Since Roy has been injured I’ve started appreciating him in a more refined way. I had previously enjoyed him only for his pure awesomeness. I never worried about identifying the importance of every single thread in his superhero cape. Early in his Blazers career I got so tired of enumerating his strengths that I decided to nickname him “Everything” so I could be done with it. This not only allowed me to be even more lazy with my game recaps by providing the obvious “Everything was everything” line, it also let me simultaneously reference Diana Ross, Brand Nubian, Lauryn Hill, and the band Phoenix. That is some excellent demographics coverage.

One highly valuable contribution that Brandon Roy brings to this team is a massive reduction in uncertainty. When Everything is healthy we just know that certain bases will be covered. Without Roy I really have no idea what this team is going to do on a nightly basis, I just know that it probably won’t be as good as if he were on the court.

Headed into the game against San Antonio, Portland was 4-6 over their last ten. Only one of those wins came against a high quality opponent. That two-point victory over Dallas required 52 points from Andre Miller, which was great, but not something you want to depend on every night. I wondered if we were finding a new certainty: if Roy is out and the opponent is good, someone needs to have major blowuptuation for Portland to have a chance.

The positive news, at least for tonight, was that the Spurs have been dealing with a rough season themselves. They haven’t managed to do much better than Portland’s injury-depleted roster has managed up to this point. Of course, they are still the Spurs. Over the years I’ve come to hate that San Antonio somehow manages to convince everyone that they suck before they piece it all together and are suddenly contending for the title. They may not be what they used to be, but I won’t pronounce them dead, or even “too old,” quite yet.

None of that really mattered tonight. Portland came out with energy early and, get this, utilized some sort of foreign strategy called the “fast br-eak.” Rudy seems quasi-magical when he’s on and running; tonight it lifted the team to a higher level in the first half. All the while, Miller was managing Portland’s sudden exuberance adeptly. The results were impressive: Portland shot .575 from the field and amassed 18 assists in the first half. It was some of the most beautiful offense we’ve seen this season. Bloggers and local-media peeps that act like they aren’t bloggers were reaching for their classic “WHY DOESN’T THIS TEAM RUN MORE!?!” templates before realizing that even with all of that hot sexy offense Portland went into the half down by two.

In the second half San Antonio settled into a groove on both ends. Forcing Portland into a half-court game neutralized much of any athletic advantage the Blazers exploited in the early going. With Roy out, Portland’s main option in the half-court is a LaMarcus Aldridge jumper. Nothing against Aldridge, he has been playing great lately and tonight was no exception, but without Roy to orbit around in those situations the team looked hopelessly lost at times.

While Portland was hamstrung on offense they never figured out a way to stop the Spurs from getting buckets. Tony Parker kept scoring just enough. Ginobili started hitting a little bit. Doug Collins kept calling Tim Duncan a “spicket.” DaJuan Blair was not in a Blazers jersey (unfortunate). Oh, and Bayless left the game injured, because somebody had to. San Antonio outscored Portland 21-15 in a third quarter that was as unenjoyable as the points scored suggests.

Then in the fourth quarter, as we’ve seen over and over again regardless of which Blazers are on the floor, this team refused to quit. I used to accept the “too young to know better” line, but there is more to Portland’s drive than naiveté. Heart is ingrained into this team’s culture. They kept working and while the shots were there for San Antonio all night, eventually the Spurs started missing. LaMarcus stayed hot and Andre Miller, who was shooting cold throughout most of the game, started making critical buckets and was always able to find a teammate in position to make something good happen. Most often this teammate was Martell Webster, who hit two big open threes in the clutch (5-5 from distance on the game) and iced the game from the line late (4-4 FT, all game sealers).

It was another inspiring win by the Blazers. A wide open Ginobili three-point attempt and an inexplicable late foul by Miller didn’t manage to spoil the party. We all get to walk around and talk about the “amazing heart” of this team once more. Now please, everyone, get healthy.

BOX SCORE

Photo: AP

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