That is the question of the day, isn't it? Especially this day, seeing as game six is tonight. If you ask the panel of "experts" at ESPN.com, they don't see Portland as having much of a chance. And the reason they all give is pretty much the same thing...that the game four version of Brandon Roy ain't walking onto that court again.LZ Granderson of ESPN The Magazine says, "It's a four-point-play miracle there is even a Game 6. I think Nate McMillian has done a great job, once again, keeping his injured squad competitive. But you can't depend on Brandon Roy to come close to his Game 4 heroics, and the Blazers just don't have the consistent firepower outside of LaMarcus Aldridge right now to keep pace."
Granderson makes a fair enough point. Jordan Heimer of ClipperBlog, is the only "expert" of the five that thinks Portland wins game six. "Portland is a really tough place for visitors to clinch a tight series. In elimination games occurring in Game 5 or later (so, sweeps excluded), the Blazers are 6-2 since 1980. Factor in the collective buzz of the Blazer faithful coming off the Brandon Roy Miracle Game and Monday's Patty Mills body-check, and the Rose Garden should feel like Thunderdome."
Our gun-to-the-head prediction for tonight is that Portland wins and sends the series back to Dallas for a game seven. But if you asked us that same thing yesterday and you might have gotten a different answer. We're just a tad unsure right now. It's just frustrating to see all the matchups that were said to be in Portland's favor, never take hold. Portland was such a thorn in Dallas' side during the year, but that hasn't been the case at all in this series so far.
Tonight, there is no way in hell that Portland should be counting on Brandon Roy. Although Roy's game 4 performance was spectacular in every way, it was a luxury and probably an anomaly. If the Blazers have any chance of winning tonight, LaMarcus Aldridge and Gerald Wallace need to put their stamp on this series in a major way. If they don't, it's most likely over for Portland.
And while this season has been another quality season, full of injuries and adversity (that Portland is definitely no stranger to...will they ever catch a break?), if they don't get out of the first round, it has to be chalked up as a disappointment. It may not be that simple, but generally speaking, the expectations for the team entering the playoffs were to finally get out of the first round, were they not? Portland got the matchup they wanted and even preferred for round one in the Mavericks. And so far, it's looking like the complete opposite. Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski picked Portland to win in a sweep, for crap's sake! If that doesn't tell you how great of a matchup Portland had, I don't know what does.
Who would have thought that getting the 8th seed in the West and playing the Spurs most likely would have gone better for the Blazers. Oh well. I'm not writing the Blazers off by any means. But Portland could definitely use a little Rose Garden magic tonight.
