A large contingent of Portland Trail Blazers fans was irate on Thursday night when TNT did not air the first half of Portland's game against the Los Angeles Lakers because an earlier game between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks went into triple-overtime. Because of the exclusivity of TNT's coverage deal, the first 24 minutes of the most anticipated game of the season were lost for good for virtually the entire country. Mike Tokito of The Oregonian obtained this statement from Turner broadcasting regarding the situation. ------------------------- A Turner spokesman sent The Oregonian a quote from Christina Miller, senior vice president of strategy, marketing and programming for Turner Sports. "The Hawks-Heat triple-overtime game was an exciting national telecast," Miller said. "This was not a regional telecast and we would not leave our first game until its conclusion." Asked if Turner considered making the Blazers-Lakers game available on another Turner network, spokesman Tom Caraccioli said Turner's other networks had commitments to programs they could not break. ------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter