Two knee surgeries ago Brandon Roy was one of basketball’s finest up-and-coming superstars. Last night he reminded us why.
In a pivotal Game 4 in Portland, the Blazers pulled off one of the more dramatic comebacks in recent NBA postseason history. Trailing by 18 going into the 4th quarter, most fans would have thought it to be a done deal. Admittedly so, Brandon Roy thought the same.
Dallas contained Portland leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge for most of the night only allowing him 18 points, due in part to good defensive play by the rejuvenated Tyson Chandler. Late season acquisition Gerald Wallace also struggled, only scoring 10 points to go along with his 11 boards.
Unlike Portland, Dallas’ scoring was more spread out as no player scored more than 20 points in Game 4. Contributions from Jason Kidd were not nearly as great as they had been in the first two games in Dallas. Kidd only scored 9 points and collected only 4 assists in the game. If nothing else, we should be commending Portland’s defense for playing so great against an offensive powerhouse.
Nonetheless, it would take a sensational 4th quarter by Brandon Roy for Portland to get back into the game. Scoring 18 of his 24 points in the final period, Roy would single-handedly take over the game. When asked about his performance on the night Roy replied, “I've been in some pretty good zones before. But nothing like tonight."
All of this is from a guy who only played a handful of minutes in Game 2 and publicly displayed his dismay for the lack of playing time. By evening up the series at 2-2 Roy has breathed new life into this Portland Trail Blazers team. Going back to Dallas to play Game 5 at two games a piece is quite different than heading back down 3-1. With momentum on their side, the Blazers hope to pull ahead in the series Monday night in Dallas.
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