Portland was down by 23 points with 15 minutes to play when they handed the ball to Brandon Roy and let him go to work. This is what happened:

What a great series of moments for a guy who has had a very rough season.

It’s never a good thing when people describe your knees as “bone on bone,” but that’s the case with Brandon Roy, and that makes what he did in Game 4 all that more amazing.

The Blazers trailed by 23 points (64-41) with 2:47 to play in the third quarter. Over the final 15 minutes, Portland outscored Dallas by a 43-18 margin, winning Game 4 by two, 84-82. And it was mostly due to Roy’s playmaking and shot-making.

He hit a three-pointer to close the third quarter, and then scored 18 points (on 8-for-10 shooting, including a backbreaking four-point play) to go along with four assists in the final period. He was involved in 30 of Portland’s final 38 points of the game, including a nine-foot driving bank shot with 0:39 to play that gave Portland the lead for good. It was truly a masterful performance from one of the bright young stars who will unfortunately never have the career he was supposed to have due to those balky knees.

The series is tied at 2-2 as it heads back to Dallas for Game 5 on Monday night. No word on whether or not Mark Cuban has come down from the ledge.

Via his Twitter page, Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Brandon Roy is going to have knee surgery, which will likely sideline him for the rest of the season.

Portland’s Brandon Roy will undergo surgery to repair meniscus tear in right knee, Blazers say. He will miss the first-round playoff series.

Team says out for at least Phoenix series, and source close to him says “There’s no way” he’d return this season, even if Blazers advance.

Recovery on Roy’s surgery is typically 4-6 weeks. As badly he wants to try, there’s just no way anyone would let him take such a risk.

I’m not saying that the Blazers are done, but they’re going to have a tough road ahead if they’re going to beat the Suns without their star player.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

It was a busy Monday for the Portland Trail Blazers. First, they learned that Brandon Roy has a torn meniscus in his right knee that will require surgery. The doctors said it can’t get any worse, so he is going to try to play on it, but there’s no telling how effective he’ll be.

The Blazers rallied to beat the Thunder on Monday night, effectively avoiding a first round matchup with the Lakers in the process. Marcus Camby posted 30-13, while Andre Miller added 22-4-7 and four steals in the win. The loss means that OKC will meet L.A. in the first round, which should be a fun matchup.

If the Blazers win their final game (against Golden State), they’ll assure themselves of the #6 seed. It’s not clear how Portland will fare with a hobbled Roy. He has had a very good start to his career, but one of the concerns coming out of college was how his knees would hold up to the rigors of an NBA season. This is terrible timing for a Blazers team that was gelling at just the right time. Portland has won 18 of its last 23 games and seems/seemed poised to pull a first-round upset in the postseason.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Bayless has had trouble getting consistent minutes in his year and change with the Blazers, but Portland was without Rudy Fernandez and Travis Outlaw due to injury, so Bayless played 29 minutes last night against the Suns. He responded with 29 points, four assists, three rebounds, and hit 9 of 15 shots from the field, spearheading a 105-102 win for the Blazers at the Rose Garden.

Here is what John Hollinger said about his rookie season:

The combo guard had a rough rookie year, but the problem wasn’t the oft-heard mantra that Bayless is a shooting guard trapped in a point guard’s body. There are lots of players like that in the league and many of them are thriving. No, Bayless’ issue was that he was a shooting guard who couldn’t shoot trapped in a point guard’s body. That’s a problem.

After the game, Bayless commented about his role with the team:

“Me and Brandon talk about it a lot,” said the second-year guard from Arizona. “He can be Lebron (James) and I can be the Mo Williams of our offense.

“Mo’s not a pure point; he’s a guy who can make plays. That’s what I tried to do tonight — make plays for myself and everybody else.”

If Bayless can shoot the ball well, he can play alongside Roy in the backcourt. The Blazers want a player who can space the court and keep double-teams off of their superstar. Bayless’s FG% has risen from 37% in his rookie season to 53% and his 3P% has risen from 26% to 36% over the same span. If he can keep shooting the ball like that, he will get minutes.