Garden Of Oden: RELOADED | NLSC Draftees??

[Lamrock]

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Blazers Tie Series Behind Roy's Vintage Game
Blazers 94 @ Grizzlies 89

The Trail Blazers win it, 94-89 and tie the series going home. The Grizzlies were without Zach Randolph, who is likely to miss the rest of the series with his shoulder injury sustained in game 1. "That's no excuse," said Grizzlies' coach and former Blazer player Lionel Hollins. "They're without an all-star too in Gerald Wallace and Matthews is also out. Our defense was inexcusable. Inexcusable indeed as the Blazers scored 94 points on just 61 attempts from the field. Read more...

Magic take 2-0 lead behind Nelson's 18 points
Celtics 89 @ Magic 91

The Magic barely eked out a victory in game two. Overcoming excellent games from Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo, a balanced, efficient attack got Orlando the win.

Orlando notables
Jameer Nelson: 18 pts, 4 asts, 2 rebs (PotG)
Dwight Howard: 17 pts, 10 rebs, 3 blks, 6-9 FG, 5-6 FT
Hedo Turkoglu: 9 pts, 6 rebs, 6 asts

Boston notables
Kevin Garnett: 24 pts, 11 rebs, 11-15 FG
Rajon Rondo: 20 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts, 9-14 FG
Ray Allen: 6 pts, 3 rebs, 5 TO's (Shitass)

Magic lead series 2-0.

Western Conference | Eastern Conference

1-1 | 2-0

[kc2135]

Mice win, mam

[Lamrock]

Roy Explodes For 36, Leads Blazers To Comeback Win
Grizzlies Let 12 Point Fourth Quarter Lead Slip Away


13 of Roy's 36 came from the charity stripe

Portland 84, Memphis 81

June 3, 2012; Portland, OR - "He's back." How many times have we heard that about Brandon Roy this year? Hopefully this performance should put this matter to rest: Brandon Roy is Brandon Roy again.

The former all-star has his fingerprints all over the game from the get-go. After getting to the line 7 times in the first quarter, Roy went on to lead all halftime scorers with 20 points on excellent efficiency. However, despite his excellent performance as well as the stifling D that has been the Blazers' calling card in their Cinderella run, the Blazers led by just 2 at the half, courtesy to Aldridge's struggles with fouls and getting touches.

Memphis took over the game in the third. Though Aldridge was getting more involved, the Blazers were held to an embarassing 12 points in the third period. Memphis's momentum continued into the fourth, with Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo lighting up the home team with dunks and threes. A strategic timeout brought a well-rested Roy back onto the floor along with game 2 X-Factor Ronny Turiaf.

Roy's incindiary performance continued, as he continued to score at will. Portland's defense tightened on the Gayo tandem and some very efficient offense saw Portland go on a run to eventually tie the game with a minute to go. The Rudy Gay iso play failed, and Greg Oden's only made basket was an extremely clutch one, giving his Blazers the lead with just 30 seconds to go. Memphis's play out of the timeout ended with Mayo bricking a contested three. Brandon Roy all but sealed the game with a pair of free throws to put Portland up four, and reach a season high 36 points, despite lacking menisci in either of his knees. Aldridge meanwhile saved face in the second half, finishing a 17/6 line eerily similar to those from the days when Roy was the franchise player.

Roy put the icing on the legendary playoff performance cake by blocking Mayo's desperation three with seven seconds to go. A pair of obligatory free throws and a buzzer beater Rudy Gay three later and the Blazers win it, 84-81. The Grizzlies, in their second game without star forward Zach Randolph, got big games from their other all-stars Marc Gasol and Rudy Gay. However, their excellent defense just collapsed in the fourth. It is unknown when Randolph will return, but the star has been ruled out of game 4.

Trail Blazers lead series 2-1.

