The Blazers arrived back in Portland riding high on an impressive 4-1 road trip. This season had nearly been written off, but with the arrival of "Nurkic Fever" things changed and our home team was dubbed the hottest NBA team in March by ESPN. On Tuesday they met up with the Milwaukee Bucks, another hot team fighting for playoff consideration. A win for the Blazers would have left them tied for the 8th and final playoff spot with the Denver Nuggets. But, alas, it was not to be. The Blazers were a little too sloppy and the Bucks were a little too strong. The Bucks won it 93-90 in a game that went down to the wire.
Things started off hot for the Blazers, but cooled down considerably when big man Jusuf Nurkic got into early foul trouble and had to sit halfway through the first quarter. The second quarter was a disaster as the Bucks outscored the Blazers 30-14 and took and 13 point lead at the half. The Bucks are a likable team, a sort of Midwest version of the Trailblazers. They're young and scrappy and occupy a "small-market" town, just like us. They also feature a charismatic all-star by the name of Giannis Antetokounmpo, known as "The Greek Freak" on account of the fact that he's from Greece and is freakishly graceful and quick for a guy nearly 7 feet tall. Antetokounmpo gave the Blazers trouble all night long, especially when our smaller guards were forced to match up against him. The Greek Freak has even won fans in Portland, like this guy, also from Greece, and proud of it:
Somehow we all knew the Blazers would mount a comeback. It was in the air. But first, let's check out a few of the fans spotted wandering the hallways during the break:
Cool couple!
Mother/Daughter!
Stylish couple!
And here's that dude with the flag again. He wasn't the only one waving a Greek flag, by the way. There were several others. Antetokounmpo is actually from Nigeria, but he was raised in Greece so they do deserve some credit:
The second half started a little slow for the Blazers, but things picked up as Lillard caught fire and it was 63-67 going into the fourth quarter. Excitement! Below we see the aforementioned Greek Freak going up high against the Bosnian Beast, Jusuf Nurkic:
The crowd got really into things after CJ McCollum hit a nice shot to take the lead 86-85 with 4:30 left in the game. It honestly felt like the Blazers were going to win this one. But they didn't. Those lanky Bucks kept coming at us, reaching their long arms over our smaller players and outscoring the home team 8-2 down the stretch. Lillard launched a three pointer at the buzzer which would have tied things up, but it was well off the mark and sadly, the good guys lost a close one.
The Blazers now sit in 9th place in the west, just one game behind the 8th place Denver Nuggets. Things could be worse. Afterwards it was quiet, but not despondent in the locker room. Meyers Leonard had recently gotten a new puppy and was showing off a pair of socks with her picture on them. Jusuf Nurkic took questions from reporters first and said it was a tough loss, but no one here was giving up. He went over to give Lillard a hi-five before exiting the arena.
The Blazers play the New York Knicks on Thursday night at home. Circle you calendar for march 28th though, when they host the Denver Nuggets. It's looking like the season will be on the line that night!