While Roy was incredibly awesome last night — like, top-five in the league good — and deserves all of the accolades being placed at his feet, he needs to send a shout-out to Aaron Brooks for giving the Blazers an opportunity to secure the win. It was a tight game during the entire fourth quarter; however, there was a critical stretch in crunch time where the Rockets essentially gave the game to Portland, and Brandon Roy was ready to receive it. From where I was watching (couch, center of the picture), the turning point was when Greg Oden fouled out at the 3:39 mark. At this point, the score was 91-89, Portland, with Aaron Brooks going to the foul line to shoot a pair.

And then the Rockets proceeded to gift-wrap Game 2, when a commanding 2-0 series lead was well within their grasp. To wit, here are the next few possessions following Oden’s sixth foul:

3:39 – Brooks makes second FT. 91-90, Portland
3:25 – Travis Outlaw makes 13-foot two point shot. 93-90
3:09 – Aaron Brooks misses 25-foot three point jumper .
3:06 – Ron Artest offensive rebound.
3:03 – Von Wafer misses 23-foot three point jumper. Score after one empty possession: 93-90
2:24 – Brandon Roy makes 25-foot three point jumper. 96-90
2:12 – Aaron Brooks turnover. 96-90

The next two possessions for Houston, where Portland failed to extend their lead, went like this. Keep in mind, the score is still 96-90, Portland — well within striking distance for Houston, provided they executed correctly. They did not:

1:38 – Ron Artest misses 23-foot jumper.
1:05 – Aaron Brooks bad pass (Travis Outlaw steals).
1:02 – Travis Outlaw makes driving dunk. 98-90
0:56 – Yao Ming makes 3-foot hook shot. 98-92

It took the Rockets almost three minutes of game time — about 10 in real time — to throw Yao Ming, the one guy Portland doesn’t match up with very well, the ball. During that time, Houston was quite inept for a playoff team. When your crunch time possessions look like this: Missed three-pointer, missed three-pointer, a Brandon Roy three-pointer, a turnover by Aaron Brooks, another missed three, and another turnover by Brooks before the Rockets put the ball in their best player’s hands, losing seems like a forgone conclusion.

Meanwhile, Portland and Roy were more than happy to take advantage of Houston inability to close the game out. Granted, Brooks did score eight points in the final 12 seconds, but by then, all Portland had to do was hit free throws and they were home free.

As you can see from the 107-103 final score, that’s exactly what they did. Game 3 is on Friday night.

Tags: Aaron Brooks, Brandon Roy, Houston Rockets, NBA Playoffs, Portland Trail Blazers, Yao Ming

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