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Portland Trailblazers
Through three quarters against the Detroit Pistons, the Portland Trail Blazers were in cruise control. Fresh off a successful five-game road trip, they shot well over 50 percent in the first half, made their first seven shots of the second quarter, had 15 assists on 20 field goals, and held the Pistons to just 39 percent shooting. Portland built upon their first-half performance in the third after Detroit climbed within six, 52-46, by scoring thirteen straight, with the final two on a driving, right-handed dunk by Brandon Roy. Their lead was nineteen, and was extended to twenty entering the final period. Certainly, given their three quarters of brilliance, their big lead, and the fact that the Pistons had played the night before, the fourth quarter would be a breeze, right?
Detroit looked over-matched and tired entering the fourth, but looks can be deceiving. First-year head coach John Kuester went to his bench, playing center Kwame Brown, and rookie forwards Austin Daye and Dajuan Summers along with starters Rodney Stuckey and fellow rookie Jonas Jerekbo for a better part of the quarter, and this unusual starting five paid dividends.
While they played resilient basketball, scoring eight of the first ten points, the Blazers played the fourth like it was a high school game, where there is no shot-clock; problem was, it’s a violation if a shot doesn’t graze rim in twenty-four seconds. They dribbled around, worked through a variety of traps, passed the ball frantically, and after this drained 10-15 seconds off the shot-clock, finally started a set play too late, which usually ended with a off-balance heave or a turnover. Detroit’s 8-2 run spanned the fourth quarter’s first five minutes, and over that span, were 1-9 with two missed free-throws by point guard Andre Miller, who sprained his right ankle in the first quarter and his left early in the fourth.
Blazers center Greg Oden answered Rodney Stuckey’s 17-footer that followed Miller’s misses with a dunk off a brilliant pass from Rudy Fernandez between Brown’s legs. Oden’s dunk regained a 16-point lead, and, with the crowd boisterous, it appeared Portland could be able to hold down the fort and defeat Detroit rather easily.
But it was far from easy, as the Pistons resumed their run. Stuckey hit two free-throws, which were answered by a Juwan Howard’s 18-footer, but Portland wouldn’t play any more basket-tag, as Daye hit a jumper, Stuckey hit two more free-throws, and then Daye put the Blazers in full-fledged panic mode with a three-pointer, cutting the deficit to nine.
During that 7-0 spurt, Portland committed two turnovers and missed two hurried shots, fighting shot-clock for the sixth and seventh times in the period. This 7-0 run forced head coach Nate McMillan to re-insert his starters, as their original starting five took the floor. Yet, despite going back to the team responsible for the once 20-point lead, it didn’t immediately work. As Blazers announcer Mike Rice said, “Once you’ve turned it off, it’s hard to turn it back on again.” The fans had grown restless, and the players, each with the deer-in-the-headlights look, had shown no signs of flipping the on-switch.
The fans that were lively for the better part of three quarters continued their groans of satisfaction as the Pistons 7-0 run turned into ten straight, making the once-believed blowout a two possession game, 76-70, with three minutes remaining. LaMarcus Aldridge ended a four-minute scoring drought by drawing contact from Stuckey and hitting two free-throws with just under a two minutes left, but six seconds later, Stuckey drove into a wide-open lane for a layup.
On the Blazers next possession Miller tried to drive around Jerebko, but was hip-checked by the Swedish forward, which was the worst-case scenario for Portland. Not only did in stop the clock, but it put a hobbled Miller to the line. He missed both free-throws, just as before. Eleven seconds later, Pistons star forward Charlie Villanueva, who was limited to just five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, drained a three-pointer relatively uncovered to slice the deficit in half. Now it was only a three-point game, and then just one, as, after a turnover by Blazers guard Steve Blake, Villanueva made a breakaway layup.
With the fourth quarter clock under a minute, Portland had another flustered and nerve-racking possession. But, if just listening to the game, you wouldn’t know. As Roy dribbled at the top of the key, the Rose Garden crowd rose to their feet–all 20,391. Their team needed help in the worst of ways, and they did their part, trying to wake up their disheveled team with a standing ovation. Roy was trapped after dribbling aimlessly, found a seam through the Pistons aggressiveness, and passed to Blake, who was wide-open beyond the three-point line on the left wing. In need of a basket, Blake missed, but fortunately he missed so poorly that his attempt ricochet off the front of the rim right back to him. He wisely milked the clock under 30 seconds, then passed to Aldridge, who fed the point guard for a shot at redemption.
Blake made sure he was behind the line, and hesitated with the still-standing crowd buzzing in anticipation. After setting himself, he fired. This time, the three-pointer fell calmly through the net. Upon swishing through the basket, the crowd cheered and screamed in crazed delight. While they applauded, Blake and his teammates walked to the huddle with the emotion drained from their faces. The shot went in, and a four-point lead was theirs. That was all well and good, but 25 seconds remained. With blank stares of determination and focus, the Blazers knew the game was far from over.
They still had a job to do, but didn’t defensively, as not three seconds ticked off the clock before Stuckey waltzed into the lane and drew a foul. He made the free-throws, cutting the margin to two, at 81-79. Portland inbounded the ball to Roy at mid-court, and instead of fouling immediately, Detroit trapped the star, forcing him to pass out of the double-team. Who did he find? Miller.
As Daye fouled the point guard, Kuester pumped his fist. Miller saw this, looked at Kuester as he stepped to the line, shook his head know in response to a “Please miss them!” expression from the head coach, and drained the first free-throw, and then the second.
Villanueva tipped in a miss by Daye with ten seconds left, forcing Portland to make two more free-throws. Blake was fouled, and he followed in Miller’s footsteps, hitting both to ice the game.
The Blazers played scared as the Pistons began the quarter on a 27-8 run. Over the course of this gigantic run, they played their worst basketball of recent memory, but with the redeeming three-pointer by Blake, and the redeeming free-throws by Miller, Portland escaped.
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