Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant: Top Five performances in the 2011 Conference Quarterfinals – Part – 2
Brandon Roy – Portland Trail Blazers
Although the Portland Trail Blazer lost out to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, shooting guard Brandon Roy made his mark on the series. After gunning down the mighty Mavs in the game-3 of the series, Roy
came off the bench with a game-high 24 points as the Portland Trail Blazers earned a hard-fought 84-82 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in game-4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.
The Blazers trailed by 67-49 entering into the fourth quarter. However, Roy turned it on and scored 18 of his 24 points in the finals stanza to help Trail Blazers square the series at two games each. It was the biggest final-quarter
comeback in franchise playoff history. The 26-year-old also had had five assists and four rebounds in his 24 minutes off the bench, shooting 9-for-13 from the field.
The Portland coach Nate McMillan appreciated the terrific performance of Roy and said, “Tonight was the Brandon Roy of old. He took the game on his shoulders and carried the team, willed the team to win.” “He was going to take
the shot, and live with the result."
Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, suffered from a knee injury in game-4 of the conference quarterfinals against the New Orleans Hornets. The 32-year-old’s condition was questionable for the all important game-5,
but the Black Mamba insisted to play.
On that night, Kobe scorched the Hornets with a team-high 19 points as the Los Angeles Lakers romped to a 106-90 win at Staples Center to go up 3-2 in the series. Kobe was unable to find his rhythm in the first quarter and added
just one point after 12 minutes. However, he got his shooting groove back in the second quarter and scored 12 of his 19 points to put the Lakers ahead by 54-51 at halftime.
The Black Mamba delivered two of the most ferocious dunks in the second frame. In his first fame, Bryant served up a facial on the Hornets’ centre Emeka Okafor after blazing past Trevor Ariza for the play. Kobe Bryant said on his
dunk over Okafor, "It looked like he was going to challenge me at the end. I accepted the challenge." Bryant was not done yet as he later threw down a huge dunk over Carl Landry.
Derrick Rose – Chicago Bulls
After a defeat to the Indiana Pacers in the fourth game of the Eastern Conference quarter finals, the Chicago Bulls were looking towards their ace player to knock down the tenacious Pacers in game-5.
And he responded.
Derricks Rose was a man on a mission that night. He erupted with a game-high 25 points as Chicago recorded a definitive 116-89 victory over the Pacers at the United Center. The 22-year-old point guard, who was using a protective
boot to protect his knee, also grabbed six assists, shooting 8-for-17 from the field.
Rose scored 13 of his 25 points in the first half of the game as the Bulls carried a 54-46 lead at halftime. With his team leading by 61-57 and 06:17 to go in the third quarter, the league MVP knocked down a three 3-pointer, had
a block and a steal in the ensuing minutes to widen the lead to 84-65, heading into the fourth quarter. From there, the Bulls never looked back.
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