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03.04.09 TRAIL BLAZERS VS. PACERS
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BY MIKE ACKER
Brandon Roy scored 24 of his team high 28 points in the second half, and connected on two clutch free throws with 1.7 seconds left on the clock, helping the Portland Trail Blazers (38-22) to a 107-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers (27-37) in front of 20,020 at the Rose Garden Wednesday night.
Portland beat Indiana for the first time in nine games, and put up over 100 points on the Pacers for the first time since January 3rd, 2000.
The Trail Blazers started out slow on Wednesday night, struggling against the speed of the Indiana offense. Pacer’s rookie center Roy Hibbert connected on the second of two free throws with 7:59 to play in the first quarter, capping a 12-0 run by the visiting team, putting Indiana ahead 12-2. Travis Outlaw helped close the gap, converting on a three point play at the end of the first quarter, before Pacer’s reserve point guard Travis Diener hit a lay-up to finish the first period with Indiana leading 26-20.
“We’ve had trouble against speed,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “When you have speed out there, and the ability to create and shoot, you have to be on your toes every possession. They can go from being up on you two, three points, to you being down 10 or 12 points.”
Portland continued to struggle offensively into the second quarter. Pacer guard Marquis Daniels put home a driving dunk, giving the Pacers a 35-24 lead with 9:38 remaining in the half. The Trail Blazers relied on Outlaw and LaMarcus Aldridge for offense, the only two Portland players to finish the opening half with double figures in scoring. Aldridge finished the opening half with 15 points, and Outlaw added 17, 10 coming in the second period, and the Trail Blazers entered the halftime locker room down 59-52.
Roy began to come alive in the third quarter, but the Trail Blazers were unable to close the gap. Roy made a driving jump shot with 3:55 remaining in the third period, cutting Indiana’s lead to 79-74. The Pacers continued to make shots as the third quarter wound to a close, and Portland entered the final quarter of the evening behind 86-78.
Roy scored 11 points in the third quarter, after scoring only four in the first half, and none in the second quarter.
The Trail Blazers used defense, combined with offense from Roy and timely three pointers from Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez, to overcome the deficit in the final period of the night. Blake hit his first three-point basket of the evening with 6:55 remaining in the game, giving Portland an 89-88 lead. It was the first time the home team had led since being up 2-0 in the opening minutes of the first quarter.
Indiana continued to battle after getting down late. Daniels stole the ball from Blake at half court, and put down a fast break dunk, tying the game at 105-105 with 11.0 seconds remaining. Roy took the ball on the next possession, and was fouled driving the lane by Pacer’s guard T.J. Ford with 1.7 seconds on the clock. Roy stepped to the line and converted his seventh and eighth free throws on the night. Former Trail Blazer Jarrett Jack got the final look of the evening, missing a 28-foot heave at the buzzer, giving Portland their tenth home victory in a row.
“I don’t think we anticipated how fast they were, and all of a sudden we are back on our heals and we are down. We had to adjusted to it, and believe we could guard those guys,” McMillan said. “We tightened up in the fourth quarter. We made some buckets to sneak this game out.”
Portland outscored Indiana 29-19 in the final 12 minutes, the only quarter of the evening that the Trail Blazers won.
“I told myself at halftime, I’m going to come out aggressive the rest of (the second) half,” Roy said. “We had a lot of guys step up tonight, I’m just happy that everybody was ready to play because we needed everybody today.”
Aldridge and Outlaw finished with 21 points apiece, Joel Przybilla contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season, Blake finished with nine points, and Fernandez scored eight points including a three-pointer with 7:57 left to play in the fourth to pull Portland to within two of Indiana. Roy finished the fourth quarter with 13 points.
In an overwhelming show of community support, fans attending and watching tonight’s Portland Trail Blazers game against the Indiana Pacers raised $21,346.58 to assist the family of Portland-area teen Nathan Vredevelt.
Vredevelt, 16, was injured as he attempted to cross I-5 near the Rose Quarter Sunday evening and remains hospitalized in critical condition. The family is without medical insurance.
The Trail Blazers pledged on Tuesday to match donations made by fans at tonight’s game, up to $10,000. Southlake Church, a church attended by the Vredevelt family, today responded in kind. The matching $10,000 donations will result in a total donation of more than $41,000 to help the Vredevelt family with medical bills. Donations can still be contributed through an online donation form and by visiting any Wells Fargo Branch.
Portland takes on Denver on the road on Thursday, in a battle for first place in the Northwest division.
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NATE MCMILLAN
“We’ve had trouble all year against speed. With a team like Indiana, you have to be on your toes for every possession. The Pacers are unpredictable and for most of three quarters we were stagnant. The speed of that team all of a sudden we seemed to be back on our heels, yet even though they were small, they played very physical. But I thought we really tightened up in the fourth quarter and did the things we wanted to do from the start. We had good ball movement, we got some stops and kept them on the perimeter for the most part and the good thing was we got to the line for 32 free throws.
