Blazers Break Rockets' Hearts Again

Last second shot from Roy lifts Portland to 90-89 victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Portland, OR - The Rockets had been here before; up by a single point at the Rose Garden, having just watched one of their own sink a clutch shot in the dying moments of the game.

Blessed (cursed?) with the benefit of knowing how the story played out last time, Houston knew better than to feel comfortable just yet. What the Rockets could not figure out, however, was how to prevent re-living that nightmare finish once again.

Just as he’d done one year ago, Portland’s Brandon Roy rose to the occasion and delivered a highlight-worthy, backbreaking shot in the final seconds to lift the Trailblazers to a 90-89 victory over Houston. His heroics took place much closer to the basket this time – last year’s game-winner was delivered from 30 feet out - but the degree of difficulty was still off the charts, bringing an otherwise successful four-game road trip to an agonizing end.

“I was just crossing my fingers, ‘please miss it,’” said Luis Scola, whose 18-foot jumper had put the Rockets on top 89-88 just six seconds before Roy’s circus shot found the bottom of the net. “But he’s just too good. He’s going to do it again, hopefully not against us but he will do it again. He’s just a great player.”

That much was evident not just from Roy’s final numbers (28 points on 9-of-15 shooting) but in the way he carried the Blazers down the stretch. Portland repeatedly spread the floor and asked its fourth-year guard to make something happen in isolation during the game’s final minute and he came through three consecutive times despite being hounded by Rockets’ defensive ace Trevor Ariza.

None was more impressive than his final foray to the rim in which Roy dribbled behind his back to gain a step on Ariza, before contorting his body as he flew through the lane while simultaneously scooping a shot high off the backboard and in for the dagger with three seconds left. Houston gave Aaron Brooks the ball on its final possession but his desperation runner at the buzzer was off target, giving Portland a much-needed win after the Blazers lost center Greg Oden (fractured patella) to a season-ending injury early in the first quarter.

“I thought the last three possessions (Trevor) played (Roy) about as well as you can play him,” said Rockets’ Head Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “The only other thing you can do is run at him and try to make him give the ball up. Maybe that’s what we have to do next time but that last shot he threw in was a tough shot. You can’t do much better than that unless you block it.”

Roy’s heroics took some of the shine off another strong showing from Carl Landry, who came off the bench to deliver a team-high 23 points and 9 rebounds. Landry’s increased production this season has earned him plenty of crunch time minutes and it’s now no longer unusual to see him in the role of go-to guy down the stretch. Saturday night’s contest, however, offered the third-year forward his most prominent part yet and he responded with a monster final frame, tallying 13 points and 5 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

“In this game, if players have confidence they feel like they can do anything,” said the Purdue product. “And my confidence is at a high right now and hopefully it can continue to stay there through the remainder of the season.”

Landry was especially effective on the offensive glass, repeatedly corralling misses and turning them into two points either via put-backs or at the free throw line. That’s nothing new, of course; Rockets’ fans have grown accustomed to seeing the springy forward gobble up nearly every loose ball on the offensive end. The key now is for him to display the same sort of tenacity when pursuing the missed shots which carom off of the opponent’s rim.

“Carl’s a hungry offensive player,” explains Shane Battier. “Anytime he smells points, he goes and gets it. Everyone wishes he had that desire on the defensive end but he’s still a young player and he’s still learning.

“He has an amazing ability to rebound in traffic. He’s an elite rebounder in traffic and that’s a skill very few guys have in this league. He’s so explosive and just so strong when he jumps. You can bump him and he still powers through so explosively. It’s pretty impressive to watch. For young players, especially one as gifted as Carl, the challenge is to play both ends and to give the effort on both ends and that’s something he’s continuing to work on and for us to be a good team we need him to rebound like that consistently.”

That's a lesson which is easy to vocalize and challenging to transform into on-court reality. You know, sort of like stopping Brandon Roy.

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN

Tough loss. Just couldn’t get a stop there in the last two minutes.

Aaron’s got the best chance to get a shot off with three seconds. I thought maybe Luis was open on the drive and I thought maybe he would do the same thing he did last game – beat the guy for a pull-up jumper – but he’s our best chance to get a shot with three seconds left on the clock, especially where he caught it. But it didn’t work.

(on defending Roy): We were (trying to trap him) on the pick-and-rolls but they ran isolation and if you run out there and get him, they have four guards on the floor and Aldridge. Trevor did a good job on him those last three possessions, he just made shots. Now you think about it, but if you give up a wide-open three… we needed one stop and we didn’t get it.

(on Landry): Carl was great, terrific in the fourth quarter especially. We had a great chance to win. When you’re playing on the road you want to give yourself a shot to win in the fourth quarter – that’s what you want and we had our shot to win and didn’t get it done.

(did Trevor want assignment of guarding Roy?): Yeah. Like I said, I thought the last three possessions he played him about as well as you can play him. The only other thing you can do is run at him and try to make him give the ball up. Maybe that’s what we have to do next time but that last shot he threw in was a tough shot. You can’t do much better than that unless you block it.

(on the Rockets’ road trip): They played their butts off the whole trip.

