Less ball watching on offense, ball movement was crisper leading to team scoring contributions and the term “help defense” actually existed on the court. A lot of the problems of the last few games weren’t problems anymore. They weren’t perfect, either, but much closer to what the Blazers need.

The little disclaimer is that we caught San Antonio on the second night of a back-to-back and they lost Tony Parker for the second half. That helped last night but it didn’t have much to do with most of the positives we saw. The best of which was the offense, previously full of stagnant, one-on-one play, was now fluid, with a good amount of off-ball movement and guys making plays for one another.

The Steve Blake/Andre Miller combo in the starting lineup was interesting and effective. San Antonio has a lot of jumpshooters in their lineup so it limited the defensive worries of allowing too many easy forays into the lane. Miller was still the primary playmaker — or at least the standout one because of the fast breaks he started — and I couldn’t help but wonder how much different that lineup would be with Martell Webster in it. Is having one extra ballhandler out there so important? Well, it helped keep the pace up early and get Oden the ball with decent position, but way down the road it doesn’t seem like a viable option for a playoff series. For now, if it gets the ball moving like it did last night, the unconventional lineup should work fine, but you have to wonder if it’s the beginning of Blake being moved out of the starting group.

Sidenote: On first watch, it seemed that the Blazers were working so hard to get Oden the ball on the block that Aldridge never got into an early rhythm. But Aldridge did get plenty of touches in the first six minutes, he just wasn’t converting. A key game to watch for this season is the one where LMA and Oden both get off to good starts and have equally strong games offensively.

The Blazers were on cruise control for much of the second half, which led to a horrid sequence midway through the fourth when turnover after turnover led to gimmies for San Antonio, who cut the lead to three. That’s the type of moment that separates the playoff teams from the lottery-bound folks, and it was a great sign that it wasn’t only Roy that stepped up to stabilize things but Oden doing the same in the paint. We’ve been hearing a lot about players giving speeches about accountability and such, and you only get so many chances to back up your words. Roy almost always does, but this is new to Greg and other than a couple bad turnovers forced by Duncan, he did too. Kudos to them.

That’s one game up after a couple down. Still plenty of progress to be made, and we know as long as the two-point lineup is starting we aren’t going to fully grasp this team, and now the name of the game becomes consistency.

Individual Performances:

Considering he did it all against Timmy Duncan, this was Oden’s best and most complete game with the Blazers. On his two early fouls he was trying to play straight-up D and would not have been whistled has his arms been straight in the air. But, one arm was dropped and the other bent despite good body positioning, and Duncan earned those fouls. Nothing to complain about there, especially after Oden kept giving Duncan trouble in the second half by staying on the ground and moving his feet. And finally, we saw the offense, against one of the best defenders in the league (still). We saw a face-up jumper from outside the paint, two smooth jump hooks, a drop step layup and a power move, all on Duncan. The best part of it all was that for the first part this season, Oden was making this look natural and easy. When he scored, nothing was labored. Of course, he still had a couple janky moves and the Spurs gave him the benefit of isolations until the final period, but Oden proved his progress to a lot of people last night, and that counts.

Steve Blake was on, and he probably had to be otherwise Miller could have taken a firm grasp on the starting role. As the Blazers ran, he did well being a steadying presence and keeping the ball moving. Nothing spectacular other than a late three, but he did, and kept, his job.

Jerryd Bayless had some nice moments on offense, but I want to highlight his defense, particularly toward the end of the first quarter. Yes, he played some “Look at me playing D” full-court defense on George Hill, but he was still hunkered down in his stance and moving his feet well enough to stay in front of Hill as the ball was brought up. Bayless got jobbed on a push-off arm brush and didn’t look nearly as intense playing team defense, but when it came to stopping Hill one-on-one, he showed some defensive capabilities our other two point guards don’t necessarily have.

Roy had his shot going a little better and left much of the playmaking duties to the point guards, leaving him with plenty to to his thing when the Spurs made their push. Teams are still packing the lane on his drives, though, and I’d still like to see him counter that by finding his big men more on the rotations. That will come as Oden stays on the floor more. Truth is, without Roy, the Blazers probably don’t win and the Spurs mount a successful comeback. That’s what he means to this team.

As mentioned, Aldridge never really got anything going despite a couple nice moves in the post and easy dunks. He’s running the floor very well, though, and stands to benefit the most of any player if the pace of that first half keeps up. He does seem to be positioning himself quite well despite the low rebounding total (5) and he wasn’t tested much defensively.

Martell Webster seems to be hit or miss in the eyes of Nate, and it’s not always readily apparent why. His energy on the court has been fluctuating and he wasn’t the most fluid cog in the offense, but he’s obviously still got plenty left to prove to Nate, and we can’t exactly pretend to know what that is.

