"So what's the big deal, I mastered the art of the tiny fist pump in 8 days? Oh you're more impressed by the knee thing. Makes sense I guess." (Source: YardBarker.com)

There’s a lot on the line tonight. The story will be which team comes out and plays like it.

It’s amazing how much simpler things get when you reach a Game 5. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Game 5′s are just like booty calls. Why? Because you know exactly what you’re going to get out of them.

By Game 5, both teams know each other. The majority of the questions have been answered. Generally speaking, the key adjustments have been made. And if they haven’t…you’re probably not in the best of positions to compete in the series. Both teams know what to expect from each other. By Game 5, neither team cares what the others middle name is, it’s just time to throw down. This is where the cliches start kicking in: it’s about who wants it more. About which team can impose their will on the other. I’ll stop there.

Phoenix, obviously will be looking to be more aggressive than they were on Saturday. From reading and hearing the comments from the Suns, they are coming in with a high level of confidence. Honestly at this point, it’s almost bordering on a little bit of arrogance. A little bit of ‘If we do what we do they can’t beat us’ type feel. Despite it being a 2-2 series, they feel as if the reason they have lost is because they missed shots. And they have said it multiple times. One of Phoenix’s main objectives for tonight is improving offensively. You hold a team like Phoenix to 87 points and you expect them to want to rectify that.

(Sidenote, I like how this becoming a real playoff series. In my eyes, as a fan, it’s not a playoff series until guys from the other team start bugging you. That started happening for me in Game 4. Clearly Amare has embraced the role of lead villain, but the rest of the Suns are starting to wear on my nerves. Especially that damn Robin Lopez…and he’s not even playing! Come on Jarron Collins scoring doesn’t bug you?!?! Liars.)

A major key coming into this one is Portland’s ability to stop Phoenix’s transition game. Last night on TNT they put up a great stat showing Phoenix’s fast-break points and how it’s correlated to winning. In Games 1 and 4 they only scored 4 fast break points, both games they lost. In Games 2 and 3 they recorded double-digits in fast break points, both games they won. Phoenix is a completely different team when they can score in transition and Portland has got to take care of that from the start.

On the flip side, for Portland they have to continue to find ways to get offensive rebounds. Now that’s a slippery slope because you can’t just recklessly crash the boards. If you do and you don’t get it Phoenix is scoring on you on the other end. I’ll take more tapouts from Marcus Camby and Juwan Howard please.

Another key to this one is how good of a start the Blazers get off too. It’s been simple, when Portland gets off to a good start in this series they are right there all game. When they don’t they get run off the court. Phoenix and their crowd realize the importance of this game and there should be a ton of energy coming from the home team. The Blazers have to be ready to match that to start and go from there. If not, as we’ve seen before, things could get ugly.

If Portland wants a victory, they really need to know where Jason Richardson is at all times. We all know what Nash and Amare can do when they get rolling. But the key to the Suns really playing well is Richardson. On the series, he’s averaging 25 points a game, shooting 54% from the field and 51% from behind the arc. In this series he’s proven that he is an impact player. In Phoenix’s two losses he’s shot 10-for-28 from the field (35.7%) and 4-for-14 from behind the arc (28.5%). If he’s able to knock down shots, Portland will be in trouble. If he’s not they have a chance.

Offensively, Portland has to keep executing. A major key to getting off to a good start is finding ways to put the ball in the basket early. One of the underrated stories about Game 4 was Portland’s balance offensively. Seven players scored 8 or more points and five were in double figures. That’s big, because if Portland can score that in itself helps stunt Phoenix’s transition game. I’m interested to see how Phoenix play LaMarcus Aldridge tonight. I’m also interested to see how Andre Miller responds in Game 2 with Roy back. The one thing about Roy’s return is for the first time it really spread out Phoenix’s defense. Roy’s return has made life easier on everyone else, let’s see what Phoenix has up their sleeve tonight.

My favorite part about this game? Almost any result is realistic. I don’t know about you but I can imagine Portland pulling a close one out about as much as I can imagine them losing by 27. There’s a lot on the line here. The loser gets put on the brink of elimination. Phoenix recognizes the importance of this game and I know they do not want to go to Portland down 3-2. A lot of the pressure coming into this one lies on their shoulders. Portland on the other hand is going to have to find a way to get themselves ready to play. They won’t have the Rose Garden crowd, they won’t have the fuel of two embarrassing blowouts, they won’t have Brandon Roy’s comeback. They have to do whatever it takes to be ready for this one.