18 21 22 20 81 | PTS: Gay (29); REBS: Gay (9); ASTS: Conley (8)
24 17 12 31 84 | PTS: Roy (36); REBS: Oden (7); ASTS: Felton (8)

Mo Lucas Player of the game:
Brandon Roy: 36 Points, 3 Assists, 2 Rebounds, 1 Block, 11-16 FG, 13-15 FT

[kibaxx7]

Despite you turned the ball over a lot, you outrebounded them and got the victory

[hova-]

Roy is beasting you to the Western Conference title. I guess in RL Tony Allen could really hurt you, but doesn't look like he's bothering you in this D.

Somehow I don't feel like you will win the NBA Finals though. It just does not seem right to see the Blazers winning it all.

[Lamrock]

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Allen's 23 lifts Celtics to game 3 win over Magic
Magic 95 @ Celtics 100

Thanks to a big game from their starting five, the Celtics managed to stay alive with a narrow win in game 3. Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu's excellent games couldn't stop the Celtics' hot shooting.

Boston notables
Ray Allen: 23 pts, 3 rebs, 7-14 FG, 5-9 3pt, 4-5 FT (PotG)
Rajon Rondo: 17 pts, 8 asts, 5 rebs
Paul Pierce: 20 pts, 7 asts, 3 rebs

Orlando notables
Dwight Howard: 28 pts, 16 rebs, 11-20 FG
Hedo Turkoglu: 17 pts, 8 asts, 7 rebs
J.J. Redick: 3 pts, 2 TO's, 1-5 FG (Shitass)

Magic lead series 2-1.

Western Conference | Eastern Conference

1-2 | 2-1

[Valor]

Another amazingly efficient performance from Roy and you have snatched the series momentum from Memphis, well done

[Lamrock]

Grizzlies Crash And Burn, Go Down 3-1
Gerald Wallace returns, O.J. Mayo goes down


Crash returns to the Blazers' lineup!

Portland 100, Memphis 79

June 5, 2012; Portland, OR - Gerald Wallace is back and the Portland Trail Blazers are now just a game away from the NBA Finals!

Okay, let's backtrack a bit. Going into a must-win game four, Memphis fell flat on their face, going down by 16 points in the first quarter. When things seemingly could not get worse for the Grizzlies, Gerald Wallace made his return from the injury that kept him out of most of this and the Warriors series. The forward filled up the stat sheet and was perfect from the charity stripe.

Memphis offered little resistance in the second half, as their offense failed to get on track. Adding injury to well, injury, O.J. Mayo went down in the third quarter, and will miss the rest of the playoffs (all one game of it most likely for the Grizz). Without their best player in Zach Randolph and third leading scorer in Mayo, the odds of coming back from down 3-1 are against them.

Portland gave Brandon Roy the starting nod over Elliot Williams after averaging 30 points per game so far in this series, and both players had solid outings. Gerald Wallace came off the bench for Nicolas Batum in this game, but is expected to start over him in game 5. When asked whether he preferred the Celtics or the Magic in the finals, Nate McMillan responded, "I haven't even been paying attention to the East. For all I know, it could be Miami and Cleveland in the conference finals. We got a series to win still." Brandon Roy said "Orlando".

Trail Blazers lead series 3-1.

17 21 24 17 79
33 23 23 21 100

Mo Lucas Player of the game:
LaMarcus Aldridge: 18 Points, 6 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Blocks, 8-10 FG, +25

Portland [3-1] notables
Gerald Wallace: 14 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts, 8-8 FT
Brandon Roy: 16 pts, 3 rebs, 3 stls, 2 asts
Elliot Williams: 13 pts, 6 asts, 3 rebs
Greg Oden: 6 pts, 7 rebs, 3-3 FG

Memphis [1-3] notables
Marc Gasol: 18 pts, 3 rebs, 8-14 FG
Rudy Gay: 17 pts, 6 rebs
Mike Conley: 8 pts, 13 asts, 5 rebs
Darrell Arthur: 0 pts, 1 reb, 0-3 FG, 24 minutes (Shitass)

[Martti.]

