Conference Semifinals - justanotherguy's Blog

justanotherguy's Blog

Conference Semifinals

Posted on September 11, 2014 at 10:12 PM.

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"This is the time of the year that you wait for all year."

�Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.�

"Every time down the court, play with heart, play with your passion, play to the finish!"

With a Championship as the only thought in mind, the Portland Trailblazers press forward onto the Conference Semifinals were the Houston Rockets await them.

The Rockets would prove to be a much more challenging opponent than the Pelicans, putting up a strong showing in each game that we played. There were numerous position battles taking place, each one having a crucial impact on who would win each game.

The backcourt tandems of Lillard, Mo Williams and I for the Blazers against the Lin, Patrick Beverly and Harden for the Rockets proved to be an entertaining battle as we went back and fourth, scoring as well as setting up our teammates. James Harden is among that class of players I struggle to guard because they feast on every mistake I make. You leave them open and you get punished every time. If you take away the jump shot, they'll drive past you and finish just about anything. I did my best to make sure he worked for all of his points, but there some questionable calls that went his way, but hey, that's just how the game is some times.

The match up of Nicholas Batum and Chandler Parsons proved to be a wash with their similar skill sets, giving virtually the same production to their respective teams. Meanwhile, Thomas Robinson and Terrence Jones worked hard to see who could out hustle the other.

But the real X-Factor in the series was the match up between Dwight and Aldridge. Would Dwight be able to contain Aldridge's offensive game and stop the key scorer for the Blazers? Will Aldridge be able to anchor our defense against Houston? Well Aldridge immediately realized that everything was on his shoulders, and he told to the team to hop on his back. He would average 32 points for the series, anchor or defense and give the team a massive 40 point outburst in a clinching game four.

After successfully sweeping the Rockets to advance to the Conference Finals, I looked back at the some of the snapshots and found this one from the end of game two.

And I said, that's the future right there! The Portland Trailblazers are back, and we would be contending for years as long as we stuck together.

But an imposing opponent awaits us in the Conference Finals...

The Oklahoma City Thunder led by none other than Kevin Durant, the heavy favorite to come out of the Western Conference. This is where our resolve was tested for the first time in the playoffs.