You thought Brandon Roy was done, didn’t you? With questions still unanswered of whether he came back too early (again) from double knee surgery, whether he could accept that the Blazers may be LaMarcus Aldridge‘s team now, and whether he’d ever be the same All-Star talent again, last night B-Roy looked every bit like the B-Roy Portland wants to build its franchise around … Coming off the bench in his second game back from surgery, Roy dropped 18 points (7-14 FG) with 5 rebounds and zero turnovers in 24 minutes, and when the Blazers needed somebody to be clutch in the fourth quarter, guess who stepped up? In the final 3:30, Roy scored 10 of Portland’s 15 points. Down three with 13 seconds left, Roy went iso on the wing against Ray Felton, gave a hesitation, pump-faked and dropped a trey to force overtime. In the extra frame, Aldridge (24 pts, 14 rebs, 3 blks) hit the go-ahead free throws with 23 seconds on the clock, and Danilo Gallinari and Arron Afflalo missed consecutive threes that could have won it for Denver … We wish those rumors of B-Roy being frustrated with Andre Miller weren’t true, because this Portland team is so good when Miller (18 pts, 9 rebs, 9 asts), Roy and LMA are all on the same page like they were last night. If ‘Dre could stop time before he turns 50 next year, Roy’s knees somehow became sturdy, and they got a legit center who could stay healthy, along with Gerald Wallace, they really could contend in the West … Who said Gallinari (30 pts, 15-17 FT) would mentally check out in Denver? Sure, he doesn’t have the NYC hype machine behind him any more, and surely there won’t be as many random uber-hot Italian girls screaming for him in Denver as there were in New York, Gallo is wired to get buckets … There was a Portland fan who had a chance to win a car by hitting a halfcourt shot, and the guy — rocking a Nic Batum jersey with enough room for it to be #8888 — went with the one-hand lefty heave and drained it … If you got the sense from his press conference that Deron Williams isn’t trying to stick around New Jersey, well, maybe it’s just that he knew his first game with his new team would be in San Antonio. Stepping right into the role of taking charge of the team, D-Will posted 14 points and 12 dimes but Jersey lost by double digits. “It was different at first,” Deron told reporters afterward. “I wasn’t really nervous or anything. It’s just good to be back on the court. I’m excited for this opportunity and to play for these guys and Coach (Avery) Johnson, and to make the most of it.” We’ll stop speculating after this, but that sounded like the talk of a temp worker … The other day on NBA TV, Chris Webber said that a championship team shouldn’t lose any more than three home games during the regular season. If that’s right, than the Spurs are the only team left eligible for a title, because everybody else has lost more than three at home. The Spurs are 27-2 in their gym after last night …
In the MSG press room after Carmelo‘s debut with the Knicks, the general feeling was this: Bucks on Wednesday, Cavs on Friday, then New York would get its first real test this weekend when they play Miami. And you wonder if the Knicks felt the same way, because they went to Cleveland last night and played like a team that got caught looking ahead … Suffering from LeBron James Mysterious Elbow Disease, ‘Melo finished with 27 points but missed a crucial free throw in the final minute of the fourth quarter. After the game he used the “no excuses” line twice while also mentioning the elbow. That’s always funny … Despite 20 fourth-quarter points from Chauncey Billups, the Knicks were still down two with 30 seconds left before Daniel Gibson remembered how to shoot (that All-Star showing was ugly) and knocked down a huge three to make it a five-point game. ‘Melo came right back for a layup with the foul, but bricked the free throw and them fouled out as the Cavs iced it at the line … Baron Davis still hasn’t taken his physical for the Cavs, but tweeted during the game “Loving the energy I’m seeing.” Maybe it won’t be so miserable for Baron there. Just saying, the Cavs have W’s over ‘Melo, Kobe and Pierce this year … It’s tough to defend Vince Carter when Jerry Stackhouse — who plays against VC at those North Carolina reunions in the summer and was basically Vince at UNC before Vince — goes on national TV and says, “He just turns it on and off too much for me.” When he’s playing in Toronto wearing a different uniform, Vince turns it on. Last night he had 17 points and 6 steals as the Suns beat the Raptors, including a backwards dunk off a half-court alley-oop from Steve Nash, and a driving reverse dunk where he cut through Toronto’s leaky defense like it was 2005 … Other stat lines from Friday: Dwyane Wade dropped 41 points (18-27 FG) to out-duel Nick Young (38 pts, 12-19 FG) in a Miami win; Dwight Howard tortured OKC’s short-handed front line for 40 points, 15 boards and 6 blocks as Orlando cruised; Kobe Bryant scored 24 to lead the Lakers past the Clippers; Stephen Jackson dropped 30 points to help Charlotte beat Sacramento; Al Jefferson put up 30 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks in Utah’s win over Indiana, while Devin Harris posted 14 points, 7 boards and 5 assists off the bench for the Jazz; Chris Paul had 17 points and 8 assists to lead New Orleans past Minnesota; Al Horford put up 22 points, 13 boards and 7 dimes to lead Atlanta past Golden State; and Andre Iguodala had 21 points, 7 boards and 11 assists to lead Philly past Detroit, while John Kuester played only six guys and sat all the vets who were involved in the reported “mutiny” they staged in protest of the Rip Hamilton situation. And then Kuester got himself ejected in the first half. Maybe he was going to the back to work on his resume and cover letter, because there is absolutely, positively no way he is back coaching the Pistons next year … We’re out like love for Vince in Toronto …
