The Blazers had a chance to win this game as Greg Oden was fouled with 4.6 seconds left in the game and the Nuggets leading 95-94, but he bricked both of them and thus the team lost. The Blazers were outscored 35-27 in the 4th quarter last night and they only shot 34.6% from the floor which negated the fact that they outrebounded the Nuggets 44-36. Brandon Roy led the way as usual for the Trailblazers with 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Rudy Fernandez played out of his mind last night as he finished with 22 points and 4 rebounds in only 23 minutes on the floor. Martell Webster pitched in with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots for the Blazers last night. The Trailblazers are now 1-1 on th season.

The Trailblazers did what they should do to poor teams like the Rockets last night…..beat them up. The Blazers outrebounded the Rockets 51-33 last night and they held them to 37% shooting from the floor. The Blazers led this game 75-56 after three quarters before calling off the dogs. If you bet on the Blazers last night though you might be a tad upset with them as they were a 9.5 point favorite. Travis Outlaw led the way for the Blazers with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 33 minutes off the bench. Brandon Roy had a terrible shooting night hitting only 5 of 18 shots from the floor but he still finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists last night. Martell Webster looked solid in his first game in almost a year with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla put up a interesting combined line last night at center. They only scored 4 points between them but they had 22 rebounds, 2 assists and 7 blocked shots. The Blazers have enough scorers on the team that they would likely be pleased with that kind production out of the center position. The Trailblazers are off to a 1-0 start on the season.

Nate McMillan’s win total has gone up every year in Portland and they won 54 games last year. Look for that trend to continue as the Trailblazers have by far the most talented roster in McMillan’s time in Portland. In fact, if Greg Oden stays healthy enough to play 70 or more games and average 30 or more minutes I look for the Trailblazers to win at least 60 games this season. Take the over with confidence on the Trailblazers in 2009-2010.

The Portland Trailblazers will be without starting small forward Nicolas Batum indefinately due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder which will require surgery this coming up Friday. Lucky for the Blazers that they are loaded at small forward. Martell Webster will take over as the starting small forward but he will be sharing time about 50/50 with Travis Outlaw. The Blazers’ defense might suffer a bit without Batum but the offense will be better with Webster/Outlaw getting the bulk of the minutes.

The Blazers have increased their win total in each of the four years that Nate McMillan has been the head coach. If that continues the Trailblazers are likely in line for a monster season. The Trailblazers were 54-28 (65.9%) last season and they were 2-4 (33.3%) in the playoffs. McMillan has now compiled a 148-180 record (45.1%) with the Blazers and he is 2-4 in the playoffs. The Trailblazers will expect McMillan to get them out of the first round of the playoffs this season. He now has a career record as a NBA head coach of 360-363 (49.8%) during the regular season and he is 10-12 (45.5%) in the post season.