Jerryd Bayless’ Driving Layup Gives Blazers 73-71 Lead Heading Into Fourth Quarter

-My fed just cut out for a bit. Blame NBA League Pass.

-Big call here - Marcus Camby picked up his fourth foul pushing Serge Ibaka in the lane. Ibaka was probably camped in the lane for a bit too long, but it’s also not the worst call in the world as Mike Rice would have you believe. I say that as a fan of Serge Ibaka, and not as an objective observer, so take my opinion for what it is.

Speaking of Camby, his faces really are funny during a game. Here’s his reaction to that foul call.

Can’t you see the F-bomb in progress?

-Portland misses a corner three, don’t get the rebound, don’t get back, Thunder get a runout and two free throws. Life can sometimes be a broken record, and so can NBA games.

-Camby is still in the game, by the way, and he’s made a difference in Portland’s half-court defense. In fact, Portland’s really dominated this game in the halfcourt. If the NBA instituted a rule that forced teams to take the ball out of bounds even on missed shots, the Blazers would be the best team in the league. Unfortunately, they stink in transition, and OKC’s been picking up freebies the entire game that way.

-Portland’s TV crew has this cool feature that asks Blazers fans to send pictures of them in Blazers gear in exotic places in the world. It’s a cool reminder that the Blazers have a really huge fanbase. The Wizards could do this if they wanted, but the only submission they’d get would be one from Gilbert Arenas from his halfway house.

-Crazy stat of the game - the Thunder have just six assists, and Westbrook doesn’t have any. Their halfcourt offense really is just a series of isolations, most of which go to Durant. Remember this when you pick them to go far in the playoffs.

-I’m really trying to figure out if there’s a home TV crew that complains more about foul calls than Portland’s. Mike Rice literally just said that he wished Nate McMillan could show Leon Wood a stat sheet, because OKC has 32 free throw attempts to just nine for Portland. The alternate explanation is that OKC’s getting a ton of transition freebies, and Portland is only shooting outside jumpers. But no, it’s all because of referee bias.

-Speaking of, the TV crew just joked that Kevin Durant got called for a foul. It wasn’t funny.

-At the end of the quarter, the Blazers double-teamed Durant, forcing Eric Maynor into a floater that missed. Jerryd Bayless grabbed the rebound and went coast-to-coast for the buzzer-beating layup to give Portland a two-point lead. I’ve never understood why more teams don’t double Durant to take the ball out of his hands at the end of the quarter. Would you rather have Durant shooting, or Eric Maynor?