Portland Trail Blazers (3-0) to go for 4-0 season opener as they take on Chicago Bulls (1-1)
The Portland Trail Blazers (with their upright attitude and game plan), have had a wonderful 3-0 start to the NBA season. Prior to this, their 1999-2000 campaign opened with 4 straight wins and they would certainly love to match
those statistics in tonight’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls.
Their 1999-2000 campaign was an ideal start for the Blazers, who opened with 4 straight wins and went on to win 10 of their first 11 games that season. Rasheed Wallace, Brian Grant, Steve Smith and Damon Stoudamire did all the
dirty work in the Blazers’ favour that season, and this season it’s Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge.
In their last game on Saturday, the Blazers spoiled New York Knicks’ home-opener when they beat the New-look Knicks 100-95. The highlight of the night was the nine point deficit that the Blazers cleared in the last five-and-a-half
minutes to win their 3rd match in a row this season.
Roy scored 29 points in the game with Aldridge adding 20 points and 10 boards to make things look great for the Blazers. Andre Miller added another 19 points and 10 assists playing his role well. The close game did not erase the
memories of the first two double digit wins.
Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, had an average start this season when they lost to Oklahoma City Thunder 106-95 in the season opener. Their comeback in Saturday’s game against Detroit Pistons was simply outstanding. A 101-91
point win with All-Star Derrick Rose scoring a career-high 39 points brought smiles on the faces of the Bulls’ fans as they chanted MVP, MVP for the outstanding point-guard, who was having the time of his life. Rose also had 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
and 2 blocks for the Bulls. Joakim Noah scored 15 points and 17 rebounds helping Rose take the Bulls to victory. The fourth quarter belonged to Taj Gibson, who with his total of 11 points outscored the Pistons by a 34-9 point margin in the fourth quarter.
The confidence that Rose had became clear with his post-match statement: "We knew that we couldn't mess up. I think our defence stepped up a little bit; we were making them take shots they didn't want to take. They were fatigued,
we kept on running on them, and we got ourselves to the line."
For Bulls’ Rose and Blazers’ Roy, it is a more important game at a personal level since both of them talked about taking their games and teams to the next level.
Roy averages 25.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. His 29 points and six boards helped Blazers defeat the Knicks in their Saturday’s matchup. Rose is having a fun time in the season so far unlike his team. Every time he has the
ball in his hand, fans start chanting MVP. Noah not only helped him in the last game but also totalled 33 points and 36 rebounds in his first two games this season. Both Rose and Noah would have to bring their A-game to the court to put up such performances
against Blazers.
Blazers are missing a couple of big names, Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla, due to injuries; yet they have not allowed a single opponent to reach 100 points this season.
Noah, who seems in good form this season for the Blazers, struggled in the two games against Portland last season. He needs to look into his consistency this season if he wishes to be recognized alongside Rose. His last season
average of 10.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game is not inspiring enough.
The Bulls would wish for another exciting and entertaining performance from Rose after his gigantic 39 points in the last game. Blazers, on the other hand, would try their best to take this season opening to a 4-0 win-loss ratio.
If the Blazers manage to do this, they would probably rise up as the hottest team with a record much better than Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers this season. They have been under the radar for some time but suddenly they have
come forward as a very strong contender of being champions this season. Fans await the result of the Monday night matchup between the two teams.
Tags: