NBA Playoffs 2011: Gerald Wallace Can't Lead the Portland Trail Blazers Back

In the closing seconds, after the Portland Trail Blazers took a timeout, Gerald Wallace grabbed the ball, fired it against the stanchion, and spewed profanities in frustration.

The Rose Garden was too quiet for the end of the game, nervous and trying to process the inevitable. Portland was down and, this time, was unable to muster a comeback and extend the series. The Mavericks, behind the clutch shooting of Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, ended the Blazers season in disappointing fashion.

Wallace, who was deeply affected by the recent tornadoes to hit Alabama, was playing with a heavy heart. Making matters worse a bad back followed after suffering an early injury. He had 13 early points prior to the spasm, and when he wasn’t in the lineup, which spanned the entire second quarter, Portland was lost.

They lacked energy, cohesiveness, and were incapable of running an offense featuring high-percentage looks. As a result, an enjoyable lead turned into nine-point halftime deficit at intermission.

There was some doubt as to whether he would come back, and, coinciding, to whether the team would. At least to his return, that doubt was minimal; after all, this was Crash, who takes countless bumps and bruises with no worry in the world.

He gutted it out and sometimes appeared to be the only Portland player leaving everything he had on the court. He attacked the rim as he has always done, with the drive and focus so few Blazers seemed to have in Game 6.

Dallas maintained a healthy advantage, deepening the Blazers wound in spite of Wallace’s third quarter production to take a 13-point lead into the fourth. Portland had come back from a deficit much larger than this only two games earlier. Wallace did all he could, trying to be this night’s version of Brandon Roy.

Everyone contributed for Portland early in the fourth, even Rudy Fernandez. They had new life, cutting into the Mavericks lead and undoubtedly forcing Game 4′s comeback into the Dallas’s mind. Where was this energy earlier?

This is what was so frustrating, and what has been many times this season. The Blazers have been at their best when down. It’s a dangerous way to play, and it ultimately showed.

Their defense didn’t help the comeback effort. LaMarcus Aldridge caught fire to compliment Wallace and others, but the Mavericks continuously answered. They primarily did this through the pick-and-roll, a set that has done in Portland throughout this series.

Nowitzki and Terry hit jumper after jumper, keeping a slimmed margin between them and Portland, but Wallace made sure it was far from comfortable. He skied for an offensive rebound and powered his way up for a put-back, bringing the crowd to their feet and dwindling the deficit, to three, 86-83, with just under six minutes remaining.

Then the lead was one, as Wallace intercepted the passing lanes, came up with the steal, and streaked down-court for a dunk. The crowd was wild. He was pumped up. Portland’s sideline was energetic. The Blazers were so close, but they would get no closer.

Summing up their season, they still fought until the end. Wallace created contact for a pair of trips to the free-throw line, while others connected, too, but his frustration entering that timeout said it all. He did everything he could, scoring a playoff career-high 32 points while snatching 12 rebounds, including five offensive. It wasn’t enough, but it deserved to be.

Portland ended yet another trip to the playoffs without reaching the second round. First it was the Houston Rockets, then it was the Phoenix Suns, and now the Dallas Mavericks.

This time around, there are many bright spots as the season’s conclusion is processed by Wallace, the other Blazers, their coaches, and their fans. Aldridge became the franchise’s anchor this season, Brandon Roy showed he can still play, Wesley Matthews was a fan-favorite and a welcoming surprise offensively, and Gerald Wallace proved he was one of the better acquisitions in team history.

The latter Blazer single-handily changed the makeup of the team midseason, giving them the toughness and never-give-up attitude they needed to clinch the playoff’s sixth seed, go toe-to-toe with the Mavericks, and contend in what was the season’s finale.