The 12 Minutes That Changed The Trail Blazers' Championship Trajectory
Game 7 vs the Lakers through my eyes
I grew up in Portland, Oregon. I wasn’t necessarily raised to be a Trail Blazers fan, but my fandom grew when I hit my late elementary school years. I was won over during the 1999-00 season when the Blazers finished with the second-best regular season record in the NBA behind Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers.
I vividly remember the big, boxy TV in the corner of our family room. The family couch sat across the back wall, too far away for the details my eyes sought. I would sit on the ground, about two feet from the screen. That’s how I remember watching all sporting events.
I watched the World Cup in the middle of the night with my cousin, lying on the floor and celebrating when the U.S. beat Mexico 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. It’s the same carpet I sat on years earlier when Kobe threw Shaq an alley-oop, all but sealing Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against my Blazers. The alley-oop is an iconic moment, used in marketing materials to this day.
That game is what propelled the Lakers to three straight NBA championships. The Blazers championship window closed after a nightmare of a fourth quarter. It was probably one of my first sporting heartbreaks. The Blazers would have likely won the championship if they had found a way to win.
I have to give a fair warning: Before you move forward, this may be triggering for Blazers fans. It may open up some old wounds. For Blazers fans around my age, this is probably the worst loss we have ever experienced. When I decided to write this, I looked at the Blazers subreddit and found a thread about this game. The raw emotion expressed by fans reminiscing on this game is still felt over 20 years later. I’ll insert screenshots of the comments throughout. Even though it was a devastating loss as a fan, it was a fun trip down memory lane to look back on some of my favorite Blazers.
The Team That Won Me Over
The stage was set the year before during the 1998-99 shortened season. The Blazers were the two seed in the West and were swept by the San Antonio Spurs and a young Tim Duncan in the Western Conference Finals. They would become the eventual champions in what was their first of five over a 15-year period.
The Blazers had a strong team with Damon Stoudamire, Arvydas Sabonis, Brian Grant, and Isaiah Rider. They had a blossoming star in Rasheed Wallace coming off the bench most of the season but started all 13 playoff games.
The Blazers knew they needed to get better to be true championship contenders, so they went out and got veteran leadership in Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith, and Detlef Schrempf. The starters for the 1999-00 season were Damon Stoudamire, Steve Smith, Scottie Pippen, Rasheed Wallace, and Arvydas Sabonis. Key bench players included Brian Grant, Detlef Schrempf, Greg Anthony, and two young up-and-comers Jermaine O’Neal and Bonzi Wells. The Blazers had the highest payroll in the league as they went all in to try and win a championship.
Rasheed Wallace was the team’s best player and wore his emotions on his sleeve. He and Dame Lillard are probably my two favorite Blazers ever. Wallace was known for being fiery and would go after refs night in and night out. I liked that about him. He played with a chip on his shoulder.
As a fan, it felt like the refs were out to get the Blazers every night. Wallace set an NBA record that year with 38 technical fouls, only for him to break his own record the following year with 41. It’s an NBA record that will probably never be broken because of new suspension rules. He was given no leeway with the refs because of his reputation. It gave Blazers fans an us against the world mentality.
Shaq and Kobe being the darlings of the NBA was almost too much to bear. The Lakers were a big market team and LA winning was beneficial for the NBA’s wallet. It felt like every 50/50 call would go in favor of the Lakers–Kings fans will know what I’m talking about. I despised the Lakers for everything they represented.
They were the glamor of Hollywood and the media loved them. They were cocky and didn’t care. It was as if they were the cool kid at school, but bullied the underclassman when no one was watching. The Lakers were getting golden star stickers from the teacher as they handed over a parent-made gift basket wrapped in cellophane.
The Blazers were the tough kids with attitudes. They sat at the back of the class shooting spit wads across the room. The team carried an underdog mentality as if they were from the side of town long forgotten. Portland worked as a pack with no clear star, but together they were almost impossible to beat. I liked rooting for the underdog. I saw a little bit of me in them as a young, short athlete myself.
This was the backdrop for the 2000 Western Conference Finals. The Blazers were so close to going to the NBA Finals and all that stood in their way were the hated Los Angeles Lakers.
2000 Western Conference Finals: Blazers vs Lakers
Game 1
The Blazers lost in what was a blowout most of the game, 109-94. Shaq set a record for most free throw attempts in one quarter of a playoff game with 25. He finished with 41 points. Wallace was ejected for his second technical foul after staring at an official.
Game 2
The Blazers evened the series with a blowout win 106-77 in LA after winning the third quarter 28-8. Wallace had 29 points while Kobe was held to 12 points on 22% shooting.
Game 3
The Lakers won in a nailbiter, 93-91, after Shaq and Kobe combined for 51. The broadcast routinely talked about holding the Lakers stars to under 50 points to have a shot of winning throughout the series.
Game 4
The Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, winning 103-91 despite Wallace’s 34 points. The Blazers had to travel back to LA with their season on the line.
Game 5
The Blazers had dominant second and third quarters and hung on in the end to win 96-88, forcing a Game 6 back in Portland.
Game 6
The Blazers jumped on the Lakers early. Behind a raucous crowd, the Blazers force a Game 7 winning 103-93.
