When we come together as a family for Christmas, we always have a thought for those who are absent, those who are no longer there or who have not been able to free themselves this year. It is inevitable and it contributes to the melancholy of the end of year celebrations. So on the occasion of this new Christmas Day in the NBA, impossible not to remember Brandon Roy and his card against the Carmelo Anthony Nuggets in 2009. We go back to the old photo album.
In his fourth professional season, the Rookie of the Year 2007 does not yet suffer from the knees unlike Greg Oden who was already beginning his rapid descent into hell … at 21 years. Double All-Star when hosting Denver in a Rose Garden that was sold out for the 86th night in a row, Brandon Roy was a young NBA superstar and was expected to dominate for many years with his senses. for scoring and his taste for tight endings. Moreover, the Blazers believed in it strongly since they had just extended it to the max for five years just before the start of the season. The League was not mistaken either in programming this poster of the Northwest Division for Christmas. We would not have missed his duel with Melo for nothing despite the late schedule, at 4:30 in the morning for basketball fans who were slowly digesting their lemon-raspberry log by the fireside in France (the memories are still vivid and precise). Looking back, it was an even rarer sight than thought at the time since it is also Brandon Roy’s last Christmas Day as a player and even his last month of quiet before the problems started. . Enough to justify the dark circles in the morning for the meal of December 26 for all those who had opted for the sleepless night option that evening. We only have one life !
Roy’s so fancy.#RipCity
Stream: https://t.co/Qw6YqQ11wx pic.twitter.com/omRH7wavGW
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) May 27, 2020
Especially since beyond all this context replaced a posteriori, all the hype around this match quickly proved to be justified with a great start from B-Roy. For his duel with the best scorer in the NBA, the back wants to send a message and take revenge for his failure during the previous Christmas Day against the Mavericks (22 points to 8/20 shooting and the loss at the end). This time, it’s hard to find anything to say about the number 7 who sends 25 points to 9/14 shooting in the only first half. A thought for poor JR Smith who can do nothing to put out the fire and who often comes too late on the one Kobe Bryant considered the most difficult player in the West to defend with “no weakness in his game”. The carnage resumed with a vengeance upon returning from the locker room, still in its register, at mid-distance or in penetration with a few heat checks behind the arc. Opposite, Melo is in his average but he is quickly slowed down by mistakes and we can imagine his desire to slip his big blindfold over his eyes so as not to see the end. No one wants to be finished off by a Steve Blake in the zone in the fourth quarter, an affront that could have made Anthony want to never set foot in Oregon again. Like what fate … But with his 41 points at 16/26 including 3/6 from the parking lot and a clear round, Brandon Roy was indeed Santa Claus disguised as a basketball player with his snowflake embroidered around the NBA logo on his jersey. red. It is simply the fifth best performance in a Christmas Day since 2000 and a record in the history of the Blazers franchise which has yet played a few games on December 25 (14 wins for 4 losses in total including 13 wins immediately between 1972 and 2007, second best record in the League).
We’ll never fir-get. ????@budweiserusa | #RipCity pic.twitter.com/s0AQAUjvn4
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 27, 2020
Selected in the All-NBA Third Team a year after being in the Second Team, Brandon Roy was also already living his last hours of glory, at 25 years old. A tragic fate which must leave some regrets to the fans of the Blazers. We would have liked to see what his thirty-something duo with Carmelo Anthony could have given in 2020 …