The Blazers just look different with Andre Miller on the floor. The bigs are looking for him for longish outlets and Miller in turn is looking downcourt. Things got ugly when he was left with the ball in his hands beyond the arc and the shot clock winding down, but that’s on the team as much as him to make the correct decisions. I liked how he directed things and fed Oden in the post, but we’ve yet to see the BING, BANG, BOOM from his offensive direction.

Joel was a monster on the first-half boards, grabbing 13 total in 18 minutes. You can’t ask for anything more from him.

Travis Outlaw had a better night than Martell, but he also dissapeared at times. He did have a beautiful up-and-under move in the lane and was very in control of himself, though, it just wasn’t his night to play the hero.

Rudy, that bounce pass you weaved between two players to a cutting Aldridge for the slam, how about some more of that? More of everything, really. We can’t just assume his back is bothering him at this point, but he has yet to be EL RUDY we expected. Maybe Sergio meant more to him than we realized. Then again, maybe not.

Hubie Brown called a killer game. The man had his fastball going all night, and it’s 5,000 times better listening him talk intelligently about Oden rather than listening to Reggie Miller.

Minnesota on Sunday. Blazers should be out for blood and Oden could have his first field day of the year. Someone buy the balloons.

We at the RCP try to Classier than Freddie Blassie so….I want to congratulate the Rockets for their win. There was a reason why no one wanted the Blazers to see the Rockets in the playoffs. And we learned it over the past few days. They earned it by playing great team basketball for 6 games. Their defense deserves all the credit in the world. They executed and did the little things to win in the playoffs. Also….Luis Scola for stepping up in a huge way and making the Blazers pay for taking Yao away. Say what you want to say but the Rockets took care of business.

(Also, allowing your mind to wander to ‘What if?’ Finley’s three had not have counted (like it shouldn’t have) or what if New Orleans doesn’t choke in San Antonio or what if Houston doesn’t choke in Dallas to finish the regular season…people that’s like torture. I refuse to play that jazz flute. It’s just torturing yourself for no good reason. Too many playoff wounds on this guy to go there.)

Even though this was a tough matchup, this Blazer team was right there in nearly every game. Except for the beginning and the end, in kind of one of those fitting type endings that some Film major would point out to me. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge took major steps up the Superstar ladder. Everyone else got major playoff experience and more importantly, motivation for this to never happen again.

Also, I want to say that it has been a hell of a season. Nobody should lose sight of that, this may not have been the ending that any of us wanted but that doesn’t mean it was a bad season. Yeah it’s a bad taste and it might sting for a while but eventually it will leave. I’ll speak for myself here but as rough as dealing with being eliminated from the playoffs is, I would much rather have this feeling than have been talking about the draft for 2 weeks. Portland is back to playing meaningful basketball and that’s something none of us should take for granted. I wasn’t sure it would ever happen again to be honest with you.

(I just wonder how the first-timers are taking it? Do they feel about Von Wafer, Ron Artest and Luis Scola the way I used to feel about Sean Elliott? Just thinking out loud here.)

The actual game? In my pre-thoughts, I stated that it couldn’t be the Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge show if the Blazers wanted to win. I stated that the Blazers needed someone else to step up. Well, Rudy, Blake and Outlaw combined to shoot 4-for-20 on the night. In the playoffs you have to have a measure of balance offensively. It can’t just be one or two guys. Ask LeBron the past few years, ask D-Wade this year, ask Kobe about a few years. It has to be a team effort and Portland never really got it. The inability to score really hurt Portland this series. And the more you think about it, realize that Portland rarely got anything easy. Houston’s transition D was insane. Houston’s help D was insane. As great as Portland had been all season they could just never get their footing offensively in this series. Portland forced more turnovers than they ever have but couldn’t take advantage of them because Houston was already back. And over the course of 48 minutes when you aren’t getting anything easy, you’re going to have lulls and droughts, uch as the one Portland had in the second quarter that they never recovered from.

Blaming Nate for putting Rudy in the starting lineup? Cop. Out. Now if you want to criticize the move with valid points, be my guest. I scratched my head since Batum has started in 76 of the 79 games he’s played, and has been the starter since November 1st. I personnally knew Rudy would get the lion’s share of the minutes after Game 5 but I assumed Batum would get 3-4 minutes to see if he could contribute anything. Bless Batum’s heart but he simply was not a threat offensively in this series. And if you were able to see the second quarter you can now see why Nate would want as many offensive threats on the court at the same time. If Rudy had come out like gangbusters or the Blazers had won, he would have been a genius. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I don’t really know what else to say to be honest. We at the RCP aren’t done, so stay tuned. Thanks to all the readers who have come through here this season, we appreciate it. Shout out to all the other Blazer blogs.

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.)