The Trail Blazers can't win against the Rockets without big games from Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge -- and sometimes even that's not enough. So when you consider the fact that Roy entered Game 5 on Tuesday completely flu-stricken and Aldridge hadn't even attempted a shot in practice for two days because of a swollen elbow, it'd be understandable if you predicted the game wouldn't even be close. As it turns out, it wasn't -- but instead of Houston closing the door, it was the Blazers who pulled away in the final quarter, winning 88-77. How did they do it? Roy and Aldridge, of course; the duo each scored 25 points, defying their respective ailments to help the Blazers stave off elimination for at least one more night.
The Blazers actually controlled this game from the very beginning, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and never trailing again until the fourth quarter. When the Rockets threatened to turn the tables with a four-point lead, the Blazers turned on the jets with a 15-0 run, followed by another 8-0 a few minutes later.
Roy scored 14 of his points in the final nine minutes and after the game credited Steve Blake for helping set the tone. From Jason Quick:
"It's now or never," Blake said with the Blazers trailing 68-64 in the fourth quarter.Something else worth mentioning is the free-throw disparity: the Trail Blazers had 23 attempts from the line; the Rockets, just 10. This reverses the trend from the first four games.
[...] That's when Blake emerged from the huddle, walked onto the court and did a U-turn to face his teammates. Standing near midcourt, he delivered his succinct yet pointed message.
[...] "It wasn't any secret," Roy said. "But as soon as he said it, I walked away and I was like, 'It is now or never.' And I decided I was going to do whatever I can to get this win. It was like 'Let's go do it.'"
It may have come at a cost -- Nate McMillan (and Rick Adelman, too, for that matter) was fined $25,000 for comments directed at the officiating -- but if the end result was making the refs self-conscious about calls going against the Blazers, it was money well spent.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-29-2009 @ 11:56AM
SUPERMAN said...
How profound are you ? Like Houston dose'nt need a big game from Chow Mein, & his side kick Artie,lol.
In all seriousness, It is too bad that the series has been literally manipulated by very inconsistent officiating. And if I am wrong, then why are both Coaches getting repremanded for trying to simply answer the $50,000 dollar question? Who are these guys in the black & white stripes? and why are the calls leading to suggest that during hard times, the NBA is looking for extra bank from a much bigger sports market. The stats don't lie, and by the way if you think the integrity of the NBA is beyond reproach, someone should look into the other form of intertainment known as the WWF. At least Dennis Rodman did'nt have too train too hard when he made his wrestling debut.
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4-29-2009 @ 12:10PM
SUPERMAN said...
My bad, on the spelling.
Well, for real, I just wish that this series was called with some sort of consistency. The actual truth is that both teams are very athletic and exciting to watch. Houston has the half court game, while Portland is better in the up tempo fast break mode. Both teams have the ability to shoot long range, and have some good stuff going on inside the paint. So once again , my $50,000.00 dollar question is simply, why not let them play ball. It takes away from the game itself when there is so much bias, and I am not alone on this. The facts are right there on paper plain as day. At the very least, if this series was called the same at both ends of the floor, Portland should be up 3 - 2 and possibly might have closed this series out in 5 games. So why is there so much of a slant the calls favoring Houston. They are not that much better athletically if not less man for man. So what does the NBA have up there sleeve, and did they not tell these refs to make it look a little closer on the court so no one will wonder what there hidden agenda might be?
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4-29-2009 @ 3:11PM
john said...
Yep, Nate got what he wanted with his whining about the refs. If you can't beat them on the court you can always whine to the media and get crappy calls / no calls to go your way I guess. That's the message the NBA just sent out.
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