Playoffs 2000:Blazers on verge of another collapse

Blazers on verge of another collapse
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. -- All the Portland Trail Blazers have to show for their expensive offseason maneuvers is one more victory than last year in the Western Conference finals.

The Blazers are down 3-1 to the Los Angeles Lakers heading into Tuesday's game at Staples Center, and history isn't on Portland's side.

The Blazers have won just two of their last 11 road games in the conference finals, and they haven't come back from even a 2-1 deficit since the 1977 Finals, when they lost the first two games to Philadelphia before winning four straight.

"I know in my heart we can still win this series," Portland's Rasheed Wallace said after Sunday's 103-91 loss. "We just have to stay alive. We've got to win Tuesday or we'll start working on next season."

The Blazers now are 1-7 in their last two conference finals series, including 0-4 at home.

Should the Blazers lose Game 5, they and general manager Bob Whitsitt could face some tough questions.

After Portland was swept by San Antonio in the conference finals last year, Whitsitt made some substantial changes -- trading the bothersome Isaiah Rider and Jim Jackson to Atlanta for Steve Smith; acquiring Scottie Pippen from Houston in a seven-player deal; and signing free agent Detlef Schrempf.

The moves inflated the Blazers' payroll to a league-high $73.9 million, and immediately burdened the team with the label of favorite to win the title.

That was before the Lakers, who also were swept by the Spurs in the playoffs last season, began tearing through the league with stars Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice, and a handful of reliable supporting players.

The Lakers pushed their lopsided Game 2 loss into distant memory by winning the third quarter of both games at the Rose Garden. During that period, they outscored the Blazers a combined 61-35.

"They played a great game," Pippen said. "I don't know that if we played well, it could have helped us, as well as they played."

Despite some impressive one-on-one moves against Bryant, Pippen was generally a disappointment in Games 3 and 4. He averaged just 11.5 points, shot 36 percent and had as many turnovers as assists (eight).

Pippen had said he would come out strong after his 12-point, 5-for-13 shooting performance in Game 3, but he was seldom a factor Sunday. He had three fouls by halftime and was particularly ineffective in the third, scoring four points on 1-of-5 shooting with one assist and no rebounds.

"I didn't think that I was very aggressive today," he said. "It was the foul trouble that put me back on my heels and took my aggressiveness out of me. I knew if I got another foul, I couldn't be aggressive at all."

Wallace did his best to fill the void, scoring 18 of his playoff career-high 34 points in the fourth quarter, while the rest of the Blazers managed just seven.

"We kind of corner ourselves when we get to standing around watching, not doing anything," point guard Damon Stoudamire said. "That's when we get stagnant, and we become a mediocre ball club."

Wallace, playing on a sore left ankle, added 13 rebounds, also a postseason best. His previous highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds came in Game 2.

Wallace acknowledged that his ankle, which he twisted during the third quarter of Friday night's 93-91 loss in Game 3, was affecting his play.

"It was bothering me, but I couldn't let an ankle stop me," he said. "I got it going on offense, but it wasn't enough."