Brandon Roy and Patty Mills

When Brandon Roy vented his frustration after Game 2 about playing only eight minutes, many people remarked that they felt he threw teammate Patty Mills under the bus by expressing disbelief that Mills was being inserted into the game before him.

Little do people know, Roy and Mills are very close, with Mills calling Roy "Big Bro" and Roy calling Mills "Lil Bro."

In fact, their closeness developed into somewhat of a team joke, to the point where equipment manager Geoff Clark replaced Mills' old locker nameplate with a new one: 8 – Patty Roy. The nameplate was made in the same style as the usual nameplates, and when it was finished, Clark sent Roy a picture.

"I was like, 'Snaps! Let's put it up," Roy recalled.

Clark said it wouldn't go up until Roy rejoined the team from his rehabilitation. So in late February, when the team was in Orlando, the nameplate made its debut. Mills, the team's resident jokester, had the tables turned on him.

"I just started laughing," Mills said. "Everyone knew it straight away."

It started a new road tradition of having the lockers of Roy and Mills side-by-side, and it helped strengthen an already tight bond.

"When I first came into the league, Brandon and LaMarcus took under wing and showed me the ropes," Mills said. "Especially Brandon. So I call them both Big Bro."

The two started their bond during Mills' tenuous quest to make the team in training camp. Roy would ask for daily updates on his status.

"It was every day, I would ask him, 'What is Rich (Cho) saying?'" Roy said, referring to the Blazers' general manager. "We became closer in that stretch."

The relationship grew when the two would find themselves holed up in the training room, getting treatment for their aching knees. Mills battles tendonitis, and Roy has arthritic knees. Soon, Mills became a sounding board for Roy, who had watched many of his closest friends get traded.

"(Jerryd) Bayless used to be my little brother on the team," Roy said. "Ever since Bayless came, we were close. We would often just sit in the locker room and talk. And Travis (Outlaw) was my best friend, and he was my little brother, too. But Travis got traded. Bayless got traded. So I told Patty, 'I can't lose another brother."

Mills idolized the former All-Star. He wore the same Nike shoes. And when Roy would wear a sleeve over his knee, so too would Mills.

Eventually, Mills became Roy's confidant, Roy's go-to-player, so-to-speak.

"He is constantly coming back to me on the bench asking 'How do I look?'" Mills said. "And I'm straight with him. I guess in a way that has brought me closer to him. The hardest thing I've probably had to tell him is he has to let the game come to him. Getting his confidence back might take longer than he wants."