The Portland Trail Blazers were down 23 in the second half at home against the Dallas Mavericks. They were down 67-49 going into the fourth quarter and the Rose Garden crowd had every reason to be depressed. Then Brandon Roy put on his super man cape and did something no thought he was still capable off after multiple knee surgeries. Roy scored 18 points in the final period to lead his Blazers team to the win.
Roy's 24 points in 24 minutes off the bench has to rank right up there with one of the greatest playoff stories in recent memory. He went 9-13 on the game and in the fourth was isolated against former Phoenix Sun Shawn Marion. But even Marion's fantastic defense wasn't enough to slow down Roy's assault on the rim.
It's easy to blame the Mavericks for blowing the lead, but this one is all on Roy. All Mark Cuban can do is tip his hat and head back to Dallas for Game 5 and hope that Roy's performance was a one-time thing.
The Trail Blazers tied the series 2-2 with Game 5 coming on Monday.