With the clock winding down in the first quarter, Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson took a hurried shot with five seconds remaining and missed. Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge grabbed the rebound, dribbled the ball up-court, then passed off to guard Rudy Fernandez, who was perched beyond the three-point line. El Mago stepped inside the line, creating the slightest bit up space between him and Maurice Evans, then stepped beyond the line and hoisted. With the ball in the air, the clock ticked under a second, then as it swished through the basket, hit zero. Evans just shook his head and Fernandez celebrated euphorically with his teammates. This three-pointer, which gave Portland a 28-20 lead, wasn’t his only quarter-ending shot, either.

The Blazers grabbed a twelve-point lead in scoring the first two baskets of the second, and they would hold this advantage periodically throughout the game. They could never increase it, though, despite having many chances to do so. As a result, Atlanta clawed out of the hole, finishing the second quarter on a 10-6 run and outscoring Portland in the period by three to cut the margin to five at intermission.

Then, the game truly became one of intrigue. Frustrated by their disappointing finish to the first half, the Blazers began the third quarter on a tear, scoring on six of their first eight possessions to grab that twelve-point lead again. They scored only six points over the final six and a half minutes, but luckily for them, that span was sloppy for both teams, as Atlanta had a difficult time making shots and holding onto the ball. Portland committed eight turnovers in the period, but Atlanta made just 4-17 field goals after Johnson hit their first two shots of the quarter. Incredibly, the Hawks only shaved two points off the Blazers halftime lead.

This quarter was particularly intriguing because it was the battle of who could play worse. Portland had their moments: Greg Oden stole the ball from Josh Smith, passed to Andre Miller, who found fellow point guard Steve Blake for a beautiful transition three-pointer in the middle of their 13-6 opening spurt; Blake hit a wild mid-range jumper at the shot-clock buzzer with just over four minutes left; after Hawks rookie guard left a breakaway layup short, Fernandez drove in for an old school, high-arching tear-drop. But, for the most part, they were fighting the shot clock and missing golden opportunities, squandering chances to break the game wide open.

Fortunately, as Portland announcer Mike Barrett hesitantly said, “Atlanta’s matching Portland’s ugliness.” The Blazers didn’t deserve the lead, let alone one as large as nine entering the fourth period.

The Hawks’ Al Horford scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, livening up their crowd, the same crowd Barrett’s sidekick in the booth, Mike Rice, accurately called “the worst on the road trip” (and that’s saying something). Horford’s two baskets also made Portland nervous. The Blazers were coming off a wretched third period, and, given this was their fifth road game in seven days, were dead tired. But they won the previous four on the trip, and though exhausted, had every intention of sweeping a five-game road trip for the first time since 1991.

With Travis Outlaw out until January with a broken bone in his foot (eerily, the same bone Martell Webster broke last year), wily veteran Juwan Howard did a fine job in his place. The fifteen-year veteran and one of Michigan’s Fab Five ran down-court after Fernandez picked Jamal Crawford’s pocket, and received the Spaniard’s pass near the rim. Thirty-seven years young, Howard flushed in Crawford’s face, adding insult to injury for the Hawks guard. He jumped as high as he could, about four inches, and used his lanky 6′9″ frame to his advantage, soaring barely above the rim for the right-handed slam. With the bench going ballistic at the surprising sight, he minimally celebrated with Fernandez, stepped to the free-throw line, and hit the free-throw, increasing the Blazers lead to double-digits.

But the Hawks had an answer for the power forward’s jam, scoring ten straight to tie the game at 72 apiece. Rice demanded the Blazers go back to Brandon Roy, their bread and butter late, so head coach Nate McMillan did. Rice said “shoot it on his [Marvin Williams'] head” and the star guard obliged, making the most of the mismatch by shooting and canning a 17-footer to retake the lead. He made it a three-point game a possession later by hitting another jumper. Then, the Hawks battled back. Off one of fifteen offensive rebounds by Atlanta, Johnson continued a stellar second half, hitting his second straight three-pointer for the tie.

Atlanta took their first lead since the score was 16-15 midway through the first on a jumper by Josh Smith, sending the fifth straight sparse crowd of Portland’s road trip into delirium. The fans would have more to cheer about, as, with Portland behind by one with 43 seconds left, Oden missed two free-throws, but were soon silenced, as Roy flew in for the offensive rebound, milked the clock, and then knifed his way through for a slashing layup to nab a 82-81 lead.

The lead was short-lived, as Johnson drained some clock himself and countered with a layup of his own. Fourteen seconds remained, plenty of time for the Blazers, but their presumed last chance clanged off the rim with five seconds left and into the hands of Smith, who wisely found Johnson, a much better free-throw shooter. The Hawks best player did his job, hitting both free-throws for 85-82 advantage, helping his team become the first to score 85 points against the Blazers on the road trip.

Time still remained–four seconds–and Portland had one timeout to think it over and draw up the perfect play. McMillan kept Oden in the game instead of inserting another shooter–perhaps Webster–and used him as a screener. Inbounding the ball, Blake passed the ball to Oden, who screened his defender and shoveled it off to Fernandez. El Mago worked his magic, dribbling twice, slipping once, and then, as Horford flew by, pulled up 30-feet away. He backpedaled knowing it would rip through the net, and a split second later, was right. He screamed defiantly running towards the bench and then leaped into Howard, who managed to jump a bit higher in celebration. Fernandez slapped hands with his coaches and slapped hands with his teammates. There would be overtime.

However, it was not the overtime Portland envisioned. Atlanta jumped out to a six-point lead and benefited from a questionably offensive foul call on Oden by referee Greg Zielinski. Zielinski wasn’t done whistling the ridiculous, ruling that Blake stepped on the sideline with 54 seconds left and the Blazers behind by four when he clearly did not, and then calling a ticky-tacky foul on Oden unacceptably late, taking the ball out of their possession with 34 seconds left and squandering their chance to come back. For good measure, the Zielinski and the two other conspirators blew another call. Behind by six, Fernandez launched a three-pointer that looked off from the start. It headed towards the left side of the rim, and would have ricochet off the iron if Horford hadn’t blatantly stuck out his hand and swatted the attempt. Goal-tending wasn’t called. This time the refs inexplicably swallowed their whistles.

Still, even with the game decided, Fernandez managed to cap his exciting night. He ran to the right wing and gave Blake his eleventh assist, falling out of bounds and into the Hawks bench, swishing an off balance buzzer-beating three-pointer. But unlike the first two, he didn’t leap up and celebrate. He just walked somberly off the court and into the tunnel along with the rest of the Blazers, letting Portland’s only loss on the trip sink in.

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