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Portland Trailblazers
The Houston Rockets looked hopeless on opening night against the Portland Trail Blazers. They didn’t possess nearly the offensive weapons, and with stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady on the operating table, were overwhelmed without a single consistent scoring threat. Still, the Rockets, which were picked by many analysts to finish well out of the playoff race this season, desperately wanted to redeem themselves and prove they could win with the players at their disposal.
Trevor Ariza, their splash of the offseason, was an extra on a Los Angeles Lakers team full of stars last season. He was known for his defense, and only occasionally produced on offense. He certainly wasn’t a go-to guy; the Lakers had plenty of those. But the Rockets, having let small forward Ron Artest leave via free-agency, needed someone to fill the void, and believed Ariza could.
The 6′8″ 24-year old, thrust into the starters role and put under a lot of pressure to succeed as a dependable scoring option, broke out after a rough opening night, scoring 25 points against defensively challenged Golden State. In Houston’s third game, he continued to make General Manager Daryl Morey’s investment pay early dividends, torching the Blazers early and often.
The five-year veteran and NBA Champion teamed up with third-year point guard and former Oregon Duck Aaron Brooks, who jumped onto the scene last season by wrecking havoc down the stretch, particularly posing a problem for the Blazers in their first-round matchup. Brooks benefited from the mid-season trade that sent point guard Rafer Alston to Orlando, and became their starter. His quickness, shooting ability, and unselfishness immediately made him a fan favorite and solidified his stature as a piece of their future puzzle.
Portland couldn’t stop Brooks on opening night, and had even more trouble in the rematch. Their point guards, Steve Blake and Andre Miller, are not quick, nor solid defensively, and Brooks took advantage. When he wasn’t beating them off the dribble and scoring, he was driving into the lane, forcing the four other Blazers on the floor to converge, then finding the open man. More often than not, the double and triple-teams resulted in open looks for Ariza.
Brooks found Ariza for the first two baskets of the game for Houston, a dunk and a three-pointer, starting a trend that would terrorize Portland throughout. Both were aggressive offensively, especially Ariza, who lit up the Blazers in the first half. Even when he wasn’t set up by Brooks, he found a way to create for himself, scoring both inside and outside to exploit Portland’s stand-around style of defense. Fueled by the driving dunk and three-pointer from Brooks, he scored 16 first-quarter points, and combined with a quiet 5 points from Brooks, helped Houston to a five-point lead after one period.
It could have been a much larger deficit if not for the play of Portland’s countering dynamic duo, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge scored their first six points and ten of their first fourteen, making his patented mid-range jumper or showing some aggression around the rim. While he started the quarter strong, Roy finished it with a burst of his own, hitting two three-pointers in between baskets by Brooks and Ariza, then drained three free-throws after forcing Ariza into committing an ill-advised foul as the quarter wound down.
The Brooks and Ariza Show took a quarter off, as the duo managed only eight points, but their supporting cast picked up the slack. The Roy and Aldridge Show had to continue for Portland, however, as their supposed unlimited depth failed to make much of an appearance. Backup point guard Andre Miller scored all six of his points in the period consecutively midway through, but Roy and Aldridge tallied 14 of the quarter’s other 20 points.
The duo kept Portland behind by five into halftime, and helped trim the Rockets lead, albeit minimally, heading into the fourth quarter. Miller did his best to ease their burden, but no one else could muster anything of significance. Roy did most of the damage in the third, as Brooks ran roughshod for Houston; the Blazers guard scored eight, while the Rockets’ scored eleven.
Miller was aggressive to start the fourth, giving Portland the leadership and scoring they hoped for upon his arrival. After Travis Outlaw, one of many Blazers to struggle offensively, clanged a jumper to begin the all-important final quarter, Miller drove to the hoop, scored, and made the free-throw that ensued for a three-point play. After another miss by Outlaw, he muscled his way in for the offensive rebound, took a mugging, and then made two more free-throws. Yet, despite his efforts, the Rockets lead managed to increase due to his, as well as the other starting four’s inability to play even satisfactory defense.
Houston’s lead stretched to seven, and then after a mini-drought by Portland, grew to nine on two free-throws by Ariza, his first points in eight minutes. Portland countered as Roy led a 10-3 run, scoring seven points thanks in large part to his ability to get to the rim. The deficit was just two, and the Blazers appeared to have solved the Rockets.
Momentum is a tricky thing. It seemed that Portland had all of it, but as that Rockets lead dwindled, Houston’s home crowd tried to re-energize their team. This support worked. Ariza followed Roy’s layup and free-throw that cut the margin to two with a three-pointer. After Ariza’s spark, the Blazers went cold. Rudy Fernandez shockingly missed two free-throws, Outlaw missed a short jumper, and then after Brooks extended the Rockets advantage to seven with a jumper, Roy missed.
Portland’s drought continued for the next two minutes, and totaled four in all. Then, out of nowhere, they mustered some energy of their own as their dynamic duo returned. Roy attacked the rim with his team behind by nine nearing a minute to play, then attacked again, and again. He hit four free-throws and drove in for a layup, and then hit the ensuing free-throw. Still, despite his seven-point outburst, the Blazers were down by six.
They got closer, as Aldridge dunked after Blake picked Brooks’ pocket, and even closer when Roy hit a jumper after Ariza could only split his free-throws. They were down just three now, but to have any chance of turning this comeback into victory, Brooks had to miss both free-throws. He missed the first, and the crowd groaned in agonizing pain, but they perked back up as his second swished through the net. A quick three-point attempt by Roy was to no avail, and Outlaw’s heave in desperation missed as well.
Roy scored 42 points, far and away his best performance of this young season. Aldridge added 27 points to the cause. But Miller was the only other Blazer in double-figures, scoring 15 off the bench. On the other side, Ariza blew up for 33 points and Brooks complimented him with 28 points.
Like the Blazers, Houston had only one other player score in double figures–Carl Landry with 16–but though their combo didn’t quite outscore Portland’s, their team conjured up enough points to barely escape with a win. For the Rockets to keep winning, however, without the depth and scoring options of other Western Conference foes, Ariza and Brooks will have to explode with regularity. Given their play against the Blazers, and their talent level, they may be able to.
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