If the Blazers would have lost this game, I would have stopped watching all of their games for the rest of the season. Seriously. My temporary fanhood was on the line in this one. Not that anyone cared or was even aware of it, but it was. So I'm glad that Portland was able to pull this one out. It was quite the team effort, with Wesley Matthews leading the way with 31 points. Batum had 21, Aldridge had 20 and Fernandez even contributed 17 points off the bench. Andre Miller was dishing left and right and finished with 13 assists. It was an ugly win, but still a win nonetheless. Losing to the Cavs, as they are presently constructed would have been devastating. It would have cancelled out any kudos that the team deserved for that beautiful game last week against the Spurs.
Dave from Blazersedge summed up what sounded like a spectacle of a game for us: "Please do not make me dissect this game. Please. As someone who's been to Vegas a few times in July, I can say with some confidence that this was a Summer League game with bigger, faster players. Had the opponent been anyone but who they were Portland would have died a miserable death on the floor. As it was, the Blazers had to rely on abysmal defense on Cleveland's part followed by some inopportune offense negating Portland's own defensive deficiencies."
