Jail Blazers by Eggers Kerry;

Author:Eggers, Kerry;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2018-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

Portland entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed with a 49–33 record, having gone 6–7 since its high-water mark of 43–26 on March 23. The opponent, as expected, was the No. 3 seeded Lakers (58–24). The teams had split the season series at two apiece.

Patterson gave himself the edge in the matchup of players at the wing positions—himself and Wells against the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Rick Fox.

“Me and Bonzi have an advantage on their 2 and 3 guys,” Patterson said, looking back at the Blazers’ April 14 double-overtime triumph. “I wore [Bryant] down in the second half, just playing physical with him. It’s a mental thing as much as anything. He knows I am going to have a plan against him, play hard and do what I do.”

Cheeks had a little fun with it when asked about the matchup.

“I tell Ruben, after we beat the Lakers in a five-game series, then you are a Kobe-stopper,” Cheeks said. “I don’t know if Ruben is in [Bryant’s] head, but I believe you let a guy guard a player he believes he can guard. Ruben really believes he can guard him. But Kobe is a great player. He will make adjustments to whoever guards him. He will take on the challenge. You don’t become a great player by letting one guy stop you.”

ESPN’s Jack Ramsay predicted a competitive series.

“Phil Jackson fears the Blazers more than anybody else,” Ramsay said. “They have a lot of weapons and flexibility and the capacity to challenge the Lakers in a number of ways. That high screen-and-roll with Stoudamire and Wallace is tough to defend, and Bonzi and Ruben play so hard to the hoop.”

TNT’s Doug Collins said the Blazers would miss Sabonis in trying to slow down O’Neal. Shaq had averaged 33 points and 14.3 rebounds in his three games against Blazers, missing one with his sore toe.

“They don’t want to play the Lakers,” Collins said. “They have no answer for Shaq at all. At least with Sabonis, they had a big body to keep him in front of you. They had their best chance to beat the Lakers when Sabonis was playing. My guess now is they will struggle.”

O’Neal didn’t seem worried about any challenge the Blazers might offer. Instead, he was already looking down the road.

“If I’m going to fight you in a boxing match, I’m not going to train,” Shaq told the media. “I’m going to eat some doughnuts, and I’ll beat your butt. But if I have to fight Mike Tyson, then I have to train. I know what my troops are capable of. Sometimes we are so good we get bored, but we know what we have to do in the playoffs. I want a challenge. I want to get a championship—blood, sweat, and tears style.”

Jackson, who always liked to poke fun at his northern foes, couldn’t resist a snide comment about the Jail Blazers.

“I’m always surprised that Portland people can actually root for their players, given the type of character they display on the floor, but they somehow manage,” Jackson said.

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