Top Ten Pivotal Moments in Trail Blazers History: #2--A Quarter to Doom

by Dave on Nov 6, 2011 10:00 PM PST in News

Sunday, June 4th, 2000...the Portland Trail Blazers lead the Los Angeles Lakers 71-55 in the closing seconds of the third period of Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals when Lakers guard Brian Shaw banks in an improbable three-pointer to close the gap to a still-laughable 13-point margin. The Blazers would shrug off the wild throw, leading by as much as 15 with 10 minutes and change left in the fourth.

What happened next doesn't need recounting for any but the most neophyte of Blazer fans. Portland choked jumper after jumper, shooting 22% for the period. A previously-handcuffed Shaquille O'Neal came alive, dunking and waving fingers. Shaw and Kobe Bryant took it to the Blazers. Portland couldn't get a call, couldn't make a play, just couldn't cope. Nobody will forget the sickening feeling of watching that ten minutes, of seeing the Blazers surrender the biggest Game 7 comeback in playoff history, more than doubling the previous margin. I'm having to suppress a gag just recollecting it.

The Lakers went on to win the title against an over-matched Indiana Pacers squad that year. The Blazers had to console themselves with a Shaq quote:

The Blazers are a fabulous team, and this is probably a rivalry that's going to last throughout my entire career.

Yeah...not so much.

While the Lakers would build a mini-dynasty on top of their 2000 success the Blazers would follow up their run by falling off a cliff.

Let's pause for a minute and consider what might have happened had Portland held onto the lead and advanced to the Finals. Indiana was a respectable team but most observers had the Western Conference Champion beating them no matter which team that was. In all likelihood the Blazers would have won the second title in team history.

These were the salad days for franchise lifers like Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire. Both men later developed less-than-optimal reputations, leaving Portland fans disheartened. Bling on their fingers from 2000 would have outshone any annoyance with their behavior. That ten minutes was the difference between their jerseys being retired and being stuffed in bottom drawers to be used as dust rags.

The Blazers made radical changes after their Conference Finals loss, many of which hastened the negative direction of the franchise. Could the team and forward Brian Grant have come to a mutually beneficial agreement with the warmth of a title between them? Grant might have been indispensable and certainly would have been happier. At the very least defeating the Lakers would have lessened the Blazers' urge to bolster the frontcourt the next year with "Shaq Stopper" Dale Davis and the rotund Shawn Kemp, both disappointments. Or hey, if Grant couldn't be persuaded to stay, would Jermaine O'Neal have been enough with one title already in tow? Would gratitude towards Steve Smith and Scottie Pippen have made the Blazers less apt to rely on Derek Anderson, Bonzi Wells, Ruben Patterson in the coming years? Moves not made futilely chasing a missing championship could have changed the Blazers' fortunes--particularly in the PR department--even if they never won big again. Make no mistake, the Jailblazers era started the second after that Game 7 horn sounded. It would continue for the next six years.

Perceptions about the saddest or most disappointing moment in Trail Blazers history run along generational lines. Some hurt worst in '78 when Walton's foot robbed the team of a title. Others agonize more over Uncle Cliffy fumbling away the best record in the league during the '91 Conference Finals. The current generation will have the Oden cross to bear. Even though some of those moments may be more painful than 2000, none were as pivotal. Walton's injury came close but the team remained afloat, albeit in mediocrity, after. The Blazers saw a return to the NBA Finals in 1992 after the devastation of the previous year. The Oden Era never got off the ground in the first place, or at least hasn't yet. The unfathomably spectacular distance between brushing your finger against a World Championship trophy and the nuclear-winter devastation of the Jailblazers that followed, coupled with the fact that the decline wasn't injury-induced but self-induced--everything that followed being a reaction to this event--makes that fourth quarter collapse the most pivotal ten minute stretch in franchise history. An entire city could be built (or in this case destroyed) in the space between what might have been and what actually transpired. That's why the Western Conference Finals loss in 2000 easily made the #2 most pivotal moment in Trail Blazers history.

Debate and hold on for #1 below.

Here are #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, and #10 in case you missed them.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

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Comments

Biggest playoff choke job until the Lakers blew a 20 point home lead to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals a few years ago. Seeing Vujacic cry some how made me feel like what happened to the Blazers wasn’t so bad.

by BRoyInThe4th on Nov 6, 2011 10:26 PM PST reply actions

What happened to the Blazers wouldn’t have been so bad if they’d won the next two championships.

long live the jd.

by jksnake99 on Nov 6, 2011 11:07 PM PST up reply actions

This game marked the end of my childhood.