I think the good thing about this series is generally speaking you can tell how it’s going to end up relatively quick. Portland sticks around in the first quarter, you know it’s a game. They don’t…you know the rest. Which means if Portland doesn’t show up in the desert, I’ll be watching Pamela Anderson on Dancing With The Stars a little earlier than I had wanted.

Also, they finally went out and took a game in this series.

Its Aldridge who deserves a ton of credit for his performance tonight. He could have disappeared and everyone would have written their best ‘Blazers good but  just a year away’ piece. Nope. Instead he stepped up to the plate and welcomed the challenge. He was solid as a rock for the Blazers all night in a way that the team clearly needed. Without his consistency throughout the first three quarters, the Blazers more than likely don’t win this ballgame. And I doubt you’ll find anyone who will disagree with that. I point to his 10 points in the third quarter when I look at his value tonight. Odd to point to a quarter where the Rockets went to work for the most part, but he scored 10 of Portland’s 14 points that quarter at a time when Houston had the momentum. At a point when the Blazers’ offense was sputtering between turnovers and stagnancy, Aldridge found a way to make plays. Big-time players make big-time plays and that’s Aldridge did tonight. He doesn’t make some of the plays he did and the 15-0 run may not have had a chance to happen. I may be sitting here a little tipsy trying to make sure all my words are spelled correctly. To show up in an elimination game with the type of performance he delievered was good stuff. More importantly than anything is the fact that he didn’t back down from a challenge. Over this season, Aldridge has sometimes just altogether disappeared in situations. But with his star sidekick clearly ailing, he decided not to go out without a fight.

Speaking of the star, Brandon Roy had himself quite the ballgame. On the outside looking in, 25 points on 9-for-20 with 3 assists and 2 turnovers might fall into the meh category. But considering he may have had a variation of the swine flu coming into this one and needed an IV just to go out there…it was where amazing happened. Kanye would be proud. It was good to see him get a ‘sick game’ under his belt, every superstar has one eventually. Roy struggled through three quarters, never quite looking like himself. Occasionally he’d have flashes where he could get to the bucket, but it just never felt like he quite had it. It didn’t help that his jumper was off as he got good looks but just could not convert them. But in the 4th quarter he seemed to have found some sort of second wind. It was like he was Mario and he got a magic mushroom and became Super Mario or something. Either way #7  drew a line in the sand and said enough was enough. 14 of his 25 points came in the final period, including some huge shots to make sure the Rockets knew they had at least one more battle with this Blazer team. Another instance of a big-time player making big-time plays when his team needed him too. Isn’t that what the Playoffs are about?

Equally as big as Aldridge’s performance? The 15-0 game-winning run the Blazers went on from a little over the 8 minute mark of the 4th quarter to a little under the 5 minute mark. It was almost a sort of bizarro world as the Blazers did the exact opposite of what took place in Game 4. They were the ones playing defense, getting second chance opportunites and making big shots. Setting the stage, things were looking mighty dreary for the Blazers at what would be the beginning of the run. Von Wafer had just nailed a jumper to put the Rockets up 68-64. There was just an awful feeling surrounding the game after that shot. It genuinally felt like the season was slipping away. Portland had seen all of the momentum they had built up by controlling the game through the first half go out the door. The Blazers watched as their 56-45 lead from midway in the third quarter has now turned into a 4-point disadvantage. They failed to take advantage of a Rocket lineup that featured Kyle Lowry, Von Wafer, Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry and Shane Battier. Not to mention that fresh in the minds of Blazer fans was the horrible lull attached with the 4th quarter of Game 4. If Outkast were to ever make Stankonia II, it probably could have been based on the feelings surrounding this moment. With their season on the line, the Blazers responded with heart and gutsy play. Not only that but they actually went out and made plays. More importantly, Brandon Roy found a way to fight through his sickness and go to work. He scored 8 of the 15 points during the run. Greg Oden made the biggest free throws of his career. Travis Outlaw hit the biggest shot of his career to put Portland up 7. The defense however was what won the game. During that stretch the Rockets had 2 turnovers (including a shot clock violation), a blocked shot, two forced three’s from Artest and Brooks and only 2 shots from Yao. Speaking of which, Yao wouldn’t put up a shot in the last 5 minutes of the ball game. He can be taken away in crunch time people.

