Canzano: For their next act, the Trail Blazers will knock on wood

For their next act, the Trail Blazers will spin straw into gold. After that, they'll walk across the surface of the Willamette River. After that, they're liable to make the Eastern Conference disappear.

But before all that, let's get to the act that has me appreciating everything that has come with this magical Portland season.
It's this: Wood knocking.

The Blazers beat New Orleans 110-107 on Saturday. The Blazers --- now an absurd 23-5 --- got a deep three-point basket from Damian Lillard and a couple of clutch free throws from Nic Batum to send everyone home merry. Everyone, that is, except guard Mo Williams, who hobbled up the tunnel after the game toward the locker room, wincing with his steps.

"HEY MO!" coach Terry Stotts called after him with the celebration going on behind him on the court.

The back-up point guard slowed to a crawl in the dim light. The coach put his arm around the guard, and leaned in, pointing toward the player's right hip. The Blazers aren't sure if Williams hurt the hip falling, or with contact, but they'll evaluate the injury and hope it's minor.

What the hobble really is though, is a reminder of how delicate even a special season like this one can be. Not sometimes. But all the time.

The Blazers are not a nice little surprise. They're not just a good story. They're a shockingly good story that just doesn't stop, and what they most give fans right now is a reason to believe on every night. They win playing from behind. They win on the road. The team chemistry and good results are so sweet around here, that when Lillard pulled up for what looked to be a 30-foot three-point shot with the Blazers down by two points in the final 90 seconds, I doubt there was a soul in building that believed his shot wouldn't go in.

It went: Swish.

Before the game, Batum sat not far from where Lillard shot the ball, on the visiting bench watching Wes Matthews get loose and shoot deep ones himself. Batum made a confession: Three nights earlier, down 32 points in the first half on the road against Minnesota the Blazers broke the huddle after a timeout and Batum said, "I really thought we were going to come back and win. No, I knew it. I had no doubt we would come back."

What the Blazers were fighting to preserve on Saturday wasn't just the home court, or a wonderful season. They knew they were coming off that 11-point Minnesota loss. They knew that no team in NBA history has ever survived an 82-game regular season without losing back to back games.

Even the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, a team that went 72-10, loss back to back games (at Denver and at Phoenix) during their blitzkrieg season.
"When you have the best record in the NBA there's some pressure on us to play well every night," Batum said.

This brings us to the grimacing Williams, who has been a terrific addition on the court and in the locker room. He spells Lillard. Stotts plays them together some, too. Across the way in the locker room, there's center Robin Lopez, who might be the key component to this entire Portland uprising. He watched this week as his twin brother, Brook, suffered a fracture to the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, ending his season with the Nets.

Stotts dismissed all the fretting about possible injuries before the game, as he should, saying, "You can't prepare for injuries. You can't worry about them." Of course, you adjust when they happen. But maybe what a sobering moment like Williams hobbling amid the dancing inside the arena does is make us slow and appreciate the good fortune of this Portland team.

You lose Batum or Matthews, or even Williams for a long spell, and suddenly, this all feels dicey. You lose LaMarcus Aldridge or Lillard and the season is done. You lose Lopez, who played in 82 games last season and suddenly this amazing high-wire act feels like its being conducted in high winds.

So here's a symbolic knock on wood, today.

Knock. With. Me.

Please.

For what fans in Portland have been through in the last decade in injuries, it's been a relatively clean run. This is probably the one fan base in America that doesn't need a lecture on how delicate an NBA season can be, because there were seasons in which the Blazers were so banged up it hardly felt like there was a season going on at all.

Injuries will happen. Stotts will adjust. Back-ups will be given opportunities to demonstrate that the depth of this roster is its true best ally. What's clear on a night like Saturday is that Stotts wouldn't trade any of his healthy players for a single victory.

In the meantime, here's wishing Williams good health. Here's hoping the Blazers continue to answer the bell and make you believe.

But above all, here's a sprinkle of appreciation for the gauntlet this group has just run, mostly unscathed.

That should never go unnoticed around here.

--- @JohnCanzanoBFT

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or..._their_next_act_the.html#incart_river_default

 

So instead of writing his usual, "The sky is falling" article, instead he writes a, "The sky could fall at any moment" one.

Nice to see him get in the Christmas spirit.