The Afterparty: Rockets/Blazers Game 1

A party full of post-game links and coverage to give you every over-analyzed angle in hopes of making your Blazers IQ that much greater.

The most positive thing I'll take away from last night's game is simply that the Blazers played pretty bad yet still managed to win. That's something you couldn't necessarily say in years past. If this team looked bad, the result was usually unfavorable. The great teams in the NBA can always find ways to win, even on a night when things aren't necessarily rolling in their direction and that's what "your" Portland Trail Blazers did last night.

I'm not about to start knocking Oden's offensive performance (which should come as a surprise) because I never really felt like he was a part of the gameplan offensively. The first quarter was to be Aldridge's, second quarter to see the second unit, third quarter to maintain, and 4th to see how this team can finish defensively. One thing I will say that impressed me with Greg was his 4th quarter aura. The game got tight and he didn't shy away or stumble over his own feet. In fact, he was the difference for a solid 2 minutes to close out the game.

And "hooray!" for Outlaw. Just wait until Thursday. And "booo!" for not finishing with Miller. And "eyes roll" at Houston for looking so bad.

I didn't see as many positives as MB. [Mike Barrett]
Definitely wasn't a masterpiece of a performance. [Jason Quick]
But not a horrible start right? [Blazer Banter]
The media row report goes deep. [Blazers Edge]
Enemy observations worth reading. [The Dream Shake]
Bowerz drops some lengthy opening night thoughts. [Bust a Bucket]
Your first set of "re-thoughts" for the season. [Rip City Project]
Canzano points out the obvious twice in one week. [John Canzano]
Recap. Box Score...

Highlights...

Having some video embedding/watching issues this morning, but you can check out the many highlights we grabbed from the live feed last night over at our YouTube channel. It definitely includes this massive facial that Martell threw down on Chuck Hayes. And we'll update this with highlights as soon as we can.

Tweet of the Game...

______________________________________________________________________ Make sure to follow us on Twitter and subscribe to Blaze of Love for instant updates!