Fuck man, if the Blazers stretch this thing to 12 games on Friday I'm gonna have a helluva time trying to come up with something to rhyme with 'twelve'. Portland took care of another division team as they beat Kevin Durant and the Sonics 89-79 on Christmas Day. Their 11 game streak is the longest in the NBA this year and Portlands longest win streak since they won 12 back in 2001-2002. It also ties the NBA record for the longest win streak by a team that lost 50 games the previous season. The Blazers won despite shooting less than 40% from the field, and the starters all struggled. Even Roy, who finished with a team-high 17 points only made 7 of his 23 shots, but his 11 points in the 3rd opened up the game for the Blazers. The Blazer bench once again stepped up big, outscoring the starters 48-41, led by Jarrett Jack who also had 17 points.
The Blazers remain just a half-game back of the Nuggets with two games left on their current home stand. Their next 5 games come against the Timberwolves(4-22), the 76ers(11-16), at the Jazz(15-14), at the Timberwolves, and then they finish the road trip at Chicago(9-16). Obviously the Jazz look to be the biggest challenge of those games, but the Blazers have won 2 in a row against the Jazz already during this win streak.
I know hindsight is 20/20 and everything looks great now, but lets look back at the draft real quick. If the Blazers had taken Durant(which I argued vehemently for) instead of Oden are they playing anywhere near the level they are right now. That might sound crazy since the guy they drafted instead(Oden) is sitting on the bench all season after knee surgery, but if they take Durant, they probably don't make the Zach Randolph trade, and this becomes a completely different team.
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