Friday, November 7, 2008

Link it up: Trust the Clutch Edition

Along with the links provided below, be sure to check out our new recap page. Lots of news, audio and video all on one page.

Jason Quick, The Oregonian: It is yet another addition to a long list of late-game heroics for Roy, who is in his third NBA season, and this one couldn't have come at a better time. The Blazers (2-3) have been scuffling this early season against top-notch teams like Houston (3-2). The script for their downfall unfolded again on Thursday: play well early, build a double digit lead late, then collapse amid turnovers and poor shots at the finish.

Roy finished with 17 points, but made only 6-of-18 shots. His last two baskets came after he missed four in a row at the end of regulation and in overtime.

"This one shoots to the top. I've made a lot of big ones, but never after a boneheaded mistake," Roy said. "This is definitely the best."

Kerry Eggers, Portland Tribune
: Brandon Roy beat the Houston Rockets Thursday night at the Rose Garden.

Twice.

Lost the game for the Trail Blazers, too.

All in 1.9 seconds.

When the smoke cleared, Roy’s turnaround 30-foot prayer kissed the net at the buzzer, lifting Portland to an improbable 101-99 overtime victory.

Perhaps never has so much drama – so much swing of emotion – been packed into the final two seconds of a Blazer game.

Brian Hendrickson, The Columbian: The story was starting to look familiar in the Rose Garden on Thursday.

But this time there was an ending few will forget.

After each team traded what it thought would be the game-winning shot in a 1.1-second span, Brandon Roy stepped out to 31 feet and tossed up a contested, fade-away 3-point shot as overtime expired that went straight through to give the Portland Trail Blazers a thrilling — and shocking — 101-99 win over Houston Thursday night at a sold-out Rose Garden.

John Hollinger, ESPN.com
: Call it divine intervention. On a night the Blazers honored the late Kevin Duckworth, Brandon Roy's prayer of a shot with 0.8 seconds remaining handed Portland a 101-99 overtime win that capped off one of the best finishes you'll ever see.

If you didn't stay up until 1:45 a.m. ET to see it, shame on you: We got three, count 'em, three lead changes in the final 1.9 seconds of OT, a flurry of scoring capped when Roy's turn-and-shoot 30-footer at the buzzer fell straight through the net to give Portland the victory.

"Big Duck was looking down on us," said Blazers coach Nate McMillan. "He didn't want us to lose on his night."

Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don't Lie
: The Rockets probably should have won this one, but they had no real chance with Rudy Fernandez for stretches, and LaMarcus Aldridge (27 points and nine rebounds) is about four inches taller than Luis Scola or Chuck Hayes, and Ron Artest couldn't stop Brandon Roy in transition or on a quick inbounds for a 30-footer shot in .7 of a second. Come on, Ron. Get it together.

There were other issues, a bit too many for a two-point overtime game. Small forward Travis Outlaw pulled in as many rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench (13) as Houston's starting frontcourt combined, and Yao Ming/Scola/Artest played almost 110 minutes. Overall, the team played a fine game, I mean that, but you can see why things didn't go the Rockets' way.

Johnathan Feign, Houston Chronicle: For eight-tenths of a second, the Rockets had every reason to believe the game had been won.

They had spent most of four quarters and almost all but the last fractions of a second chasing the Trail Blazers. They had overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit. They even came back after a Brandon Roy turnaround fadeaway from 21 feet with 1.9 seconds left, with Yao Ming hitting a jumper through a foul for a three-point play and a 99-98 lead with just eight-tenths of a second left.

They just left the Blazers too much time.

Dave, Blazer's Edge: Hey Ron Artest, meet Rudy Fernandez. Oops! I can see he’s already gotten by you. That’s OK, you can meet him later. I see Yao Ming waving at him now. Rudy had a couple of crowd-buzzing highlights tonight and played another fantastic offensive game. Most every game I like to talk about something that makes him special…the reasons why he looks different than other players out there. If you see a replay of tonight’s game, watch his hands as he cuts or comes off screens on the offensive end. He is always ready to receive the ball and shoot.

Jason Friedman, Rockets.com: For one fleeting moment, the Rockets appeared to have accomplished the impossible: Not only were they going to win a game they had no business winning, but Yao Ming – who struggled mightily for the second straight game – was going to be the hero. It all seemed too good to be true.

Unfortunately, it was.

Brandon Roy’s 30-foot buzzer-beater capped a wild night at the Rose Garden, giving the Portland Trailblazers a 101-99 overtime victory over Houston (3-2) in a game featuring more twists than a telephone cord.

1 comment:

Dereck said...

That shot was incrediclutch! That may not of been a word until he hit that last night, woohoo!!

I've never seen a mortar shot like that go so high and go in. How sweet.

The feeling of this one is reminiscent of Outlaw making that shot in Memphis last year.
Did we just start our end-of-the-year streak??