| 24 February 2011
Portland welcomed back Brandon Roy, and were sailing smoothly against their rival, the Los Angeles Lakers. Then he was pulled due to a minutes limit at the most inopportune time, and Portland subsequently fell flat and missed the change to put away the Lakers, leading to a gut-wrenching loss in overtime.
Andre Miller, Joel Przybilla contribute in what could be finale with Blazers
Trade rumors swirl, and Miller and Przybilla’s names have been bantered about in discussions. With the trade deadline looming this could be their last game with the team. If it is, they made a considerable impact.
Miller struggled from the field, shooting just 3-10, but gave Portland a short-lived overtime lead with a baseline jumper and dished eight assists while also grabbing five rebounds.
Przybilla was very active, especially defensively. He helped Portland clean the glass early, snatching seven rebounds in all while blocking a shot and affecting many others. He had one field goal, a dunk in the first quarter, and made two of four free-throws. Without his presence Portland would have had a difficult time holding Los Angeles’s big and talented frontline in check.
For once, LaMarcus Aldridge doesn’t deliver in clutch
Aldridge was his usual self through three quarters, scoring 29 points on 12-15 shooting. At the end of four quarters, however, he was just 12-18, with all three of his field goals in the final quarter coming in the closing minute. The Lakers forced him onto the perimeter, not letting him get solid post-position and thereby limiting his touches. Even still, Portland needed to find ways to get him the ball, something they didn't do enough.
He wasn’t the only Blazer who was cold late. Over the final four minutes and 20 seconds of the fourth quarter Portland was held without a single point, as Los Angeles battled back from an 87-80 deficit to force overtime.
Aldridge didn’t take a single shot in the extra session, and missed two free-throws in the closing seconds that would have kept the Blazers hopes alive.
“I didn't make the plays down the stretch," Aldridge said, as reported by The Oregonian.
Roy solid in return
Roy entered late in the first quarter to a standing ovation, and looked to be moving very well in his 15 minutes of action. He was out of sync and understandably rusty, but scored five points in his 15 minutes. He played the point in some sets, then off-the-ball in others. He held his ground defensively and created space offensively, as mobile as one can be coming off arthroscopic knee surgery.
He pumped his first after hitting one of Portland’s nine three-pointers, a line-drive from the right wing that put the Blazers up 79-71 early in the fourth, but was replaced soon after.
“Today was all about getting him out on the floor,” head coach Nate McMillan said in The Oregonian’s piece. “We’ll slowly work him back in.”
Kobe Bryant, three-pointers prove difference for Lakers
Los Angeles entered shooting 35 percent from three-point range but connected on 11 of 18 attempts. Ron Artest, a 34 percent shooter from deep, was 5-6 in compiling 24 points. While Portland failed to capitalize on offense, he particularly made them pay late in the fourth, hitting a three-pointer to spark Los Angeles’s game-tying flurry.
Kobe Bryant, who had a whopping 28 points in the second half and overtime, hit three three-pointers and continuously came up clutch in the fourth quarter and overtime.
A tough loss to take
An emotional return for Roy and a potential swan song for other contributors ended badly for Portland. Their inability to produce late and specifically stop Bryant was a reminder that though they are not quite on Los Angeles’s level. Nonetheless, this group, which played the Lakers extremely tough for three-plus quarters, has grown as a unit, developing an extraordinary amount of chemistry to play consistently exciting basketball. But this could be the last time they play together.
photo: espn
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