“Right now every game we play is a big one. At Denver tomorrow it’s a big one as well. But so was the game tonight against Indiana. We just have to play better basketball at the beginning of games and not put ourselves in positions to have to rally in the fourth quarter so much. We haven’t fared that well on the road against teams against teams above .500.”
BRANDON ROY
Regarding Portland's last offensive possession
“No. That was just freelance. Everybody was to get spacing and shoot it if the got it. My biggest thing: If its tied, I’m going to try to get to the basket and get something at the rim. There was contact. He tripped me. I was fortunate to make the free throws.
On Portland's 14-0 run
“It started with our defense. We were able to get stops. It helped us get better ball movement on offense. That’s a tough team. They’ve got a lot of guys who can create offense for themselves. They did a good job with ball movement. I think in the fourth quarter we were able to get ball movement on offense. Travis, LaMarcus, Blake made shots. Rudy played great for us. That’s what we need in games like this.
On breaking the losing streak to the Pacers
“We’re definitely happy to get that over with. The thing about it, coming into the game the guys didn’t even know they’d beaten us nine in a row. This team is erasing all the old (bad) memories. Its about this year and this team. We needed this.
On Thursday's game against Denver
“We’ve got to suck it up and have to be ready to go (tomorrow night). We’re tired but at the same time we have a chance to play for the division lead. Hopefully the guys can get rested on the plane and be ready to give 110 percent.”
JARRETT JACK
“They are a great team, the especially play great at home. We had the lead down the stretch, had a tough time hitting some shots, Brandon was great, he hit some shots down the stretch.
“I was excited to get back here, the reception was really warm, glad to see the fans appreciated what I did when I was here for three years, hopefully next time will be just as fun. It was crazy with them calling out some of the plays and I already know them, that’s my first time experiencing that. It was fun just seeing how these guys have grown individually, their games are definitely stepping up tremendously. LaMarcus, Brandon, Travis as well, I’m proud of them.”
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• The Trail Blazers are now a season-best 16 games over .500 and are 16 games above even for the first season since 2002-03.
• The Pacers had won nine straight games in the series, the longest streak against Portland of any NBA team … After tonight, no team has a current streak of more than three games vs. Portland.
• The Trail Blazers won their season-high 10th straight home contest … Portland’s 25-5 home mark is the second-best mark in the Western Conference.
• Portland scored 100-plus points for the first time vs. Indiana since Jan. 3, 2000.
• Portland won for the ninth time when trailing after three quarters … The win marked the 11th time the Trail Blazers have won when trailing or tied through three periods, a league high.
• The Trail Blazers improved to 27-3 when scoring 100-plus points.
• Portland’s 19-5 record against the Eastern Conference is the best mark of any Western Conference team.
• Portland is now 15-2 playing against teams in the second game of a back-to-back.
• The Trail Blazers are now 9-1 in games decided by four points or less and 7-1 when the game is decided by three points or less.
• The Trail Blazers have committed fewer or the same number of turnovers as their opponent in seven straight games.
• Brandon Roy scored 13 of his team-high 28 points in the fourth quarter … He has led Portland in scoring in 37 games.
• Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge scored Portland first 10 points, a game after they combined to score Portland’s first 17 points (8-10 FG) vs. San Antonio on Mar. 1 ... Only Roy, Aldridge and Travis Outlaw made field goals in the first quarter.
• The Trail Blazers trailed at the half for the first time in 10 home games … Portland has scored 50-plus first-half points in nine straight home contests … Portland trailed after the first quarter for just the second time in the last 10 home games.
• The Pacers held a 16-6 rebounding edge (6-1 offensive) in the first quarter.
• Indiana made five of its six three-point tries in the first half.
• Outlaw did not miss a shot (2-2 FG, 3-3 FT) in scoring seven first-quarter points and finished the first half 7-for-8 from the field for a game-high 17 points.
• The Trail Blazers did not make a three-pointer until the 6:50 mark of the third quarter (Nicolas Batum) … Portland ranked fifth in the league in three-point shooting percentage before today’s games.
• Joel Przybilla tallied a career-high tying and season-best eight offensive rebounds … He had six offensive boards in the second quarter alone ... Przybilla has grabbed eight-plus rebounds in all eight games since the All-Star break ... He has led Portland in rebounds a team-best 28 times ... He earned his sixth double-double of the season.
• LaMarcus Aldridge scored 20-plus points for the 28th time this season.
• Rudy Fernandez has made a three-point field goal in all 30 home games.
• Indiana is just 3-8 when shooting 50.0% or better this season.
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