blaze Page 16 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Kawhi Leonard, Who Is The Future, Ran The Blazers Off The Floor
If you didn't catch any of the Spurs' series-clinching win over the Blazers last night—yet another perfectly orchestrated, Spursian blowout—the only highlight you really need to watch is the one above....
Damian Lillard Going To The Rim Makes No Damn Sense
Kevin Harlan has the best jump-stop in the NBA. The timing is generally easier; spend enough years talking through NBA games and you'll get a feel for the cadence of a pick-and-roll, or how to ride out the crowd noise after a big play. But Harlan is great because when that timing gets thrown off and...
There Was A Snake In The Blazers' Locker Room Before Tonight's Game
The Portland Trail Blazers discovered an unpleasant surprise in the AT&T Center locker room before Game 2 against the Spurs....
Rockets Fans Go Through Emotional Wringer Of Parsons And Lillard Shots
This is heartbreaking and absolutely hilarious. These guys are so fired up for the Chandler Parsons shot that gave Houston the momentary lead in last night's game that it makes the reference-room silence after the Lillard buzzer-beater devastatingly funny. Unless you're a Rockets fan, obviously. ...
Front-Row View Of Damian Lillard's Buzzer-Beater Is Awesome
This Vine is awesome. It's a court-level view of Damian Lillard curling around a screen, clapping for the ball, and sinking the game-winning buzzer-beater from behind the arc against Houston last night. Everything about it is perfect. The angle, the clapping, the shot, the buzzer and mostly, the cro...
Lillard Buzzer-Beater Delivers Portland To First Series Win Since 2000
Damian Lillard hit a buzzer-beating three to give the Trail Blazers a 99-98 win over Houston, Portland's first series win in the NBA playoffs in 14 years....
For Real Though, We Need To Talk About Thomas Robinson's Block
I, like most basketball fans, have been thinking about last night's game between the Rockets and Blazers pretty much all day. But out of all the amazing shit that happened in that game—Wes Matthews torpedoing the ball and the win out of Patrick Beverley's hands; that brief stretch when Nic Batum, D...
Blazers Win In Overtime, Mo Williams Wants To Fight Someone
The Rockets and Blazers went to overtime for the third time this series tonight and Portland beat Houston 123-120 in the extra session. The Blazers now lead the series 3-1. ...
Kevin Harlan With That Lean
Kevin Harlan expertly gives the world a better view of the Cosby-sweatered gentleman sitting behind the TNT booth during a break in the action between the Blazers and Rockets in Portland. Thanks, Kevin Harlan. ...
LaMarcus Aldridge And His Jumper Are Here To Torment
Here's how good LaMarcus Aldridge has been against the Rockets in the first two games of their playoff series: When I first saw this obviously fake and joke-y shot chart on Twitter this morning, my first thought wasn't, "Haha what a silly and stupid thing that is." It was, "Yep. Looks about right."...
Terry Stotts, Reinvented: How A Retread NBA Coach Became Cutting Edge
Players get better, and players get worse. This is a fundamental truth, and an arc we've always understood, analytics or not, as part of the fabric of not just sports, but performance and ability in general. Sometimes you get better at your job, sometimes you fall off. But we don't really look at co...
It's So Hard To Escape The Blazers
It's a question that we've asked before, and after falling to the Blazers in overtime last night, it's one that the Rockets are probably asking themselves a lot this morning: How the hell do you beat the Blazers?...
LaMarcus Aldridge Keeps Appearing On <em>Portlandia</em>
The sketch above—starring the Portland Trail Blazers—is set to appear in tomorrow night's episode of Portlandia. Inasmuch as I am the exact target audience for this bonkers cross-promotion between a professional basketball team and an IFC sketch comedy show, I approve....
The Blazers' First-Ever Tweet Is Just So Sad
To celebrate its upcoming birthday, Twitter has launched a tool that lets you plug in a username and it'll show you the first tweet on that timeline. Everyone's doing it for themselves, but the real fun is in searching others. Some brilliant person put in the @trailblazers. It's depressing:...
Thomas Robinson's Block Sends Out Shockwaves Of Awesome
Here's a good example of a thing that is particularly cool about the NBA: the way one spectacular play can set off a chain reaction of events that crescendos with an entire arena losing its collective mind....
Pissed-Off Kevin Durant Is The Best Kevin Durant
Not long ago, we wondered how any NBA team was supposed to beat the Portland Trail Blazers. Last night, we got our answer: put Kevin Durant on the other team, and make him angry....
Robin Lopez Has Some Mysterious Beef With The Raptors' Mascot
Willamette Week has a pretty great interview with Blazers center Robin Lopez, one of the smarter and funnier guys in the league. It's well worth your time, but I want to draw your attention to one cryptic exchange:...
How The Hell Do You Beat The Blazers?
The highlight from last night was Batum hitting a three to send the game to overtime (on a nice little double-screen play drawn up by Terry Stotts), but the memorable thing about the Blazers' 116-112 overtime win against the Clippers last night was how much stuff went wrong for them, and how little...
Damian Lillard Takes Boys And Girls Club On Surprise Shopping Spree
Trailblazers star Damian Lillard treated some members of the Portland Boys and Girls Club to a surprise shopping spree at Toys 'R Us last night, and it was the coolest thing. Just look at how happy this little kid is!...
Damian Lillard And Kyrie Irving Are Why NBA League Pass Exists
It's games like last night's heart-stopper between the Trailblazers and the Cavaliers that remind basketball fans just how spoiled they are. In an era that's blessed by the presence of megastars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, it's silly to think that there's a whole secondary tier of stars who...