November 6, 2008: Blazers vs. Rockets

Brooke and I went to the Blazers/Rockets game Thursday night. Wow. We just happened to be there for the thrilling overtime game. The final 2 seconds of overtime were the talk of the game. Brandon Roy hit what we thought was the game winning shot with 1.9 seconds left, then the Rockets ran an in-bound play to Yao, who hit the jumper and Roy fouled him, with the single free-throw to win the game. With 0.8 seconds left, Blake inbounds to Roy 6 feet behind the 3-point line and he drains the prayer. After that: insanity at the Garden. "For as long as the NBA has been including play-by-play information…neither of these things had happened before: eight points in the final 1.9 seconds (both teams combined) or five points in the final 1.9 seconds by a blazers player."
It was a roller-coaster of emotions with each final play. Then the 30-foot prayer going in…that was amazing. From high up in my nose-bleed seats, I could see the ball rip through the net while the horn blasted and the red backboard lights ablaze. Truly beautiful. That's one Blazer moment I'll never forget. And I was there to see it in person...with my daughter. 4-year old Brooke had long-since fallen asleep (just after the halftime ice cream treat, of course), so I was jumping up and down - screaming - with this sleeping child in my arms. Didn’t matter. She slept through the deafening noise, and daddy was more than happy to carry her all around the building and the half-mile back to our car. After a win like that, she felt just a little lighter, somehow.

Note: A couple of things lost in the craziness of the final moments: Joel Przybilla, somehow, shut down Yao Ming. That was my key match-up going into the game to give the Blazers a chance. It happened, and it happened. Also, it was a defensive battle between Artest and Roy. But even more impressive - and overlooked - was Aldridge's 27-point, 9 rebound night (followed by a 24-pt, 14 rebound effort in the next game). Solid effort, LaMarcus. Even as a minimal back-to-the-basket threat right now, the kid can straight ball. And he's working on the deficiencies of his game. The guy is going to be phenomenal.

(Photo caption: Roy's x-ray vision was in full effect during clutch-time).