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Portland Trailblazers
Portland Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla was battling down low for a potential rebound as the first quarter clock neared the three-minute mark. He jumped, but as he came down, his right leg bent. Unable to straighten it in time, he landed hard on his knee, his leg caught underneath him. He immediately yelped in pain, a cry that could be heard throughout the silenced arena. The coaching staff rushed over as he looked at his knee, and, just as with center Greg Oden, the trainer put a towel over it so he wouldn’t be able to continue to squeamishly look at the horrific abnormality. Head coach Nate McMillan stood upon his painful ankle with an expression of disbelief, and put his hands on his head as if to ask “What now? What did we do to deserve this?”
Przybilla was carried of the floor by the biggest players left on the Blazers, recently activated rookie Jeff Pendergraph and recently signed Anthony Tolliver. He couldn’t put pressure on the leg, and as the cameras followed him down the tunnel, his kneecap could be seen perched abnormally high on his knee, a sign of a dislocation and possibly much more. It hadn’t quite sunk in that their lone center, their best defensive player, would be out indefinitely with what was diagnosed as a ruptured patella tendon and a patella dislocation, but they came together and sought to win improbably without their heart and soul.
Angered by the millionth injury to this team, Portland showed immediate perseverance. Guard Brandon Roy hit a three-pointer out of the timeout that followed Przybilla’s fall, LaMarcus Aldridge nailed a jumper from Jerryd Bayless on the ensuing possession, and then power forward Juwan Howard and Aldridge hit back-to-back jumpers. Portland, which had made only 3-16 from the floor prior to Przybilla’s devastating injury, had hit four inspired shots in a row.
The Blazers had a dry spell to begin the second period, but managed to notch a tie at 29 midway through. Aldridge had hit two straight jumpers to force a timeout by Dallas, and picked up where he left off. He blocked a shot by Drew Gooden at the rim and was rewarded for his efforts, hitting a turnaround over his counterpart amidst heavy contact. He continued his extraordinary play, swishing a jumper after grabbing an offensive rebound, dunking after receiving a lob pass from Roy from mid-court, and canning a running hook to give Portland a five-point advantage with just under three minutes remaining.
Shooting guard Martell Webster got into the act, hitting a three-pointer after an offensive rebound by point guard Andre Miller. This gave the Blazers 17 of the game’s past 21 points, a run that spanned over five minutes. Off a turnover, Miller capped the quarter-ending spurt, threading the needle to Howard for a layup. Portland held a 11-point lead at intermission, made possible by Aldridge’s 17 first-half points and pure poise and resiliency on the part of the entire shell-shocked team.
Aldridge didn’t score in the third period, and few of his teammates did in his stead. Dallas’s combination of Dirk Nowitzki and Jose Juan Barea scored 22 of the team’s 32 third quarter points, taking advantage of the flat Blazers that were presumably deflated because they had time to think about what transpired early in the first quarter in the locker-room.
There was one bright spot in the quarter, as Pendergraph dunked on a feed from Steve Blake as the clock neared one minute for his first NBA points. But Dallas capped their impressive burst, nabbing a seven-point lead heading into the fourth on a three-pointer by Nowitzki after center Erick Dampier grabbed two offensive rebounds to keep the possession alive.
Portland was down, looking clearly dejected and drained, but they were not out by any means. They battled back from the debilitating rupture and dislocation in the first half, so why couldn’t they regain their composure and rekindle their magic in the fourth?
Howard started the quarter off on the right foot, hitting a jumper in the key, cutting the margin to five at 65-60. Aldridge was finally heard from, hitting a pretty fade-away over Nowitzki to pull the Blazers even closer. Roy made it a four-point game again moments later, knifing around guard Jason Kidd before hitting a tough layup over Nowitzki’s outstretched arm. They clawed closer still on a three-pointer by Blake from Roy, within one on a nifty stop-and-go jumper by Roy against a helpless Gooden, and then took a 72-70 lead on a three-pointer by Bayless, who was the fifth Blazer to touch the ball in a span of four seconds.
