No. 2: How Portland’s unheralded players stepped up big-time
A few moments after hitting a game-winning shot that got his Los Angeles Lakers back into 2002 Western Conference Finals, Robert Horry said something to Michael Wilbon, then of the Washington Post, that’s stuck with me, even to this day:
"“If I hit it we win, if I miss y’all are going to blame the stars for losing the game anyway. There’s no pressure on me.”"
It’s the ultimate role player quote. Against the backdrop of what we just discussed with Lillard, if the rest of Portland’s lesser-known players hadn’t stepped up and hit the shots they did, the top fold of every negative story would have without question belonged to the stars. So, even as the Lakers are considered since-birth rivals in Blazers’ lore, it certainly felt good to have our own Rick Fox and Robert Horry when it mattered most.
Carmelo Anthony’s developed something of a penchant for — regardless of whether he’s 3-of-12, or 9-for-12 — being at the right place at the right time, and making the shots that shift the arcs of games. The Portland Trail Blazers own each of the top four slots in “clutch minutes,” which probably just as easily suggests they can’t put the hammer on teams earlier. But if you keep getting invited to the party, you may as well dance, right?
And dance they have; Gary Trent is 4-of-7 with 12 points in games decided by five points or less and less than five minutes to go. Carmelo Anthony is 6-of-10, including 5-of-9 on triples. When the lights have been at their brightest, the Blazers from top-to-bottom have been at their best.
In yesterday’s game, they needed every ounce of it. Trent Jr. added onto his growing reputation as a reliable late-game foil, and Nurkic saved the best of himself for that moment. But beyond just the late-game success, most of the unheralded guys had a moment or five that they could stash away for confidence.
My dad said to me at some point during the game that this would be the game in which “Whiteside made his money.” Plus-minus and perimeter defense be damned, this was the best Whiteside’s looked in Florida since … nevermind. To produce 16 points and nine rebounds in just 15 minutes can’t be understated. He did just enough to provide the Portland Trail Blazers with a safety valve as they dealt with foul trouble.
And for a team whose dribble-first, pass-later mentality has been so well documented, to have such the team effort they did in a season-saving victory feels deserving of a slide or two. With the good out of the way, now the bad and ugly.