Nice game. Too easy:)

A few things stood out:

1. Lin with Bev, Lin with Harden, Harden with Bev, and Lin + Harden + Bev, the guards heavy rotation had Blazers running for coverage and hard to stay with, especially when they didn't have Baturn tonight

2. Harden set the tone early with a 17-point first quarter, and Blazers were playing a catch up game whole night long, despite a sensational 24-10 first half performance by LMA.

3. Lin started sloppy, but woke up later in the 2nd quarter, decisively. Very nice finding Greg Smith and D-Mo down low, and good tempo control playing together with Beverly. Then he played a lot more loosely with lots of confidence. What I liked is that he didn't rush things tonight, and there were several plays he really played with poise and tried different ways to start the offense. Earlier in the season, he tended to go one speed and one play for one possession, but tonight there were attempts to swing the ball, switch sides, drive with hesitation and tempo changes. It may have something to do with Blazers' lousy defense, but the understanding of more flexible game is there.

4. Beverly did a very good job taking some on-man defense duties from Lin, and his in-your-face style and jumpy steps obviously bothered Lillard a lot.

5. Blazers are just bad at this stage of the season. They had a beautiful arena, a deep pocket owner, and a group of talented young players, but they don't have veteran leadership among the team. I really like LaMarcus Aldridge as a player, but he's not a vocal leader, rather a nice No. 2 guy.

10 games above 500, this is getting unreal. This team just grows in front of our eyes in such a short period of time. Give those young kids credit. Hopefully they can make some noise in playoffs.