series finale at Buffalo

shushu · Dwarf Data inscrierii: 21/Feb/2019 Mesaje: 407

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Trail Blazers made their first seven 3-pointers against Charlotte and from there it almost seemed too easy. "Making shots is contagious," said Wesley Matthews, who had 25 points, including five of Portlands 21 3-pointers, in a 134-104 rout of the Bobcats on Thursday night. The 21 3-pointers matched a franchise high, set in a 139-105 victory at the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 14, and made Portland the first NBA team to have two games in one season with at least 20 3-pointers. Damian Lillard 24 points, making all six of his 3-point tries, and the Blazers finished by making 63.6 per cent of their 33 attempts. The NBA record for 3-pointers in a single game is 23. "It was a lot of fun," said Lillard, who has made at least four 3-pointers in four straight games. "Shots were falling." With the win, Portland upped its record to 26-7 and moved back into the top spot in the Western Conference. It was the season-high fifth-straight loss for the Bobcats, who were coming off a 112-85 loss to the Clippers the night before. Charlotte has lost six straight in Portland. Chris Douglas-Roberts came off the bench to lead the Bobcats with a season-high 20 points. Al Jefferson added 19. The 21 3s were the most the Bobcats had ever allowed in franchise history. "Our team is thinking too much about offence, we have individual guys who need to build their games around their defence and theyre worried about theyre offence," Bobcats first-year coach Steve Clifford said. "Were not built that way. Were not going to be outscoring people. If were not going to commit to defence and rebounding, then were limited in how good we can be." The Blazers were coming off a 98-94 come-from-behind victory at Oklahoma City on New Years Eve. The win snapped a two-game losing streak, the first back-to-back losses for Portland this season. Charlotte has been known this season for its defence. The Bobcats have held opponents to under 100 points 24 times this season, and they went into the game ranked third in the league for points allowed with an average of 93.8. But they couldnt stop Portland, which led by as many as 32 points. The Blazers went ahead 23-9 early after a 14-0 run that included four straight 3-pointers. Mo Williams 3 pushed Portlands lead to 33-13. Meyers Leonards dunk off a dish from Williams upped the lead to 49-29 and the Blazers were ahead 70-49 at the half. Matthews led all scorers with 17 points, while Jefferson had 11 for Charlotte. Matthews said hes just taking the shots that are there. "Im trying to focus on everything but shooting and it seems to be paying off for me," he said. Lillard hit a 3-pointer that gave the Blazers an 89-64 lead midway through the third, and Charlotte was essentially out of it. Portland led 100-77 going into the fourth quarter. "These are the games you love playing," said Williams, who had 15 points and 10 assists. LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 points and 15 rebounds for his team-leading 19th double-double of the season. Blazers coach Terry Stotts sat his starters early in the fourth quarter. "I knew about our record, I knew about the NBA record. But I didnt want to get caught up in that," Stotts said. "If we fell into it, then thats great, but I thought the guys who played in the fourth quarter played the game the right way. They were aggressive, they moved the ball. Defensively, they played hard. I think its bad karma to go out and try to do that." Clifford also rested most of his starters late in the game. "I dont feel we were ready to play," Douglas-Roberts said. "Theyre too good not to come out and give a 100 per cent effort. We kind of have to do some soul-searching and turn this thing around." NOTES: The Blazers have assigned guard C.J. McCollum to the Idaho Stampede, the Trail Blazers NBA D-League affiliate. McCollum, the 10th overall pick in last years NBA draft out of Lehigh, has been sidelined since fracturing his foot in training camp. ... Portlands 39 points in the first quarter matched their season high for this season. ... The Blazers have made at least eight 3-pointers in eight consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. There could be some history made on Friday night in Buffalo. Mike Hessman of the Toledo Mudhens needs one more homer to break the all-time International League career home run mark. Before you say "big deal" as I was tempted to do, you should know who Mike Hessman is and how he made this journey over a long and varied career. First off he was born in Fountain Valley, California, and grew into the dimensions of a true slugger. He is 65" and 215 pounds. He was chosen in the 