Seattle Stymie Portland In Potential Play-Off PreviewPreview |
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Kevin Durant wants Portland to know, he is ready
for them in the first round if Seattle faces them13 April, 2010PORTLAND (AP) – There was a lot riding on this game and
Kevin Durant knew it. After coming off an emotional 110-109 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in which Durant hit a game winning jumper, the Seattle Stealth handled the Portland Trailblazers with shocking efficiency, ease, as well as rock-solid defense.
Durant and his guys knew that a win in Portland would pull them closer to the Houston Rockets and a chance at stealing the third seed instead of staying in their current position which would lead to a first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. If the Stealth were to be successful in etching their names as third seeds in the Western Conference playoff bracket, it would mean a first encounter with the Trailblazers. Durant was well aware of that fact, “Our team had to have a huge win tonight. If we play them next week, we will have the mental advantage.”
Durant led his team with 29 points and only missed one shot in the whole game. Head coach George Karl said he was not surprised with his star’s efficiency, “I’ve seen it all season now. Everything Kevin does is not much of a surprise for me.” Karl also added the importance of the win against Portland, “It’s no secret that we want to play Portland. Sure, they beat us earlier in the month but that was only by 2 points. We thrashed them tonight so I bet if we do get them (in the first round), they will be pretty worried.”
Jason Kidd was again rested in this game and he finished with 4 points and 4 assists in very limited court time. The 37 year old welcomed the time on the bench, “I need this especially with the playoffs starting next week. It’s good for me to have a chance to rest my legs.”
Rookie
Reshawn Tyson was Seattle’s second highest scorer finishing with 13 points and he also added a career high 6 steals while
Trevor Ariza was devastating in garbage time scoring 11 points in just a little over 2 minutes.
Brandon Roy led his team admirably with 23 points and 3 assists. He hardly missed from anywhere bar from behind the arc where he went 3 for 13. “He (Roy) was shooting too much from the perimeter,” one of the Blazers’ coaches stated, “But we’ve gone through that with him and it shouldn’t be an issue. Just another one of those nights.”
Travis Outlaw was the only other Blazer in double figures with 12 points while
Greg Oden was far and away from matching the performance of the player he was drafted in front of but the big man did contribute 9 points and 11 rebounds.
The start of the game was close until Seattle put the clamps on the home team Blazers in the second quarter. Karl thought his team was safe from losing and kept Durant and Kidd on his bench. The Blazers took advantage of this and went on a 14-6 tear during the third to close the gap. A combination of poor shot selection and poor ball handling led to both teams struggling to score in the final few minutes of the third quarter.
Seattle broke out of the funk first and stormed in front by even more points; this time they would not give Portland any chance of a comeback. Tempers flared as Durant was hit hard on his way to the rim by
Steve Nash. Nash, who had a terrible game finishing with just 7 points and 2 assists, stood over Durant’s body and taunted him and was met with approval from the fans.
Jeff Green and David Lee confront Nash as
Carlos Boozer came up to support his captain. The officials broke up the altercation as Seattle’s team doctors rushed on court to check it Durant was ok.
Durant was fine and sunk two free throws to put his side up 74-58 with 3:12 remaining. Ariza would come on a minute later with the rest of the Stealth bench and score all of his 11 points in the final 2 minutes of the game.
Notes: SG Reshawn Tyson, for the first time this season, was the first player off the bench… Houston beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-101 to improve their record to 51-30. Seattle, who are 50-31, need to win their last game of the season against the Sacramento Kings and hope that the Rockets lose their last game of the season to the New Orleans Hornets if they are to win the third seed… Although the Los Angeles Lakers have a worse record than both Houston and Seattle, they would be the fourth seed due to being Pacific Division Champions. However, this would not award them home court advantage as potential opponents Houston and Seattle both have superior records…
Stats At A Glance wrote:Quarter-by-Quarter Team ScoreSeattle (Away) 22 – 25 – 10 – 30 –
87Portland (Home) 21 – 11 – 18 – 16–
66Jordan Player of the Game
Kevin Durant
29 Points
12-13 FG
3-4 3PT
2-2 FT
2 Rebounds
1 Assist
2 Steals
2 BlocksKey Performers50-31 SeattleR Tyson 13 pt, 3 reb, 6 stl, 5-15 FG, 0-2 3PT, 3-3 FT
T Ariza 11 pt, 1 reb, 4-5 FG, 2-3 3PT, 1-2 FT
D Lee 10 pt, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 5-7 FG
48-33 PortlandB Roy 23 pt, 5 ast, 3 stl, 10-22 FG, 3-13 3PT
T Outlaw 12 pt, 5 reb, 3 ast, 5-16 FG, 0-4 3PT, 2-2 FT
G Oden 9 pt, 11 reb, 4-5 FG, 1-2 FT