All that bulls*** a** calls they had out there, you've all seen that s***, you saw them calls. The cats are flopping all over the floor and they're calling that s***. That s*** ain't basketball out there, it's all f***ing entertainment. You all should know that s***, it's all f***ing entertainment

by Rasheed's Lament on Nov 6, 2011 11:17 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

oh, yeah, that was a 'stunner'

And the worst was, it was all down hill for the Blazers after that, while the Lakers started repeating. It was a team breaker.
There was a big game, as I recall, earlier that year, when, Lakers and Blazers were competing for first place, and the Lakers took that game too, leading to a Blazers skid.
That was serious frustration.

Wake me when the game is on.

by Berkeley on Nov 6, 2011 11:46 PM PST reply actions

it looked destined to happen....

I watched that quarter, not as a blazer fan, but as a neutral observer. This was years before I moved to Portland. I hated the Lakers so I was for Portland by default. But I couldn’t say I was invested.

What I saw was a Blazers team that was good, but was somehow patchwork. It wasn’t really a team. That is how it seemed at the time. And the collapse wasn’t that surprising. It was far more surprising when the Kings lost to the Lakers a year or so later.

And what happened after was perfectly in synch with the whole dotcom bubble breaking. It seemed to run in parallel to the desperate over grabbing ways of the Blazers at that time. Those were my thoughts at that time.

by inpresence on Nov 7, 2011 4:22 AM PST up reply actions

...

by WeeJa on Nov 7, 2011 12:37 AM PST reply actions

For years I thought both Sabby and Pippen fouled out of the game

I thought that was what caused the turn around in scores. Then somebody on this sight told me Sabby didn’t foul out of the game, He was just pulled out of the game. That really frustrates me. because regardless of the hype and the bias of the Refs, Sabby was the only one that could control Shaq. Of course I am on the bandwagon of the refs taking that game away from us. Although Brian Grant says it was the players that caused it.

by BBK on Nov 7, 2011 12:40 AM PST reply actions

no, I totally remember Pippen throw the final inbound pass to nobody near the foul line and the time expired. I was thinking why did he do that?

by chimpy_x on Nov 7, 2011 12:45 AM PST reply actions

Hmm...

Yes, this was a big moment. But somehow, I wouldn’t rank it this high. The reasoning? IMO The Blazers could of won this game, this series and a championship, and they probably deserved to…BUT..imo, The Sabas, Pippen and Steve Smith combination weren’t assembled or at a place in their respective careers where dynasty was possible. In other words? This was a lost championship. That’s big, but I don’t really think this team would of repeated in any case. The Shaq/Kobe era was coming, if not heralded by a 4th quarter collapse of The Blazers, it would of arrived the following season.

I suppose you can’t say NOT winning a potential championship, and being 10 minutes away isn’t a huge pivotal moment. To me? This was a moment that impacted individual players more than the entire franchise. It meant, Pippen would never get that Championship, won without Jordan. It meant Steve Smith would not win an N.B.A. Championship. It was Sabonis’s best chance to add an N.B.A. championship to his resume. And I think it flatlined tha arc of Rasheeds career in Portland. All huge…but long term I wonder how much difference it really makes? This was a team assembled for immediate and instantaneous success, and when it failed, the age of some of the primaries precluded much hope of repeated success or attempts. IMO had we won that quarter and a championship? Despite a trophy, a parade, and some momentum going into the following season? I don’t think it would of made a lot of difference to the future of the franchise. Infact it might of ultimately slowed change.

I’m an older fan, but IMO the 91 series loss to the aged Magic and Worthy led Lakers hurt more. The Blazers had clearly been the best team in the N.B.A. that entire season. We had homecourt advantage by merit of our regular season record. And IMO, that was actually the best incarnation of Porter, Drexler , Kersey, Buck and Duckworth. That team deserved to be in the finals, and deserved to win it’s championship that year. Somehow in my mind being derailed and dispatched by the “Last Hurrah” of Magic and Worthy was like one final massive indignity suffered at the hands of a Laker team that really at that point? Probably didn’t deserve to beat The Blazers.

I think younger fans, remember the 2000 4th quarter collapse with more angst. Don’t get me wrong, I was rooting for The Blazers and I wanted to win that series as much as anyone. But we didn’t have homecourt advantage, and one could almost “feel” the entire N.B.A. just waiting to annoint Kobe and Shaq “Next”. If it hadn’t happened on the stage of game 7 against us? It would of happened the next season. Yeah, it would of been nice to of done to them in 2000 what they did to us in 1991, which was be the aging team that denied them immediate success…but longterm, I think Pippen was aging…Steve Smith was aging…Sabonis was aging and I don’t know how much real difference to what would ultimately happen this loss really made.