15th round of the 1996 MLB draft by Atlanta. He made it to the "Show" with the Braves in 2003. He had a long looping swing and struck out too much and generally over a short-lived big league career, the 3B/1B also seemed to be stuck behind better players such as Chipper Jones. Besides Atlanta, Hessman also made pit stops in Detroit and with the New York Mets between 2003 and 2010, hitting .188 with 14 home runs. Over time Hessman became a fixture in the International League. Now 36, he has slugged 258 homers in the "I" to tie the late Ollie Carnegie, who spent the bulk of his career playing in Buffalo. Carnegie played his final season with the Bisons in 1945. These two were a study in physical contrasts. While Hessman is 65", Carnegie was only 57" and weighed 175 pounds. Surely the Major League home run record is more impressive and more prestigious. Babe Ruth broke Roger Connors career mark of 138 back in 1921. The Bambino ran that plenar up to 714 by 1935, and that mark endured until Hank Aaron broke it on April 8, 1974 at Atlanta against Al Downing and the Dodgers. So Babe Ruth held the career home run record for 53 years. Carnegies mark of 258 has stood since the year he retired as a player in 1945. If you do the math, thats 69 years. Oddly enough Carnegie never played in the Majors, largely because he didnt start playing pro ball on a regular basis until he joined Buffalo at age 32 in 1931. Before that he played mainly semi-pro or amateur ball and held down a regular job. Nowadays 258 home runs doesnt sound like all that imposing a number. But remember today, its all about player development. If you dont make the Majors by your mid-20s or maybe late 20s if youre lucky, youre going to be out of a job. You have to have a rarisim talent and be a unique individual, as Mike Hessman must be to stick around until the age of 36. Hessman had a bit of a scare about a week ago. He had to have some tissue removed from his nose and his forehead. Luckily it proved to be non-cancerous. He missed three games this week waiting for the swelling on his face to go down, then went 0-for-3 at Coca-Cola Field on Thurssday afternoon.dddddddddddd Friday night is the series finale at Buffalo and it would only seem fitting that he would hit his 259th homer in the city where Ollie Carnegie spent the bulk of his career and is enshrined in the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. When Hessman ultimately does break this record, he has other mountains to climb. He is also third on the all-time list of homers hit in the minors. Buzz Arlett is number one with 432, Nick Cullop has 420 and Hessman checks in with 403. Scoring Big Pitching and defence may win championships, but you cant deny the fact that the Blue Jays offence could carry them a long way. Theyve scored 311 runs in 61 games and slugged 87 homers, tops in the American League in both categories. You can add the total home runs for the Royals and Yankees and get 77, 10 fewer than the Jays, or the Rangers and Red Sox and get 85, still two less than the Blue Jays. In the runs scored category, the Jays have rung up 57 more than the second-best team in their division - Baltimore (254) - and then you drop off to Boston and the Yankees at 240 and Tampa Bay at a paltry 228. Boston was the runaway leader in runs scored in the American League last season with 853 and ultimately won the World Series. Im just saying. Unusual Moments This is something that happens so rarely in baseball, yet it happened twice in the last week. The Angels Garrett Richards and Clevelands Justin Masterson both struck out the side on nine pitches. Another oddity came on Wednesday when the Phillies 35-year-old shortstop Jimmy Rollins struck out four times in a game for the first time in his career, earning the famed "Golden Sombrero". The opposing pitcher though was Washingtons Stephen Strasburg, so well cut Rollins some slack. Rollins incidently is up to 2,226 hits now for his career. He needs nine more to pass Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt as the Phillies all-time hits leader. Since the Phils are having such a dismal season, the feeling is growing that Rollins will waive his 10-and-5 rights and will agree to a trade once the record is broken. The Tigers would be a perfect fit. The Atlanta Braves lead the National League East. Yet strangely enough, they have been held to 0 or 1 runs in a game a Major League-high 18 times. At the Draft If youre wondering why the Blue Jays used their ninth-overall pick in the Draft Thursday night to take a pitcher who just had Tommy John surgery in May, consider this. Veteran baseball writer Danny Knobler has seen Jeff Hoffman out of East Carolina pitch and said this of him: "He could be Justin Verlanders brother". Say no more! ' ' '