Less than a week ago, LaMarcus Aldridge announced he was having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. This would have meant the soon-to-be All-Star forward would miss somewhere between 6 to 8 weeks — or about 24 games — something that could have dropped Portland way down in the standings and out of the No. 2 spot in the West.
Aldridge missed back-to-back games which resulted in single-digit losses for Portland against Phoenix and Boston. The Trail Blazers were off to the wrong start without their leading man.
So he came back.
“My pain level changed a lot over the last 48 hours as far as being able to tolerate some things,” Aldridge said before taking the court against Washington on Saturday. “I feel like I’ll give it a try. We don’t know if it’s going to be good or bad, but we’re going to try.”
Portland won that night at the Rose Garden, 103-96, behind Aldridge’s 26 points in 36 minutes. The power forward was 8 for 8 from the foul line, and added nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
But let’s not bury the lead here. L.A. dropped 38 points on 13 for 23 shooting in a 99-94 loss on the road against a suddenly inspired Cleveland Cavaliers. Aldridge still hasn’t missed a foul shot since returning to action, going 10 for 10 from the line. He stuffed the stat sheet, collecting 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He even nailed a pair of 3s!
It’s too bad Portland couldn’t take advantage of their star’s great night, and doubly so because LeBron James was out of the lineup. Then again, it’s hard to beat your opponent when they have Kyrie Irving and Kyrie Irving hits 11 triples and sets the league’s season-high for points (55).
If Aldridge is on the floor and performing like he has the past two games, though, Portland should be winning far more often than they lose — going a long way to hanging on to that home-court advantage they have worked so hard for this season.