Looks like you've got it, especially now with G-Force back.

[rise]

B-Roy looks like the old Roy again! Also, I'm glad G-Wall returned.

[Kenny]

Hopefully you've got this now. Nice all round team performance in game 4... Roy is still a beast

[Mavs4Life]

What did I tell you, when Roy comes back you will DOMINATE!

[kibaxx7]

Come on, one more victory! It's right there

[kc2135]

Finals time, go ahead and put the nail in the coffin

[Justine.]

Win Game 5! For the sake of my prediction Good news that Wallace came back, really bad luck for Memphis, their first and second round are outstanding, yet injury hit them

[Lamrock]

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Magic fall to Celtics 92-75, series all knotted up at 2
Magic 75 @ Celtics 92

Led by Paul Pierce's 29 points, the Celtics blew out the Magic to knot the series at two. Poor shooting and turnovers did Orlando in. Orlando will hope to regain control of the series at home in the pivotal game 5.

Boston notables
Paul Pierce: 29 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Steals
Rajon Rondo: 15 Points, 10 Assists, 7 Rebounds, 3 Steals
Kevin Garnett: 15 Points, 12 Rebounds

Orlando notables
Dwight Howard: 15 Points, 12 Rebounds, 3 Blocks, 5-17 FG
Jameer Nelson: 12 Points, 5 Assists, 3 Rebounds
Hedo Turkoglu: 6 Points, 3 Rebounds, 6 Turnovers, 1-5 FG (Shitass)

Series tied 2-2.

Western Conference | Eastern Conference

1-3 | 2-2

[deihatein]

fuck, you winning totally ruins my prediction. it's nice though

[Lamrock]

Episode 3: Worstern Conference Finals

Despite the Golden State Warriors not being a good team before losing David Lee for the season, Portland had trouble, limping out of the series with their three best swingmen all injured. It looked like the Blazers would get swept by Memphis until the luck of the Irish kicked in.

Somewhere in Boston...

Doc Rivers, Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce were all in an Irish pub getting hammered watching game 1 of the Grizzlies-Blazers series. Portland was doing its best without its second, third and fifth leading scorers but Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay were destroying them on both ends.

"Shit, Doc. How we gonna beat these guys?", asked Pierce

"I don't know son. I don't know." Rivers sighed and pulled something out of his wallet. "Look at this. It's a four-leaf clover. I had it on me when we owned the shit out of the Lakers in-" The coach was interrupted by gasps filling the bar.

"And... that doesn't look good. Randolph takes a hard fall and now he's clutching his shoulder. This is not good if you're a Memphis fan", said Clark Kellogg. Kevin Harlan agreed, "this is one part of the game you NEVER want to see." They clinked glasses and watched Memphis go on to still blow out the Blazers by 30. The series tide would change though, as the Grizzlies' offense fell off a cliff without their best player. Brandon Roy returned off the bench to carry the Blazers to back-to-back wins before Gerald Wallace returned in a game 4 drubbing.

----------

On the Blazers team flight...

"Hey guys, check it out, a fan sent me a gift," said a cheerful Greg Oden. Brandon Roy rolled his eyes and turned his iRoy up, but a couple rookies humored him. Greg opened the package. It was a stone bust of his own head. Under it was a note.

Get it?

-Marc

Oden's lower lip trembled a bit and he sent the rookies away. 'Gasol is going to pay', he thought.

Roy nudged Felton who was sitting next to him. "Hey man, there's something wrong with my iPod. It won't work anymore." Felton signed and asked "is it on?" before taking a look at it. "God, why is it all sticky. That... that isn't knee fluid is it?"

Roy turned red and said "NO! Probably just... you know, panned obsoleteness or some shit"

In Orlando...

Doc Rivers was tearing his tiny four-leaf clover into a million pieces. "What was that, RonDON'T?! Barack was right about you."

