Mason Plumlee Midrange Jumper Wins Blazers Fan Fest

UPDATE: The Blazers’ Black Team beat the White team in sudden-death double-overtime, 50-48, when Mason Plumlee sank a midrange jumper after 90 extra seconds of action. If this sounds entertaining... well yes, actually it was! Fun game this year. Damian Lillard won the MVP award.

The Blazers’ official preseason starts tomorrow night, against the Utah Jazz on CSN NW. We’ll have a Gameday Thread ready!

FULL RECAP

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum kicked off the Portland Trail Blazers 12th annual Fan Fest with a center court Q&A conducted by Lamar Hurd and Kevin Calabro. They spoke about their off-season adventures, team unity, what they expect from themselves this season, and how they grew into the men they are. McCollum specifically noted his brother, Errick McCollum, as a positive influence in his life. The four continued their friendly conversation for over 20 minutes before the rest of the Trail Blazers took the floor for warm-ups.

The teams for the intra-team scrimmage, chosen by head coach Terry Stotts, were divided as follows:

Visitor: Portland, OR – Black Team

No. 4: Maurice Harkless
No. 6: Shabazz Napier
No. 24: Mason Plumlee
No. 23: Allen Crabbe
No. 3: CJ McCollum

No. 34: Grant Jerrett
No. 44: Luis Montero
No. 31: Festus Ezeli (DNP)
No. 10: Jake Lamyan (DNP)

Home: Portland, OR – White Team

No. 1: Evan Turner
No. 8: Al-Farouq Aminu
No. 17: Ed Davis
No. 5: Pat Connaughton
No. 0: Damian Lillard

No. 55: Tim Quarterman
No. 54: Greg Stiemsma
No. 11: Meyers Leonard (DNP)
No. 21: Noah Vonleh (DNP)

Each quarter was only six minutes long, with a running clock, but that didn’t stop Lillard from lighting up the scoreboard with 11 points right out of the gate, leading all scorers at the end of the first. From that point on, the night was essentially his. The scrimmage remained competitive and even went into sudden death when the contest could not be decided in overtime, but no other player came close. Lillard finished with 20 points on mostly 30-footers, as Plumlee sunk the game-winning shot for the black team. Final score: 50-48, black team.

Lillard won MVP in a landslide.

After the scrimmage, Lillard thanked the fans for coming out once again and brought Montero, Quarterman, and Layman out to center court for a dance off. They were less than impressive, so Vonleh took over to show them how it’s done. There were no clear winners except the fans.

The Blazers begin preseason play tomorrow night, hosting the Utah Jazz.

It’s that nice, new Fresh Gameday Thread smell!

Yes, the 2016-17 Blazers make their first on-court appearance tonight, in the annual Wells Fargo Fan Fest event. It’ll air at 4:00pm on Comcast SportsNet Northwest, but will also be streaming for free on the Blazers’ Facebook page.

If you’re in the Portland area, the event is FREE. Consider going! The Moda Center doors open at 2:45pm, and you can meet some of the players. Here is the schedule of events:

3:05-3:35 – Players Q&A at South Atrium

• Festus Ezeli
• Mason Plumlee
• Evan Turner
• Shabazz Napier

3:05-3:35 – Rose Room Kids Press Conference with Brooke Olzendam

• Al-Farouq Aminu
• Allen Crabbe
• Ed Davis
• Meyers Leonard

3:15-3:40 – Meet and Greet at Rip City Clothing Company

• Noah Vonleh

3:15-3:40 – Meet and Greet at the RCU Headquarters at Entry A10

• Grant Jerrett
• Luis Montero
• Jake Layman
• Tim Quarterman
• Greg Stiemsma

3:45-4:15 – Center Court Q & A with Kevin Calabro & Lamar Hurd

• Damian Lillard
• CJ McCollum

If you’re not going to the game, hang out here and chat in the comments! We usually won’t learn much from this game; the players are usually just having fun, and the broadcast is treated as an extended infomercial for the new Blazers season. But who cares? Watch, chat, and have some fun.