A vague and undenfinable reality is the smoke that seemed to surround the departure of Brian Grant. I’ve never really been too clear what happened. I think Grant always claimed he felt he had to leave, or was going to be traded…while Whittsit always claimed that trading Brian Grant wasn’t his idea….in anycase his departure was almost a symbolic end to all that was good about the 2000 Blazers.

I guess what I’m saying…is I think the 4th quarter of DOOM…was a huge, huge moment to the franchise, but oddly? I don’t know how pivotal it was…I think the underpinnings of ultimate failure were already in place, whether we knew it at the time or not.

"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"

by Krang on Nov 7, 2011 2:16 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

I think I can take your argument and turn it around

The 91 series hurt – badly – mainly because the Blazers looked destine (and deserving) to win the championship. They were at their individual and team peaks and the expectations were sky high. But I think 2000 was more pivotal to the franchise because it was a turning point for the team. Everybody knew and expected that the 91 team would come back the next year challenging for a championship, and they did. The 2000 team looked like it was an airplane running out of runway. If it didn’t take off that year, it wasn’t going to be pretty. Sure enough, without that championship, everything fell apart.

Personally: They both hurt and I almost couldn’t bring myself to even READ this post… I think 2000 was worse than 91 ONLY because it was condensed to 10 minutes. I had already started celebrating… (lesson learned). I was even watching with a friend (not a Blazer fan) who went home when the 4Q started because she figured it was over. Nothing worse than watching something you thought was over come back and haunt you for the rest of your life…

I have nthn btr 2 do than spend time coming up with a clever signature

by nthnbtr2do on Nov 7, 2011 2:50 PM PST up reply actions

Not neccisarily

If the blazers win, maybe bob doesn’t feel the need to ship out jermaine, and maybe other moves that were made to get by the lakers don’t get made, like no rod, don’t forget the blazers had the best record in the the following year before they collapsed.

(The part of my brain that come up with clever signatures is locked out)

by thomasikehara on Nov 7, 2011 2:51 PM PST up reply actions

"loss to the aged Magic and Worthy"

Magic was one year removed from back to back MVP winning seasons. He was NOT in anyway on his way out at this point. When he came back five years latter after not playing at all he was still a vary effective player (though obviously not what he was before).

by vullkem116 on Nov 7, 2011 10:25 PM PST up reply actions

Great post

I agree with you on the 91 play-off game. It felt like no matter what we do we are not destined to win another championship, and the one we did win was tagged as a fluke.
When Cliff dropped the ball, literally, I couldn’t believe it.

by BBK on Nov 7, 2011 2:46 AM PST reply actions

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now all we need is the rest of the roster to get into "how can everybody help Nicco and Oden" mode. -- Oden Mad, Oden Smash! Sep 29, 2010 7:47 PM

by LaoTzu on Nov 7, 2011 3:03 AM PST reply actions

cant do it

its been a decade but i still can’t handle this. I didn’t read the post because I really am still truly smarting from that fourth quarter. Anyone remember Steve Smith driving the lane only to be absolutely clobbered by Shaq?…OFFENSIVE FOUL? You gotta be f———-…family environment, I know.

by the16thman on Nov 7, 2011 6:16 AM PST reply actions

I am not reading this. I am not reading this. I am not reading this.

LALALALALALALALALALALALALALA!!!!

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain_4.html#ixzz1IE4sPu16

by Tyler Durrden on Nov 7, 2011 6:54 AM PST via mobile reply actions

Why are you chanting for LA?

;-)

Who's that tromping across my bedge?

by Troll Blazer on Nov 7, 2011 8:13 AM PST up reply actions

From Walton's foot to Roy/Oden's knees

Hmm. Four hope-crushing events in 30 years. That’s what, every 7.5 years, on average? So there should be something to get excited about in another six years or so!

Steve Goodman lives.

by twinsbrewer on Nov 7, 2011 8:14 AM PST reply actions

Over the years I have heard many media types speculate...

that this game was a turning point for both franchises; claiming that if the Lakers had lost they would have been the ones to re-build.

Who's that tromping across my bedge?

by Troll Blazer on Nov 7, 2011 8:18 AM PST reply actions

I've never bought that...

The Lakers had Phil Jackson in place as coach, and Shaq and Kobe both entering the youth of their respective primes. I think a Laker loss would of lead to a summer of speculation, and perhaps a tweak or two, but I think when you have a Shaq in his prime and a Kobe emerging as an All-Star, you don’t rebuild…you simply await clearance to launch.
That’s part of my thinking above. Pippen, Steve Smith, Sabas…with all due respect, Blazer decline, was inevitable. Laker assension? Also inevitable. Unfortunately for The Blazers? The Lakers got clearance to launch, for those final 10 minutes of game 7.

"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"

by Krang on Nov 7, 2011 8:41 AM PST up reply actions