The Trailblazers are a veteran laden team, so they don’t have much P.T. available for their rookies this year. 23-year old SG/PG Nolan Smith has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 6.5 minutes, 3.8 points, 0.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He has a nice upside, but he’s going to have to wait a while to show it. 22-year old Elliot Williams missed all of last season due to injury, so the NBA considers this his rookie year. Williams has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 5.0 minutes, 2.3 points and 0.3 rebounds per game.

The Trailblazers showed a lot of heart last night as they outscored the Magic 36-22 in the 4th quarter, but it wasn’t enough to win. The Magic shot 58.6% from the floor and they outrebounded the Blazers 42-32, so it’s no surprise that the Blazers lost this game. Jamal Crawford (24 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists) and LaMarcus Aldridge (23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals) led the way for the Blazers in this game. Wes Matthews (17 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists), Gerald Wallace (15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals) and Nicolas Batum (14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists) also pitched in for the Blazers in this game. The Trailblazers are now 7-3 on the season.

The Blazers shot 51.4% from the floor last night and it helped them upset the Clippers last night. Gerald Wallace (20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal), LaMarcus Aldridge (18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 blocked shot) and Wes Matthews (18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal) led the way for the Blazers in this game. Raymond Felton (17 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists and 3 steals) and Mike Conley (12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) also pitched in for the Blazers last night. The Trailblazers are now 7-2 on the year.

27-year old point guard Raymond Felton has had a hard time shooting the ball so far this year for the Trailblazers. He has played in 8 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 33.4 minutes, 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6.8 assist per game. Felton is only shooting 34.8% from the floor so far this year and that is pretty pathetic. He will need to pass the ball more until he fixes his shooting problem in practice.

The Trailblazers played well on defense last night in holding the Cavs to 36.7% shooting from the floor and that was the reason for the rather easy win last night. LaMarcus Aldridge (28 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 1 blocked shot) and Wesley Matthews (24 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal) led the way for the Blazers in this game. Gerald Wallace filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot in this game. Nicolas Batum pitched in with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals off the bench last night. The Trailblazers are now 6-2 on the year.