Oregon Sports Live

After dropping three straight to the talented but usually disorganized 76ers, the Blazers took care of business Wednesday night despite losing Brandon Roy, defeating Philadelphia on its home court to even the season series at a game apiece.

Notes from the game:

– Did Brandon come back too soon, or was the re-aggravation of his hamstring simply bad luck? Either way, it’s not good news for the red and black.

– I’m making it official. Andre Miller is now in Wade’s Crew. He deserves it. Despite turning the ball over once in crunch time, Dre put forward yet another game-changing effort. He’s really hit his stride, and his big numbers are becoming par for the course. To Miller’s critics who happen to be vegetarians: you don’t have to actually have to eat any crow if you don’t want to. Just suck on one of those blackbirds for a while and spit it out.

– Rudy’s getting that old rhythm back. Do you see it? He’s starting to put it together and feeling the flow again. My hope is to see him back to his old self after the All-Star break. Attack it, Rudy.

– Adam Bjaranson is pure. Comic. Gold. I can’t get enough of this guy. Don’t get me wrong. I love to pause and rewind and review Bob Akamian in slow motion on my DVR, but he can’t hold a candle to the live spontaneity of Bjaranson. He’s like Tyson in the ’80s. You never know when the knockout shot is coming, but you know it’s going to be spectacular. It could be  a glance, a smile, a look of confusion … the possibilities are endless. Take for instance this little clip of Bjaranson at the Civil War in Eugene. Just look at the contempt in his eyes as he grits his teeth and briefly plots that evil knee-patter’s death just before he coolly recovers and remembers that he’s Jim Carrey in “The Truman Show.” I’m making a formal request to have Bjaranson replace Akamian. Who’s with me?

– Anybody else catch the old “one guy’s wearing a ridiculous hat” bit that Mike and Mike pulled off coming out of the half? Classic. Those guys are the new Abbott and Costello, I’m tellin’ ya.

– Speaking of Mike Rice, I’m currently in talks with his agent about writing his biography. The tentative title is “Easies, Freebies and Cheapies: The Mike Rice Story.”

– Isn’t it fun to watch Allen Iverson run around the court now that he’s roughly half as fast as Jerryd Bayless? No? Well, I get a big kick out of it, anyway.

– And how about that Jerryd Bayless? Talk about a fourth-quarter takeover. And in that vein, nearly everybody on the roster has stepped up at one point or another to cover the team’s backside in the last couple of weeks. The younger guys are receiving valuable experience that will most likely help the team down the road. Were all these injuries a blessing in disguise? A precursor to next year’s title run? A preamble to a budding dynasty? Could I possibly jinx it any worse?

That’s all I got for ya, maniacs. Now go say 12 Hail Mary’s and apologize for reading this to the Big Guy upstairs.