How the Blazers Got the Road Win

I decided to catch the Blazers game against the Nuggets tonight in between all my regular NFL games that I watch (it was a bad day as the Seahawks lost). But I wanted to see for myself what all the buzz was about regarding the Blazers and their recent winning streak and they didn't disappoint winning 116-105. What was really evident to me was just how much more efficient the Blazers were and how inefficient the Nuggets were, both on offense and defense.

Defensively, the Blazers were far better. Though part of it had to do with the static offense of the Nuggets. I thought 2 of the keys were Brandon Roy's ability to beat his man off the dribble and penetrate the lane, which allowed Channing Frye to have plenty of open shots. Finally, Joel Pryzbilla was a monster on the glass. Here is the mini-highlight clip I put together,



The Blazers probably ran the 1-4 low about 10 times. Brandon Roy was either able to breakdown his defender and go all the way up, or drew the help side defense and kicked it out to Channing.

Joel had 6 points and I believe all 6 came off of offensive boards. You cannot underestimate offensive rebounding. The Blazers finished with 88 shot attempts, the Nuggets with 80, the Blazers won the offensive glass battle 18-11. Those 7 extra possessions at roughly 50% shooting added at least 6-7 more points.

Tomorrow morning, I will breakdown the re-vamped Duke Offense as they prepare to face Albany in their first action in over a week. For all of you dealing with the winter storms, take extra care and we'll see you tomorrow...