Ball Durham
Fansided

Duke Basketball: Rodney Hood wins game for Portland off the bench

By Kevin Connelly

PORTLAND, OREGON - MAY 03: Rodney Hood #5 of the Portland Trail Blazers hits what turned out to be the game winning shot during the fourth overtime of game three of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets at Moda Center on May 03, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. The Blazers won 140-137 in 4 overtimes. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - MAY 03: Rodney Hood #5 of the Portland Trail Blazers hits what turned out to be the game winning shot during the fourth overtime of game three of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets at Moda Center on May 03, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. The Blazers won 140-137 in 4 overtimes. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

It was a marathon in Portland on Friday night, but the home fans went home happy thanks to the former Duke Basketball standout Rodney Hood.

If you were on the East Coast, it was just after 2:00am ET when Rodney Hood replaced Maurice Harkless with just under two minutes to go in the game.

The Portland Trail Blazers were down by two and needed a bucket.

More from Ball Durham

CJ McCollum had 41 points, Damian Lillard is a perennial superstar, but who did the Blazers go to?

Rodney Hood.

Hood evened the game at 133 a piece with a pull up jumper.

After Denver split a pair of free throws on the other end, Portland trailed by a point and who did the team go to once again to put them ahead?

Rodney Hood.

The Denver Nuggets would answer with a bucket on the other end and the Trail Blazers found itself down by one once again with under 30 seconds to play.

McCollum missed a jumper but Portland would grab the offensive rebound and kick it out to Rodney Hood on the right wing.

Hood caught the pass, pump faked, set his feet, and let it fly only to see the ball find nylon and the home crowd to go absolutely wild.

Rodney Hood had scored the last seven points for the Portland Trail Blazers in the fourth overtime after not seeing the floor really since the fourth quarter, playing a handful of seconds in the first overtime.

He finished with 19 points on the evening.

After Denver had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line, Nikola Jokic missed one and made one and Portland had to make two free throws on the other end to salt the game away.

Lillard was covered, McCollum was covered, who did Hood find on the inbound pass?

Seth Curry.

Curry stepped to the charity stripe to calmly knock down two free throws to put Portland up by three and with no timeouts, Denver wasn’t able to pull off a Christian Laettner-eque play.

Hood and Curry scored the final nine points of the game to give the Portland Trail Blazers a 140-137 victory in 4OT and now the Blazers hold a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 scheduled to tipoff less than 48 hours after the conclusion of Game 3 at 7:00pm ET on Sunday evening.

Home/Duke Basketball