Student of the Game

With the defending champion Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs deadlocked in a 2-2 split for the 2013 NBA Championship, Da Huddle crew decided to look forward to next season and draft their 10-man fantasy basketball roster. Listen to Sage, Shalamar and special guest Ryne Buchanan as they make their fantasy draft selections in the latest episode of Da Huddle! We need you to decide who drafted the best team. Starters in bold. 

Team Sage:

PG – Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers)/ Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs)

SG - Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)/ Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls)

SF - Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)/ Andre Iguodala (Denver Nuggets)

PF - LeBron James (Miami Heat)/ Ryan Anderson (New Orleans Pelicans)

C – Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks)/ David Lee (Golden State Warriors)

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Team Shalamar:

PG - Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)/ Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)

SG - Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)/ DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors)

SF - Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)/ Rudy Gay (Toronto Raptors)

PF - LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers)/ David West (Indiana Pacers)

C – Dwight Howard (Los Angeles Lakers)/ Al Jefferson (Utah Jazz)

Coach: George Carl.

Team Ryne:

PG - Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)/ Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics)

SG - James Harden (Houston Rockets)/ Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors)

SF - Paul George (Indiana Pacers)/ Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks)

PF - Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)/ Zach Randolph (Memphis Grizzlies)

C – Roy Hibbert (Indiana Pacers)/ Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies) ,

Coach: Gregg Popovich.

Brandon Jennings scored 24 points and had seven assists for the Milwaukee Bucks and helped hold the Portland Trail Blazers to eight points in the second quarters in Tuesday’s 102-95 win at BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Trail Blazers (31-36) were held to a season-low output after being outscored 31-8 in the second quarter by Milwaukee (34-32).

Jennings,9 of 20 from the floor, made four threes in the the game and knocked down one as time expired in the first half for a 58-31 lead.

Monta Ellis nearly recorded a triple-double after finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Samuel Dalembert had 16 points and J.J. Redick added 14 off the bench for the Bucks, who claimed the series win and improved their streak to two games following Sunday’s win against Orlando.

Facing a 27-point deficit on the end of a back-to-back, the energy-depleted Trail Blazers tried to get back into the game from beyond the arc.

Wesley Matthews scored 28 points and made five of his season-high seven 3-pointers in the second half to bring Portland within 100-93 with 1:32 remaining.

However, Jennings’ free throws sealed it.

It’s the second straight road loss for the Trail Blazers after nearly overcoming a 14-point deficit in Philadelphia on Monday.

LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 32 points in Monday’s loss, finished 21 points and 15 rebounds and Nicolas Batum ended with 15 points.

Aldridge registered Portland’s only two field goals of the second quarter as the team went 2 for 20. Milwaukee’s defense forced six Trail Blazer turnovers in the period, 17 overall, and held them scoreless for the first six minutes.

Down 58-31, Portland opened up the third on a 12-2 run with a pair of threes from Matthews, closing the gap to 17. Aldridge’s jumper brought them within 65-54. But Jennings and Ellis helped push their lead back to 10 and Redick’s three made it 77-57 going into the final frame.

The Trail Blazers will get a day of rest before taking on the Chicago Bulls (36-30) on Thursday.

The Portland Trail Blazers had 7.1 seconds left to score the game-winning bucket against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.

Trailing 101-100, Portland went to its go-to man LaMarcus Aldridge.

Aldridge, who had 18 first-half points, received the ball in the post with Spencer Hawes draped on him, he maneuvered into the paint, he spun back the opposite direction and he threw up the 16-footer.

But it missed, snapping their two-game streak and dropping the opener of a five-game road trip.

Aldridge, who was named the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week, finished with a game-high 32 points and saved his team with a last-second three-pointer that brought the Trail Blazers (31-35) within 99-97 with 17 seconds left.

Jrue Holiday led Philadelphia, which gave up a 14-point lead, with 27 points. He made two free throws that gave the Sixers (26-40) a 101-97 lead with 13 seconds.

Damian Lillard‘s three-pointer tied the game at 82 and he connected from 3-range for a second time, bringing Portland within one with 7.1 seconds.