Statistically, a few things jump out at me. Houston only collected 3 offensive rebounds, which means of their 40 misses tonight they only got 3 of them back. A complete 180 from the debacle known as Game 4 where Houston seemingly got two shots everytime they came down the court in the 4th quarter. If Portland wants a chance to win this series they will have to continue to control the boards. Also jumping out at me was the Blazers attempting 23 free throw attempts to Houston’s 10 attempts. That’s unlikely to be duplicated in Game 6 but a welcome statistic in my eyes. I won’t touch the referee debate, thats like asking white people about politics…just asking for trouble. Houston’s 16 turnovers should jump out to me…but Portland could not take advantage of them. At all. Houston had 9 turnovers in the first half and were only down by 7. Meanwhile we turn it over 6 times in the 4th in Game 4 and end up getting torched. Their transition D just doesn’t allow for Portland to take advantage and run. It hasn’t all series which is just a really underrated point because we’re generally having to earn everything in the half-court.

Another reason why Portland was able to win this game is that Houston’s role players either didn’t show up or finally remembered who they were. And by that they didn’t look like worldbeaters out there for once. Aaron Brooks not only shot an abysmal 6-for-20 but at times looks genuinally rattled. The thing about Brooks is that his aggression is both a positive and a negative. He can burn you but he can also burn his team. His decision to shoot a three or drive into the trees instead of going to Yao in the 4th quarter illustrated that. Ditto for Ron Artest. I’m at a cross roads with Ron Ron. He’s 11-for-37 over the past three games. On the surface you obviously don’t want him scoring because he is their #2 offensive option. What you do want him to do is shoot. Tonight was a prime example. He absolutely, positively ignored Yao Ming in the 4th quarter opting to put up jumpers instead. Wafer/Landry/Lowry combined for 12 points, much less than the 28 and 20 they put up respectively in the two games in Houston. Luis Scola however continued to play unreal basketball. It would have been a blowout if you take away his performance in the first half. He has yet to have a poor game, averaging 17.6 PPG and shooting 58.5% from the field. Portland continues to say ‘Hey, we’re going to take away Yao now you beat us’ and he keeps saying ‘Yes’ in between combing his hair. He may have the best mid-range jumper in the league.

For Portland, everyone played their hearts out. Joel Pryzbilla in particular left it all out there. His defense was great but also consider that Yao Ming did not get a single offensive rebound. Greg Oden gave some huge minutes in the 4th. Rudy stepped up and played a major role, something he is going to have to get used to for the duration of the year. To nitpick…they are still having some of the same problems offensively. Not trying to rain on a parade, just trying to be honest. One of the things I felt good about at halftime was the offensive balance the Blazers had. LMA had 15, Roy had 9, Blake had 10 and Rudy/Travis both had 7 of the bench. It felt like the offensive woes may have been cured. Well LMA and Roy finished with 25 but everyone else kind of limped. Travis’ big three in the 4th was the only points him or Rudy put up in the second half. I’ll get to this before Game 6, but to get to Game 7, Portland is going to need for Rudy and Travis to step up huge. It’s hard to depend on two guys on the road, we’ve seen that in Game 3 and 4. I feel like a broken record and Rudy played a well-deserved 35 minutes…but this team needs more production from those guys.

The only guarantee is that there will be a Game 6. How would I rate tonight’s win? I’d say this was as good of a win other than a blowout that the Blazers could get as far as momentum is concerned. Houston’s going to feel like they gave this one away, it’s only a natural feeling. They hit 3-for-15 from behind the arc, Artest and Brooks struggled, maybe something about the refs and so on and so forth. However, for the first time this series, their biggest Achilles’ heel was exposed. The inability to keep it together in the 4th quarter. If you didn’t know before tonight, you know now that the Rockets struggle to get Yao the ball late. Often times they look him off. I expect Game 6 to be a close one. There might be a little bit of doubt creeping into Houston’s mind. Add in the pressure of having to win and not wanting to back to Portland…and yeah. I might be dreaming, but you can see where I’m going. And you know there is some truth in it. You think Houston wants to come back here for Game 7? Exactly.

The most important thing is that Portland will live to fight another day. Rip City can stand proud of a team that continues to fight even with their backs against the wall. Soon enough another elimination game will be coming. Only time will tell if the Rose Garden will get the chance to host a Game 7.

Let’s all hope so. That would be…say it with me…..SCINTILLLATINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! (fast foward to :20 and enjoy.)