Batum propels Portland past the Hawks 97-77
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February 18, 2012, 10:54 pm
A short, hectic season with little preparation is sure to have its fair share of ups and downs. For Portland on Saturday night, it was a great 48 minutes in front of a sold out crowd from the Rose Garden. After falling to the Clippers on Thursday, the Trail Blazers bounced back to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 97-77 and ended a four game skid from the RG for the home team.
After holding the Hawks to just 12 points in the second quarter, the Blazers took a 52-37 lead into halftime and really never looked back after that. LaMarcus Aldridge returned from his ankle sprain and looked to be in mid-season form as he dominated his battles with Josh Smith to the tune of 19 points and 10 rebounds. This was exactly the style of basketball that the Portland fans had been waiting for since their All-Star went out...
Joe Johnson shot just 8-of-17 in the game (3-of-9 from three) and was worn down a bit from some tough defensive matchups against the likes of Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum. Johnson finished with 19 points. Josh Smith actually posted one of his better games of the season with a near triple-double, he scored 14 points, dished out nine assists and grabbed down ten boards.
Atlanta looked good early as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Nate McMillan made a few adjustments to his offense and later bathed in the benefits as he found a way to attack the opposing zone. The Hawks last lead came at 13-11 early in the first, after that, it was all Portland.
Some other bright spots for the home team were Nicolas Batum’s 22 points thanks to some late game threes. Raymond Felton also bounced back from some poor games finishing with 14 points, eight assists, three rebounds and just two turnovers...
The good news for the Blazers is that this win snaps a six game losing streak to Atlanta as Portland looks to take some momentum into the All-Star break.
Head coach, Nate McMillan, spoke in the loker room after the game...
The Trail Blazers have two more games before the team gets a week off, they look to extend this run when the take on the Lakers on Monday, Feb. 20th from the Los Angeles and we’ll carry every moment live starting at 6:30 p.m. on your home of the Blazers, 750 The Game KXTG Portland.