On the ensuing play, the Sixers turned over the inbounds pass to Holiday, who tripped over his teammate’s foot and fell to the floor. Thaddeus Young‘s pass flew out of bounds, giving possession to Portland that set up the final shot.

Young finished with 19 points, Spencer Hawes recorded 18 points and 13 rebounds, Dorell Wright had 16 and Damien Wilkins added 12 for Philadelphia, which has won two straight following its victory over the Indiana Pacer on Saturday.

The Sixers had their shot going early, finishing with a 50 percent mark, but saw a 14-point lead dissolve after going cold in the final three minutes of the third quarter.

After completing a 12-4 run capped by Young’s jumper that put them up 78-64, Philadelphia cooled off, missing their final four shots of the third.

That’s when the Trail Blazers finally got in rhythm with Lillard’s 3-pointer that sparked an 8-0 run to come within 78-72 going into the fourth.

After starting three quarters on a slow pace, Portland finally got out quick. The Trail Blazers erased the six-point deficit with a 10-4 run.

Portland went with the small lineup of Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Eric Maynor, Luke Babbitt and Meyers Leonard to run with the Sixers’ quick transition offense. Maynor and Lillard hit from three-point range to tie the game at 82.

Holiday’s three and jumper put the Sixers up by five, but Babbitt answered with his own 3-pointer  and Matthews dropped in a floater to even the score at 87. Babbitt and Matthews each finished with six points.

Babbitt’s three-pointer gave the Trail Blazers a three-point edge. Young answered with a layup, but Aldridge’s layup gave Portland a 92-89 lead with 4:01 in the fourth.

That’s when the roles reversed and the Trail Blazers hit a cold patch, missing their next five shots. Jumpers from Wilkins, Holiday, Hawes and Young gave Philadelphia the 97-92 edge in the final minute of regulation.

Nicolas Batum had nine points, but was 3 of 8 from downtown for the Trail Blazers, who opened a five-game road trip.

Aldridge shot 7 of 10 in the first half, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the first quarter. Portland shot 3 of 10 to open the game, but managed to grab a one-point lead before Philly hot shooting took a 32-28 lead.

The Sixers gained an 38-28 lead on a 6-0 run to start the second quarter.

Portland, which was 38 of 90 shooting, had trouble finding offense outside of Aldridge and Lillard. The Trail Blazers first field goal of the second quarter came on a layup from Matthews at the 7:37 mark to trail 41-34.

Lillard’s jumper brought Portland within 51-46. But Philadelphia pushed its lead back to 10 with back-to-back buckets from Young and a free throw from Moultrie before ending the first half with a 58-50 lead.

The Trail Blazers will travel to Milwaukee to face the Bucks (33-32) tomorrow in a back to back.

Damian Lillard has a knack for lighting up the San Antonio Spurs.

After scoring at least 20 points in his last two meetings against the Spurs, Lillard caught fire in the second half to a game-high 35 points and the Portland Trail Blazers topped San Antonio 136-106 Friday at AT&T Center.

Lillard put up 10 points in the first half, but flipped the switched in the next two quarters, scoring 25 points to bounce the Trail Blazers (29-32) back from their 91-85  loss in Memphis on Wednesday after giving up a 17-point lead in the third quarter.

This time, they would get out ahead and stay there.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points, J.J. Hickson had 23 and 11 rebounds, and Eric Maynor added a season-high 20 points as Portland scored the most points ever allowed at AT&T Center and recorded the second-highest total against the Spurs since the Denver Nuggets’ 153 margin on November 7, 1990.

Better yet, the win moved the Trail Blazers 2 1/2 games behind No. 8 Utah Jazz.

Tim Duncan scored 18 points, Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili each had 16, and Cory Joseph finished with 13 for the Western Conference leading Spurs (48-15), who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Tony Parker missed his third straight game with an ankle injury.

Both teams went into the third tied at 57. The Trail Blazers quickly jumped to a 10-point lead with three-pointers from Wesley Matthews, who was 5 of 7 from downtown, Lillard and Luke Babbitt. Matthews had 15 points.

Ginobili’s layup cut Portland’s lead to six, but Lillard ended the period scoring eight straight points and making his own layup to lead 90-82.

