Portland's Blazing final blow?

Converse used to have an advertisement about falling down seven times and getting up eight. It teaches us to not give up easily and to always keep on fighting til the end. That is what the Portland Trailblazers have done this season. They have had injury set backs time and time again not to mention management problems as well but they came out victorious each and every time by simply digging deep into their bench finding someone to step up.

They have had a roller coaster of a season. They were the team to watch out for since they had a powerful starting line up. With Andre Miller at the point, Brandon Roy in the two position while they had a powerful back court in the form of Martell Webster, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden. But that is only half of the story, their bench can produce when needed with the likes of Bayless, Przybilla and Rudy Fernandez. This however didn't last long when Greg Oden suffered another season ending injury. Then Przybilla followed but the Blazers gutted it out through out the regular season with Roy, Miller, Aldridge and Batum playing a pivotal role. They were able to get the 6th seed in the Western Conference Playoff picture, however a couple of weeks before the playoffs started they were hit with a big blow when Brandon Roy was struck by a knee injury and will be out for 2 - 4 weeks. This is a crucial injury since Roy is a big part of the team and 2-4 weeks is a long time, they could be out of the playoff picture by then.

Someone had to step up and during the first game of their series against the Suns and it would be the trio of Miller, Aldridge and Batum with Bayless coming off the bench with a monster 18 points to help the Blazers take game one. In this game we saw a Blazer team that played their heart out even if they were short handed. However, game 2 was a different story. The Phoenix Suns took them apart with a blow out victory to even the series, to make matters worst Batum had to leave the game in the closing minutes because he suffered a shoulder injury in a collision with Steve Nash. Game 3 would be a deciding game to see if the Suns can continue their domination over the Blazers of if the Blazers can take control of the series even if they were short handed. True enough the Suns continued their dominance with a insurmountable lead during the first half, and clearly out playing the Blazers in all aspects and the man behind that was Jason Richardson who had a point to prove. To make matters worst, Batum who was testing if he could contribute banged his shoulder during a lay up attempt in which he had to leave the game again as the first half was about to close. The second half was no different the Suns continued their dominance over the short handed Blazers, just as what they did during the second game.

Is this the final blow to the Blazers' season? Or can their bench fight and gut it out until Brandon Roy comes back? Who will save the Blazers' season? Also, can the Suns prove a point that they are indeed title contenders? We will just have to find out when game 4 is under way.