What could have been a very nice road win turned into another loss, as the Blazers dropped the Bucks 117-113 in OT (video). Check out Alex's recap here. The Bucks had five point leads late in the fourth and in OT but couldn't put the Blazers away. Steve Blake and Brandon Roy did the work for the Blazers, combining for 45 points (17/25 fg) and 14 assists.
- The Bucks led most of the first quarter as both teams shot over 60%, Bogut leading the way with eight points on 4/5 fg. The Blazers did most of their damage with long twos, which is a decent sign at least. But the Bucks couldn't take advantage of Aldridge's early foul trouble and Channing Frye helped the Blazers score the last six of the quarter.
- As per usual, the second quarter started out flat, as the Blazers went on a 7-0 run to start the quarter. The Bucks continued to switch on every pick/roll, and the Blazers simply took advantage of mismatches. Redd and Villanueva sparked an 8-0 run to trim the lead to 41-39, though Ivey and Bell brought a newfound urgency on the defensive end.
- The Blazers stretched the lead to 86-76 early in the fourth, but then Williams, Ivey, Bell, CV, and Voskuhl went on a 15-0 run keyed by Williams' defense and offense. Mo pickpocketed Jarrett Jack on consecutive trips and buried a flurry of jumpers. But where was Mo the last 10 minutes? Strange to see a guy go from so hot to invisible so quickly. Ivey in particular was harassing on defense all night but the Bucks couldn't slow down the Blazers backcourt enough.
- Redd couldn't find his shot in the second half and he's the easiest guy to single out after the fact: 5/23 fg makes it awfully tough to win. He settled for tough jumpers a number of times in the fourth and overtime when he should have been more aggressive trying to draw a foul or just dishing it off. He also had the boneheaded play of the night when he didn't foul Roy after a rebound with 14 seconds left, allowing an additional 5 seconds to run off the clock. That was in stark contrast to Roy's 11/13 night from the field; he was largely shooting jumpers but was on all night and just as importantly chipped in eight rebounds and nine assists as well.
- Aside from Mo, CV gets plenty of credit for playing very aggressively and deservedly playing the entire fourth and OT. He finished with 19/9 on 7/10 fg while relentlessly crashing the offensive glass and showing consistent effort on the defensive end. If we see more of this from Villanueva the Bucks can be a solid team, but of late that just hasn't been the case. He and Bogut each had four offensive rebounds, which kept the Bucks in the game despite the major shooting percentage differential (56% vs. 44%).
- Aldridge was plagued by foul trouble but still managed 24 points on 10/15 fg in 32 minutes. Bogut hung in there, making his first four shots before finishing 8/16 for 21 points. While the guards put up the most shots, Bogut got plenty of shots for the second straight game at least.