In Portland on Christmas day the Portland Trailblazers went up against the Northwest leading Denver Nuggets. I was fortunate enough to have tickets to this game, and what a game it was. My brother and I got to our seats early like I always like to do when I go to a game. Our seats were in the lower bowl behind the Nuggets bench. At one end of the court you could see Ty Lawson and Chris Anderson warming up for this Division match up. On the far side of the court the young rookie power forwards were warming up for the Trailblazers.
As people kept pouring into the Rose Garden my brother and I decided to get a tasty beverage. He went domestic with a Coors light while I went local with a Widmer Hefeweizen for just $1 more. We convened back at our seats and continued to enjoy warm ups. Soon
the lights went dim and we were listening to a great national anthem by a local saxophone player. The national anthem was over and the starting line ups were being announced. The crowd was very excited for this Christmas day game, especially after the hard, but successful road trip we just got back from(3-1).
The game started out very close, going bucket for bucket for most of the 1st quarter before the Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Anderson came up with a couple of blocks. At the end of the first quarter the Nuggets were leading 31-24. Brandon Roy was the only reason that the Blazers were staying in the game. The blazers played a tough 2nd quarter which ended with a Brandon Roy shot with 2.0 seconds left to bring the Trailblazers within 2. Roy ended the half with 25 points. The second half held much of the same as the first half. But the Blazers didn't rest all of their hopes on Brandon's shoulders. This half Martell Webster picked up the slack(11 points) along with the two point gaurds Steve Blake(17 points, with 5 three-pointers) and Andre Miller(14 points). The game staid tight until mid way through the 4th quarter. The blazers picked up their defense and went on a run that allowed them to take over the lead and hold the lead till the end of the game.
In the 4th quarter the blazers were able to edge the Nuggets by 13 points. In the end the blazers were victorious with a score of 107-96. The player of the game was Brandon Roy with 41 points, 6 Rebounds, and 4 Ast.
Overall the game was the closest game that I have been to in a long time. The Blazers 6th man(the home crowd) was really in attendance this game. Getting as loud as they could and standing for the final 3 minutes of the game. And as a sign in the stadium stated, Santa is really a Blazers fan after all.