TREVOR ARIZA

He’s a great player, an All-Star. At the end of the game when it counted, he stepped up big. I thought I played great defense but it was better offense.

It’s tough, especially with a game like that that comes down to the wire. Guys played so hard to win and to not get it in the end is real tough.

AARON BROOKS

I was trying to get to the hole. There was a little bit of contact but that’s what happens. I missed the shot, they made theirs, that’s what happens.

LUIS SCOLA

I was just crossing my fingers, ‘please miss it.’ But he’s just too good. That’s the game. You know in the NBA it will happen; the last 15 seconds you may see four or five changes of the lead. That’s just the way it is. Nine seconds is a lot of time.

He’s going to do it again, hopefully not against us but he will do it again. He’s just a great player. Just too good.

CARL LANDRY

We fought the whole game and we’re always preaching defense. And at the end of the game and we need stops, we’ve got to have them, especially on the road.

(on his play): In this game, if players have confidence they feel like they can do anything. And my confidence is at a high right now and hopefully it can continue to stay there through the end of the season.

(on his offensive rebounding prowess): I’ve got a batter chance than getting it on the defensive end, yeah (laughs). That’s the way I feel sometimes.

I was always considered a role player. But in the back of my head I always knew I could score with the ball in my hands. So when the opportunity came for me to go get the ball off the rim on the offensive end, I just took that as an opportunity for me to score. It’s just in me now, it’s in my blood.

SHANE BATTIER

He hit a tough shot. Trevor was all over him. He took a really high degree of difficulty shot and he made it. That’s not the first he’s made in his career and not the last. I thought we played solid defense, he was just a little bit better.
I don’t know about the Kobe-level, but he’s as good as anyone else in the league late in games. You know that it doesn’t matter what he’s done prior to that, in the fourth quarter he’s going to turn it on. He’s a really, really good young player.

(On Carl’s offensive rebounding): Carl’s a hungry offensive player. Anytime he smells points, he goes and gets it. Everyone wishes he had that desire on the defensive end but he’s still a young player and he’s still learning. He has an amazing ability to rebound in traffic. He’s an elite rebounder in traffic and that’s a skill very few guys have in this league. For young players, especially one as gifted as Carl, the challenge is to play both ends and to give the effort on both ends and that’s something he’s continuing to work on and for us to be a good team we need him to rebound like that consistently.

He’s so explosive. His explosion from 0 to 40 inches is elite. He just is so strong when he jumps. Carl, you can bump him and he still powers through so explosively. It’s pretty impressive to watch.

COACH NATE McMILLAN

On Greg Oden:
“We’ve gone through it all year long. We continue to, as Greg said, get these setbacks. Guys are getting injured and not something that we’re tweaking, these are injuries that are keeping guys out for a while. It’s just unfortunate for him. I thought he was the most consistent player this short season as far as what he brought to the floor night in and night out on both ends of the floor… For him to go through this, it’s just unfortunate for him because he worked hard to get ready for this season.”

“The team that I’ve been looking for, I saw them tonight after [Greg’s injury] and the scrappiness and the being together and connected and as I told them, we keep saying injuries are part of the game and we keep getting hit with some serious injuries, but they have a chance as long as they stay together and they play together and they play with the energy and intensity. I thought that team came together tonight after Greg went down and I really feel it was the first time I’ve seen them play like we are capable of playing and like we played last year – with the scrappiness, with heart, together on both ends of the floor. Execution was better and we end up pulling out a tough game against a very good team.”

On Roy’s game winner

“…We talked about running up a pick and roll and he said he didn’t want that. I thought he got fouled a couple times going to the basket, but that’s the Brandon Roy we’ve learned to know here. To see him back, taking that game over late was huge. He played with a lot of poise, a lot of confidence.
“We had a number of guys step up. I thought Miller was really good tonight making plays and scoring. I thought Bayless who has been sitting there waiting for his opportunity took advantage of that tonight.”

BRANDON ROY

“He’s just got to do his best to relax and get better and we’ll do our best to continue to play and try to fill in for him. We won a game but at the end of the day, all our hearts are with Greg. We did our best to stay in there tonight. Everybody stepped up and played well. We pulled off a big win, a win that we really needed before this road trip.”
On last possession:

“I was trying to get as close as I could to the rim and just made a tough shot. I felt like I had a good look on it. I thought I was bumped a little bit but I was just happy we made the shot and got the win.”

LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE

On Greg apologizing for injury:
“He didn’t do anything. People don’t understand that injuries are part of the game. We all are at risk every time we play so I think injuries are going to happen. It’s unfortunate that it’s happened to him. He’s going to be confident and come back strong. I look forward to him coming back… We all know that he didn’t want it to happen. We didn’t want it to happen but we know he’s going to come back strong. ”

ANDRE MILLER

“It was just one of those games where you’ve got it going offensively, but it feels better to get the win.”
How would you describe season so far?

“Bad luck. 3 guys that went down are pretty much out for the year. That hurts when you’ve got 3 core guys that go down for the season.”

“You’re losing guys to injuries and this team has so many expectations going into the season. Things happen in the league and you have to find ways. Other guys get an opportunity to contribute and you see what your character is.”

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