Lillard kept his streak going to open the fourth, hitting a pair of jumpers and a free throw on a 10-0 run capped by a three from Maynor to lead 103-84.

With Lillard out of the game, San Antonio went on a 7-0 run to pull within 107-95.

Lillard checked back in at the 6:24 mark and took the life out of the Spurs. He drilled a three, converted three free throws and knocked down another three-pointer to lead 116-97 with five minutes still in play.

Portland outscored the Spurs 46-24 in the final quarter and totaled 79 second-half points as the team recored 61 percent shooting from the field and from three-point range.

Hickson had 19 points in the first half and made a tip in off Batum’s lob to lead 53-47 in the second. Stephen Jackson‘s three, Leonard’s jumper and free throws and a three from Ginobili knotted the game at 57 before halftime.

The Spurs held a 41-34 lead on Jackson’s dunk.

Matthews’ three evened the game at 43. Layups from Duncan and Splitter put San Antonio up by two, but Maynor gave the Trail Blazers the advantage with a jumper that sparked an 8-0 run.

The Spurs held an 29-27 lead after the first quarter.

Portland will finish its three-game road trip in New Orleans (21-41) on Sunday.

Wesley Matthews scores 24 points to beat the Boston Celtics 92-86.

Wesley Matthews helped the Portland Trail Blazers snap their longest losing streak of the season.

Facing the East’s No. 7 Boston, Matthews scored a game-high 24 points and knocked down a three pointer with 53 second left to beat the Celtics 92-86 Sunday night at the Rose Garden.

Matthews scored 15 in the first half and hit five threes-pointers in the game to help the Trail Blazers (26-30) snap a seven-game drought.

Portland’s entire starting unit scored in double digits. Nicolas Batum had 18 points, LaMarcus Aldridge 16, Damian Lillard 12 and J.J. Hickson recored his 30th double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Trail Blazers were coming off a 111-107 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Batum scored 22 points in the tightly contested matchup that slipped away late in the fourth.

Portland found itself in a similar situation.

Boston (29-27) went on a 6-0 run in the final period and Kevin Garnett tied the game at 86 on a layup with 1:46 left.

Lillard answered, slicing through the Celtics’ defense on his way to the rim and converting his foul shot to give the Trail Blazers a three-point edge with 1:31 in play.

Portland applied heavy pressure on Paul Pierce, who looked to knot the game up from long distance. He swung the ball to Garnett, who had his open look defended by an oncoming Hickson. Pierce received the ball  behind the arc and forced an off-target three that hit the front of the rim.

That set up Matthews’ dagger in the final minute.

Pierce had 23 points and eight assists, and Garnett had 20 points and nine rebounds. The Celtics beat the Phoniex Suns 113-88 on Friday, but dropped to 1-3 on their five-game Western road trip.

The Trail Blazers led 71-67 to start the fourth. Garnett’s jumper cut Portland’s lead to two as Boston shot 3 of 4 to start the period.

The Celtics suddenly went cold, missing their next six shots. Matthew drained a three to give Portland a seven-point lead.

Brandon Bass jumper and Garnett’s dunk brought them within four. Hickson’s bank shot put the Trail Blazers up 86-80 in the final four minutes.

Boston opened the third on a 13-5 run as Avery Bradley‘s fast-break dunk put his team on top 55-54.

Both teams exchanged buckets for seven lead changes. Aldridge, who sat the majority of the second quarter because of foul trouble, hit a jumper in the third that gave the Trail Blazers a 71-67 lead.

Aldridge picked up his third foul on a charge on Jeff Green with 8:53 in the second that sent him to the bench.

Eric Maynor made his debut for Portland. He had two points and three assists in 15 minutes.

Lillard’s layup and foul shot gave Portland an 11-point lead.

Garnett went to work, slimming the deficit to two on a jumper. But Matthews drained two three-pointers and Batum laid in a missed three-point attempt from Lillard to put the Trail Blazers up 49-42 at the half.

Portland missed its first three shots as the Celtics held a quick 7-0 lead to open the game.

Matthews scored seven straight points on a 18-6 run by the Trail Blazers to lead 27-21 after one period.

The Trail Blazers will host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.