Dallas scored only three points during the three minutes that ensued. Over that same span, Portland tallied nine points, the final three coming on a three-pointer by Bayless from Blake. Then came the play of the game. After a jumper by Nowitzki put an end to what was a 17-3 run by the Blazers, Howard held the ball in the middle of the lane with the shot-clock winding down. As the clock wound under three seconds, he fired a pass to Roy on the right baseline. The star faded away and hoisted immediately upon receiving the pass, and the 14-footer swished through, forcing the Mavericks bench to put their heads in their hands at the sight of the Blazers now eight-point lead.
Dallas scored the next six points, three from the free-throw line and three on a three by Nowitzki, to climb within two with 1:15 remaining. Roy turned the ball over on the following possession, grasping his right shoulder in pain, a shoulder that he hurt minutes early upon being hammered on a layup attempt. A severe injury to him would have been the last thing the Blazers needed, but given how their season has gone, it would have been the nail in the overflowing coffin. He walked limply, his arm dangling weakly. He would play through the physical pain, and he, and the rest of his teammates, would fight through the emotional pain of losing their emotional leader.
Chaos ensued, as the ball was tipped about, only to fall into the hands of Roy with the shot-clock nearing expiration and the game-clock under twenty seconds. He took a bump by Jason Terry in a desperation attempt, and fell hard to the crowd as the ball caromed off the rim and into the hands of Webster’s cousin. Terry zoomed downcourt, but missed a layup under duress. Howard, who hounded Terry on the play, grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
After a timeout, Miller was fouled on the inbounds pass, and, with a two point lead, 83-81, could make both and seal the victory. With all the injuries, it is clear the Basketball Gods have something against the Blazers, but they felt sympathetic, as Miller’s first attempt rattled around the rim and dropped for a three-point lead. Smiling, he swished the second, and with that and a miss by Terry on the other end, the Blazers had miraculously and improbably won.
It was a great win, perhaps the best of the season, but it was bittersweet, as, sadly, most are these days for Portland.
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Game Notes:
Portland shot only 40 percent from the field, but their superb defense held Dallas to just 38 percent. The Mavericks were shooting upwards of 45 percent late in the third quarter, so the Blazers put the clamp down when it mattered most.
Aldridge finished with 19 points, just two coming in the second half. He carried the load after Przybilla went down, and the Blazers certainly wouldn’t have won without him.
They definitely wouldn’t have won without Roy and his second-half performance. He scored 23 points, 14 coming in the second half including ten in the fourth quarter alone. He added 6 assists and 4 steals, with all four thefts coming in the opening two frames.
Howard had a huge game off the bench for Portland, scoring 10 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing 4 assists. Miller added 12 points, and Bayless made an impact as well, scoring 9 points to compliment 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a big steal in the fourth. He played a season-high 34 minutes in notching his first double-double since April of 2007.
Barea was nuisance throughout for Portland, and finished with 22 points on 9-16 shooting. He was quiet in the fourth quarter, though, limited to just two points in last twelve minutes.
Nowitzki scored ten points of his team-leading 27 points in the fourth quarter. He, like Barea, was very efficient, shooting 10-13 from the floor while grabbing 9 rebounds.
The usually explosive Terry was a non-factor, scoring only 8 points on 2-13 shooting. Keeping him in check was key, considering he is one of the best scorers off the bench in the NBA.
This was Portland’s 40th straight win when holding the opposition to 90 points or less. Dallas, averaging 102 points per game, was held to 81 on this night. The Blazers are now the second-best defensive team in the NBA.
On the injury front, Przybilla is out indefinitely, according to the team. But, given the extent of his injury, he is most likely done for the year. Let’s hope this isn’t career-ending.
There are quotes from Przybilla in this article by the Oregonian’s Joe Freeman.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, Roy will undergo an MRI on his shoulder tomorrow. He said it was nothing serious in an interview with announcer Mike Barrett following the game. Hopefully he’ll be ready to go tomorrow night against San Antonio. Worth noting, at the end of Barrett’s interview with Roy, Barrett said half-jokingly “You aren’t allowed to get hurt.” If he is seriously hurt, the last straw will be pulled from the already broken, battered, bruised, and now torn camel’s back.
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