Blazers @ Mavs

Another excellent win that leaves a sour taste in the back of my mouth. Late in the first quarter Pryzbilla fell on his right leg and is out. Best wishes and a speedy recovery for him! Also hopefully nothing will come of Roy's hurt shoulder late in the 4th quarter when he went up for a board. And we all hope Kidd's groin is a-ok.

Before I comment on the Mavs game Portland got a key road win in Miami to avenge their loss earlier at home but were unable to overcome Orlando. They travel to a recovering Spurs team tomorrow which will be another big test against their depleted lineup.

An excellent come from behind victory for the Blazers. In the 3rd it looked like they were toast. Without someone in the middle they were getting run down by Barea and on the offensive end were just taking jumpers (again). Some of the offensive fouls were a bit...uh leniant towards the Mavs (23 fouls to Por and 14 to Mavs) but if they lost they game it was due to not playing in the 3rd. I'm impressed with the gutso they seem to be playing with lately and if it took Greg Oden and the rest getting injured for it to come out...well at least it came out in the end.

Roy continued his 20+ streak and added 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 4 steals (=o!) and a block whilst Aldridge picked up the slack on the boards (12 including some huge offensive boards) and tossed in 19 points. As usual Aldridge scored in the first half and Roy in the second but great bench support by Bayless, Howard and Blake in the 4th (and some clutch FTs by Miller) to keep the Blazers ahead as the Mavs collpased on Roy. It was nice to see Aldridge backing it as well. I doubt he will ever be a bang it in guy but he has some very smooth post moves and I'd like to see him go to that more.

It was a poor shooting night for both teams (other than Dirk and Beara) but excellent defense (other than Portland's 3rd quarter) on both sides which was nice to see for Portland, especially with Pryzbilla out. I imagine he will be out for a while and it raises further the question of a trade. The Blazers have performed suprisingly well with all their injuries but really need some more depth down-low even if it's just for the year (like Orlando did with Alston...speaking of Orlando, Gortat might be available...). It would be excellent to come out of this road trip with a winning record but I will still be highly impressed if they finish 2-2. Very important game at home against Denver on Christmas day.

Hope the Blazer injuries begin to mend!