Brandon Roy's heroics help Blazers overcome 18-point fourth quarter deficit against Mavericks

After an unbelievable performance that lifted the Trail Blazers to one of the biggest comebacks in NBA playoff history, Brandon Roy stood on the Rose Garden arena floor engulfed in the arms of Nicolas Batum and Patty Mills as confetti rained from the rafters.

"You still the man, you still Brandon Roy," Batum whispered in Roy's ear as a sellout crowd roared. "We trust you. We believe in you."

And there's still reason to believe in these Blazers.

With a you-had-to-be-there-to-believe-it game from Roy, a colossal meltdown by the Dallas Mavericks and a fourth quarter for the ages, the Blazers eked out an 84-82 victory Saturday in Game 4 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

After sleepwalking through the better part of three quarters, the Blazers awoke just in time to outscore the Mavericks 35-15 in the fourth, overcoming an 18-point deficit in the final quarter to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2. Game 5 is Monday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

"We got this game," Batum said. "I don't know how we got this game, but we got it."

Batum admitted that during a moment of weakness, he thought the Blazers were toast.

"One time, yeah," he said. "Before the fourth quarter, (I thought) 'That's going to be tough for us.'"

But just as doubt crept in, Camby started whispering to teammates, "We can win this. They're going to let us back in the ballgame. Let's exude confidence." And Roy announced, "Let's see if we can give ourselves a chance." And Aldridge pleaded to teammates, "Play defense for five possessions and get five stops." And after that worked, he said, "Let's do it again."

the Mavericks' lead had been dwindled to single digits at 80-72. The Rose Garden was energized, the Blazers started to believe and Roy took over -- scoring the final eight Blazers points of the game.

He converted a driving layup. He swished a 21-foot jumper. Then he tied the game on an improbable four-point play with 1:06 left, making a three-pointer from the top of the key as Shawn Marion hacked him.

"When I shot it, I threw it up (and) then I started to look toward the ground to land," Roy said. "I looked up and it went in. I'm thinking, 'Oh, this is going to be one of those finishes.'"

"I told Brandon Roy he woke up," Andre Miller said, smiling. "He hit some tough shots, some big shots, and we just rode him."

And as Roy stood on the arena floor after the game, swarmed by Mills and Batum, the one-time All-Star who has been plagued by bum knees all season soaked in the moment.

"When they were grabbing me, I just needed to embrace someone," he said. "Just one of those feelings where I was happy to have their support. It still just doesn't feel real yet. It was just an unbelievable game. To come back, with everything I've been through this season, it just all kind of came into that moment right there on the court with guys grabbing me and just cheering me on. It was real special."