"You're a fucking drunk!", Rondo shot back.

"Oh, I'm the drunk. I'M the drunk. Well at least I can shoot." Rivers sighed. "But that's not important right now. Dwight knows it was us who tried to kidnap him before game 5. Who else would it be?"

"Well, we'll need a scapegoat. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?", asked Rondo with a mischievous smile on his face.

"What up B-Scal, what's shakin'? Just lighting up with Co-B and Swifty? Alright. Well, do you want to kick it tonight? Yeah, JUST like old times. No, you my ni- I'll hit you up later."

[shadowgrin]

Love the spot on take of Roy being technologically inept (that he admitted in an interview).

[rise]

This is fucking hilarious.

[hova-]

Knee fluid (there's no puking smiley in here??)

[qfrmcpt310]

Lmao @ the Roy part. This is hilarious, keep it up

[Lamrock]

Aldridge Carries Blazers To NBA Finals
Trail Blazers make first Finals appearance in 20 years


Our photographer was so excited he forgot to take pictures!

Portland 97, Memphis 94

June 8, 2012; Memphis, TN - Courtesy of a late fourth quarter comeback and a legendary performance by LaMarcus Aldridge, the Portland Trail Blazers have won their battle of injured titans and have made the NBA Finals.

The game was close from the start, with both teams shooting well. Rudy Gay and LaMarcus Aldridge traded a bevy of dunks. The inside-outside game worked for both teams. This continued into the second half, with both squads being successful on the inside, despite the absence of Zach Randolph. The game was very tight at halftime, with Memphis leading 52-51.

Memphis took the game over in the third with stifling defense. Portland was limited to just fifteen points in the third quarter and entered the fourth trailing by eight points. The Grizzlies' momentum continued into the third as they went up by double digits, forcing a Portland timeout. The Blazers employed a new offensive strategy: give the ball to Aldridge. In a performance similar to Dirk in last season's conference finals, LA took over the game, and carried the Blazers back to a tie game with a minute to go.

The Grizzlies took a timeout, and came out with a Rudy Gay dunk and-one. Gay missed the dunk, and Darrell Arthur's offensive put-back attempt was blocked by Oden. Aldridge got the ball on the fastbreak and showed how an and-one was done, finishing the dunk, and sinking the free throw. With tight defense and a pair of deflections, the Blazers managed to force a 24 second violation with just eight seconds to go. Memphis had no choice but to foul, and LaMarcus Aldridge killed three seconds before being sent to the line. He sank both and Memphis had no timeouts. Rudy Gay bricked a pull-up jumper, and THE PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS ARE GOING TO THE NBA FINALS!

Portland returns to the NBA Finals for the first time since the 1992 NBA Finals, in which they lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games. They will face the winner of the Magic-Celtics series in the finals. Portland lost to both in the regular season.

Trail Blazers win series 4-1.

26 25 15 31 97
24 28 20 22 94

Mo Lucas Player of the game:
LaMarcus Aldridge: 49 Points, 8 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Blocks, 2 Steals, 18-24 FG, 13-16 FT

Portland [4-1] notables
Gerald Wallace: 13 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts
Greg Oden: 10 pts, 3 rebs, 2 blks, 4-4 FG
Brandon Roy: 7 pts, 8 asts, 3 rebs

Memphis [1-4] notables
Rudy Gay: 31 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts, 3 stls, 10-21 FG, 10-11 FT
Mike Conley: 14 pts, 9 asts, 4 rebs
Tony Allen: 13 pts, 5 asts, 3 rebs, 3 stls, 6-10 FG
Marc Gasol: 11 pts, 7 rebs, 2 asts

[Mandich]

Nice to see that you kept your associtaons simple/funny style as it is quick and enjoyable to read. Nice stuff And damn Aldridge had a nice game

[Martti.]

Holy crap, LA>everybody. Can't wait for the Finals, I doubt your Cinderella season will end without a title.