Game 7
The Blazers were confident going into Game 7 at the Staples Center. They were a team with nothing to lose–all the pressure was on the Lakers. Scottie Pippen said before the game, “We know they’re a little bit of a fragile team. They don’t have the experience.”
Bonzi Wells added, “We smell blood, and we want to kill these Lakers. The Lakers better be ready and have their hard hats on because we are coming for them.”
Shaq has admitted on multiple occasions that he was nervous and even a little scared for the moment. He knew there would be questions on whether the Lakers could win with both him and Kobe if they didn’t come out on top.
The Blazers pounced on the Lakers from the jump. Despite their bigs being in foul trouble, the Blazers got out to an early lead as they rotated players to guard Shaq. Despite a hot start, the Lakers closed the gap and were only losing by three at halftime. The game was slow and a grind. Every possession counted. I remember the feelings I had watching–the nerves were probably easy to spot as I sat on the ground looking up at the TV.
During a couple-minute stretch at the end of the third quarter, the Blazers grew their lead to 16. The Staples Center was stunned and you could feel the anxiety through the TV screen. I remember the broadcast cutting to Phil Jackson periodically as his season was slipping away. He looked visibly disturbed, like he had just seen a ghost. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Could it really happen? Could we actually beat the Lakers? I found enjoyment in watching Jackson sweat. It was sweet revenge for his time with the Chicago Bulls. It was just so easy to root against him–He always seemed to coach the team that was easy to hate.
The Blazers entered the fourth quarter up 13 points. Nowadays, a 13-point lead with a full quarter to play is nothing. Back in the early 2000s, it was considered large. Hand checking was still allowed and the three-point shot wasn’t as much of a focal point. The average NBA team only scored 97.5 points per game while the average NBA team today scores 115 points per game.
The Blazers led by as many as 15 in the final quarter, but then the onslaught started. The Lakers started making shots and the Blazers started missing. The crowd suddenly was back into the game and it seemed like the clock was standing still. The Blazers went 7 minutes and 30 seconds without scoring, missing 13 straight shots. I think I felt literal pain. Watching every shot rim out, brick, clank, and sputter off the rim was death by a thousand papercuts.
The Lakers had 37 free throws in Game 7 compared to the Blazers’ 16. There are plenty of conspiracy theories about the NBA wanting the Lakers to win. Tim Donaghy, a disgraced referee, said in his tell-all book:
“He [Bavetta] also worked Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers. The Lakers were down by 13 at the start of the fourth quarter when Bavetta went to work.”
Decide what you will with this information, but Dick Bavetta was an official twice in the series and the Blazers lost both games. I went back and looked at all the box scores for the Lakers during the 1999-00 playoffs and the Lakers were 5-0 when Bavetta refereed their games. This was in a playoff run where the Lakers went 15-8, so they hardly won any series (except the Phoenix series) in convincing fashion like they did in the 2001 playoffs.
In writing this, I went back and watched the second half of the game. Despite my biased memory, I didn’t see as many bad calls that favored the Lakers as I remembered. This YouTube video highlights calls that went against the Blazers, but most of them came in the first half–not that it makes it more acceptable; however, the Blazers were able to build a 16-point lead anyway.
The game culminated with Kobe’s alley-oop to Shaq to put the Lakers up six with under a minute to play. Shaq celebrated by pointing towards the sky, mouth gaping in amazement, and sprinted towards his bench to celebrate. It was as if he could finally breathe again after being tortured by the anxiety of what would happen if he lost the game.
The Blazers still had a chance with the Lakers missing free throws, but fell short in the end, scoring only 13 points in the fourth quarter. I have to admit, in watching the game again I had to close my laptop before the end. I couldn’t bear watching the Lakers celebrate again.
Window Closed
The Blazers’ championship window was slammed in their face. After the season, in an attempt to add more bodies to deal with Shaq, the Blazers made several trades for veteran bigs in Dale Davis and Shawn Kemp. Portland started the 2000-01 campaign strong but added one too many pieces during the season. Bob Whitsitt, the Blazers GM, was criticized for adding too much talent, citing a lack of chemistry and cohesion among the new players brought in. The Blazers played below .500 after the All-Star break but still finished with a 50-32 record. They were the seventh seed in the playoffs. Their reward? The Lakers. The Blazers were swept in the first round. The year after was the same story–swept in the first round by the Lakers.
Simultaneously, the Jail Blazers era was starting. Over the next few years, the Blazers were infamous for their off-the-court troubles. Marijuana, sex offenders, animal abuse, using a trading card as ID, physical assaults, DUIs–all of these were regularly headlining the sports section in the daily newspaper instead of the play on the court.
The Blazers were stuck in mediocrity on the court and were receiving criticism for their troubles off it. The front office decided to rebuild the team and reshape its image, slowly trading away the pieces that were so close to beating the Lakers. Their ultimate waiving of the white flag came when Wallace was traded during the 2003-04 season. He went on to win a championship that same year with the Detroit Pistons against none other than the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers.
Championship windows in sports are small. The Blazers’ was only one season and it came down to 12 minutes, the worst 12 minutes they played the entire season. Steve Smith later reflected on those 12 minutes and said it is the one quarter in his career he wishes he could redo. I wholeheartedly agree.
You can watch Game 7 in its entirety here:
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