Late Free Throw Misses Doom Lakers, Roy-Less Blazers Win On the Road

Who would have thought that with six seconds left in the fourth quarter, Mr. Clutch would end up looking so not.

An early afternoon game in Los Angeles started without much fight from the away side. The Lakers jumped to an 11-2 lead, seemingly willing each basket into the net. Kobe Bryant started despite his knee troubles and the Lakers had hopes of ending his night early with a big lead in their back pocket.

For the Blazers, this was their last away game and a game that they needed to win. As of now, the Portland Trail Blazers are tied for eighth in the western conference playoff race with San Antonio. The eighth seed earns you a date in the first round with the Los Angeles Lakers.

More importantly for the Trail Blazers is that they are finally hitting their stride late in the season and the team is healthy for the first time.

Unfortunately, The Trail Blazers hit yet another patch of bad luck in first quarter when Brandon Roy banged knees with Lamar Odom in the first quarter and then re- aggravated said knee later in the first half. Roy was shut down for the remainder of the game and is expected to have an MRI done later this afternoon.

The Blazers closed the half to a 45-46 deficit under the hot shooting of Martell Webster (4-7 FGA/16 points) and LaMarcus Aldridge (10-21 FGA/ 24 points), along with the active and heady play from Rudy Fernandez (9 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds).

Portland stuck with the Lakers through the third quarter trailing by two points entering the fourth.

Entering the game, the Lakers were 34-0 when leading after the third quarter at home.

Portland jumped on the Lakers defensively. Holding Los Angeles without a field goal until the seven minute mark. At one point, the Blazers led by five with less than three minutes left in the period.

But the Lakers still had Kobe Bryant and no one expected him to stay silent in the clutch.

With the Lakers down five with just under :50 seconds left, Kobe drained a 30-footer with Martell Webster in his face to pull the Lakers to within two. On the next possession, Vujacic drew an offensive foul on Andre Miller to give Kobe a chance at the win.

But on a stunning play (for Portland Fans), Webster fouled Kobe before his shot without a foul to give, putting Kobe on the line and a chance to give them the lead. Kobe missed the first of two and then missed the second off the front of the rim. But Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to an open Derek Fisher at the top of the three-point line. Fisher took a pick to the right and inside the three-point line pump faking to get Andre Miller into the air, drawing the foul, and sending himself to the line with the Lakers down by one and four seconds left on the clock.

Fisher bricked the first of the two free throws sending the already tense Los Angeles crowd into a fit of groans. Fischer made the second and gave the Lakers a tie with seconds left on the clock.

A timeout advanced the ball past half court giving the Blazers a chance at a good look at the basket. 

With Andre Miller inbounding the ball, Martell Webster cut towards the left side of the three-point arc and shot a runner and was fouled by Kobe Bryant with just under two seconds to go giving Webster three free throw opportunities. Webster buried all three giving the Blazers a 91-88 edge with three seconds to go.

The Lakers called a timeout to give them the ball above half court. With Fisher trying to inbound the ball to Kobe, the Blazers denied him the ball and the Lakers were forced into a bad three by Pau Gasol at the buzzer. 

The win gave the Blazers more than just percentage points in the standings, it gave them confidence if they actually do in fact end up playing the Lakers in the first round.

Win three games left, it looks as though the Blazers will end up playing the Denver Nuggets or the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. But nothing can be certain in the Wild West.