Brandon Roy (photo. Aaron Hewitt)

D-Wade had three forces working against him on Sunday: nagging injuries that Martell Webster seemed bent on turning into major injuries, a red-hot Brandon Roy in fourth-quarter takeover mode wearing a Reggie Miller mask, and, apparently, the big man upstairs being a Blazers fan. “The basketball Gods didn’t want us to win this one,” Wade said after the Heat lost at home to Portland … Over the last four and a half minutes of a nip/tuck ballgame, B-Roy scored 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting with a pair of threes and a free throw. Usually when Roy (28 pts, 11-14 FG, 8 asts) is going ballistic, he’s mixing his defender up and knifing into the lane from all angles, getting layups with either hand. This time he was icing outside jumpers with Wade right in his face. His dagger trey with 28 seconds left put the Blazers up seven, enough cushion for the win … Flash (28 pts, 13-31 FG, 10 asts) went into the game suffering from back spasms, and in the first half it flared up when he tried to block a Webster jumper. A little bit later, Webster was driving and bowled over Jermaine O’Neal, who fell back into D-Wade’s knee, causing him to limp for a while … So it turns out Dirk Nowitzki had TWO of Carl Landry‘s teeth stuck in his arm following that nasty collision the other night, and with his right elbow swollen and making it near impossible to shoot a jumper, Dirk sat out Sunday’s game against the Cavs. Meanwhile, Tim Thomas wasn’t just a warm body filling in for Dirk — he was getting buckets (22 pts) like he was back at Paterson Catholic. Check the post-game quote from Tim, though: “For the last couple of years I’ve been stuck in situations where I’ve been pretty much stuck behind the three-point line, and coming into this season I told Coach (Rick Carlisle) I wanted to get back to playing an all-around game, which is my strength.” The last couple of years? Doesn’t he mean the last entire decade? … The key for the Mavs was really their defense. They held LeBron (25 pts) to just two points in the fourth quarter, and Shaq (1-7 FG) was a non-factor. The addition of Shawn Marion has been one of the League’s most underrated offseason moves, as he’s allowing Dallas more lineup versatility and defensive looks since he can play the three or the four, plus Josh Howard can play the two or the three … Dirk was in the building, looking like that guy who would hit on your girl as soon as you left to buy drinks, and during the first half the Dallas announcers had him get on the mic for some color commentary. When Jason Terry tried to dunk on Anderson Varejao, Dirk went nuts. “WHOOOOOOA! Easy there, little man! OK, Jet! Yeeeeeeah!” … According to NBA TV’s Eric Snow, the Lakers gave the Pistons problems because they have “long hands” on defense. Alright. Kobe (28 pts) and Ron Artest combined for 11 steals as Detroit’s toughness and scrappy play just didn’t compare to L.A.’s straight-up talent and size advantage … The use of ad space and product placement in NBA arenas is getting kind of ridiculous. On each basket support at The Palace of Auburn Hills, there’s a gigantic McDonald’s ad with a huge burger staring the players right in the face on either side. No big deal for Ben Wallace, who probably prefers his steak still breathing, but that’s gotta be pure torture for somebody like Jerome James. We’ve gotta track down a Detroit ballboy and ask him how many requests he’s gotten to run out and get a Big Mac at halftime … Other stat lines from Sunday: Zach Randolph absolutely beasted the Nuggets for 32 points and 24 rebounds in Memphis’ upset win; Paul Pierce put up 29 points (six threes) to beat the Wolves; and Chris Bosh had 25 and 11 boards as Toronto knocked off the Hornets … So with the Knicks trying to put the Bobcats to bed in the fourth, Ray Felton turned into Isiah Thomas, scoring 12 of his 27 points in the fourth and refusing to be stopped. Felton knocked down a three with 22 seconds left to cut NY’s lead to two, and after Danilo Gallinari split two free throws, Felton went coast-to-coast for a layup to make it a one-point game. Gallinari again split his freebies, so down two with nine seconds left, who does Charlotte go to? Acie Law of course — he of the 4.7 ppg scoring this year, he who had literally just checked into the game for the first time before Gallinari’s free throws. Law was ice-cold coming off the bench, but he decided to take the ball and fly downcourt with horse-blinders on, ignoring Felton in the middle of the floor and D.J. Augustin on the wing, then getting his layup volleyballed off the glass by The Rooster. Ballgame. And that’s why the Bobcats will never make the playoffs … We’re out like long hands …