Portland defeat Detroit by a huge margin of 100-78
After been treated as a “Balloon animals” by the Lakers, the Portland Trail Blazers bounced back with a great victory over Detroit Pistons at Rose Garden, Portland.
The highlight of the night came with just more than 20 seconds remaining in the game, when Rudy Fernandez drilled a 3-pointer to get the Blazers to the century mark and ensure free chalupas for the fans.
The 20,556 fans at Rose Garden boomed in elation. Although supporters were not likely to be happier than the team they came to cheer.
Blazer’s star performer
It was a fun night for Marcus Camby, who collected seven points, eight rebounds, a season-high six assists and two steals for his team in just 30 minutes.
Quotable
Portland point guard Andre Miller said. "It's like that sometimes. We made an effort to not rely on jump shots, because when the legs start getting heavy and you start missing them, (the opponent) can get back into games. We did a better job of pushing the
ball as the game went on".
"We played good defense first. We got some steals, some blocked shots, and that got us into transition for easy baskets. When you run, that's fun", said Portland forward Nicolas Batumi.
Smart move
Portland’s coach, Nate McMillan, gave Rudy Fernandez big minutes, and the Spanish guard rewarded him with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 27 minutes off the bench.
Poor move
Blazer rookie, Armon Johnson, had a breakaway in the fourth quarter as he tried to pass back to a teammate instead of shooting it due to which the ball was intercepted. As a result, McMillan seemed admonished, he said that lay the ball in and play the game.
Notable
An awesome 22-point margin victory for Portland is the largest of the season.
Odd performance
Detroit's Richard Hamilton looked a lot older than his 32 years, scoring only four points on 2-for-7 shooting.
Game story
LaMarcus Aldridge finished with a game-high 19 points and 17 rebounds and Nicolas Batum supplied 17 points as the Portland Trail Blazers easily topped the Detroit Pistons in all of the four quarters.
Rudy Fernandez headed the reserve by adding 13 points and Brandon Roy ended up with 11 points in the win for Portland.
Rodney Stuckey finished with 17 points and Austin Daye added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons.
Portland shot from the field remained 70 percent in the first quarter to take a 36-25 advantage after 12 minutes of play.
Charlie Villanueva added eight points in the second session as the Pistons trimmed the Blazers' lead to 53-45. Portland shot 28.6 percent from the field in the quarter and committed six costly turnovers to allow Detroit to inch closer.
The Blazers started the third on a 6-0 run, highlighted by Batum’s driving dunk and jumper, to extend the lead to 14. With just 5:25 remaining, Marcus Camby's three-point play put the advantage at 69-52.
Detroit made the game manageable in the final minutes of the third session, outscoring Portland 11-5 down the stretch and were trailing 74-63 heading into the final quarter.
Blazers played the fourth quarter around the court with full energy. Dante Cunningham added 10 points in the fourth for Portland, and the Blazers extended their lead to 25 points in the final 12 minutes of the last session.
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