arron Afflalo Afflalo who? Again, the newest Blazer was mostly missing on the court, Friday. He made just 2-of-6 shots from the field, and none of his three attempts from beyond the arc. He finished with four points and four rebounds.
C-	Damian Lillard Lillard could hardly make a shot, Friday, where he went 4-of-15 from the field and 2-of-6 from distance. But he orchestrated the offense down the stretch in a way that doesn't show up in the stats--in other words, he stopped everything and got Aldridge the ball in the right place at the right time. Lillard finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

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