1992 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Semifinals #1 Blazers vs #4 Suns Game 1 Full Game
feverishly to revive Kevin lockery stunned by the developments of game one in the Knicks and Bulls series what a game for New York Sensational game for Pat Riley and the Knicks as good interior defense as I seen in any game all season and Patrick Yan really had raised it Up played as well as you could play on both ends of the floor and entirely took the game over 9489 was the final and you talk about Ying I think the play that we saw that really Illustrated that you know cartright knocks him down he picks himself up drills the jumper he was hting everything and Ernie he made it different ways he made running hooks he made long jump shots he tapped the ball in and then he finally gets the big rebound on the Miss foul shot to cake the game for New York he was Sensational now game two of our double headed the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trailblazers game one of that Western Conference semifinal series I mean I’m not going to say Portland should win this thing at all I think this would be a very good series I think Portland should be the favorite but Phoenix can beat him in their own in Portland it’s great guard play you have two probably the best pair of guards on any team you find in a league going against one another I think it’ll be a great series if you can hold Pon from running the ball extremely hard up the floor every time I think Phoenix can win it we’ll see what happens in Game one it’s coming right up here on TNT the Phoenix Suns visiting the Portland Trailblazers Ron thulan and Goose giv will have the call when we come [Music] back the Rose City but Portland Trailblazer fans would rather call it Rip City and tonight in the first game of the best of seven Western Conference semifinals the Blazers host the Phoenix Suns hello again everybody I’m Ron Thula now the Phoenix Suns got here with a very easy three-oh win over the San Antonio Spurs the Portland Trailblazers meanwhile needed four games to dispose of the LA Lakers and they did it with some very aggressive defense which led to opportunistic offense joining me tonight Jack given and Jack One Thing Rick adman told us today he said no question about it we want to beat Phoenix we’ve got to contain one of the best back courts in all the NBA well when you think about Portland Trail Blazers you definitely think about their back court you might be surprised to find out though that the Phoenix back court of Kevin Johnson and Jeff hornek has thoroughly outplayed the Portland back court both guys up above 25 points per game KJ with 14 assists Hornes doing a good job on the boards and both guys are shooting their eyes out against the Portland Trailblazers well that’s one thing Phoenix does one thing they don’t do very well is rebound especially against Portland and if Phoenix expects to wins they’re going to have to hit the boards tonight yeah Portland loves to go to the boards and they will do it on both ends of the floor they get to the offensive boards which of course will cut down on Fenix opportunities to run but then they can do such a good job of controlling the boards on the defensive end of the floor Phoenix will have to find a way to get some second shots well probably the most maligned player in Portland Trailblazers team is Kevin Duckworth and a lot depends on him tonight I think so Kevin has to be very very aggressive on the offensive end of the floor he must look for his shots and then on defense he has to use that big body plug it up down low and not let Phoenix win the battle in the pain well not too many teams are able to win a regular season series against Portland in fact in the last two years only one team’s been able to do it twice and that team is the Phoenix Suns when we come back the lineups and the tip from Portland 12,888 the 675 consecutive sellout at the memorial coliseum as we take a look at tonight’s Jeep Eagles starting lineups Perry sabalos Lang Hornes and Johnson for the Suns the Blazers go with Williams kiry Duckworth Drexler and Porter got fit Simmons he’s going to be closing out the Coliseum down in Phoenix this year as Paul westall takes over next season picked up his 800th win this year and Rick adman with a record of 24 and 20 in the playoffs head coach of the Portland Trailblazers as we look at Kevin Johnson Now One Thing Rick adman said they have to do they have to come out aggressively defensively right from the start they can’t wait they kept reminding them a couple of years ago in game one of the Western Conference Finals when they got down by 22 he said we can’t afford to do that here’s how both teams got here the sun swept to Spurs big game for Horner second Johnson and for the Portland Trailblazers they beat the Lakers three games to one with Drexler leading the way it is Extremely Loud here tonight and it is also extremely hot in the building and you would have to think that that hot the atmosphere here will favor the Phoenix Suns it’s been very warm down in Phoenix Portland unusually warm for this time time of the year dick Peta says we’re going to jump it up again dick Peta tommmy Nunes and Bernie frier the officials this evening and Phoenix [Applause] controls we’ll see right now how they’re going to guard Kevin Johnson if they go if Phoenix goes to the pick and row which they love to run so balos active defensively but Cy there for the block the follow won’t go and Williams comes up with a loose ball well that’s the inside game the nice defensive play by pery pery can’t get it the tip won’t go third time will’ll try a fourth still won’t go talk about underneath the shot blocked by Lang well that’s something that can’t continue to happen Portland getting to the offensive boards Perry the spin move loses the handle first turnover of the ball game and Jeff hornek yelling to his teammates get back get back they give Duckworth the 19-footer he doesn’t get it and they’ll continue to give him that shot well if they could get by letting him shoot that one a lot here tonight it’ll be a whole lot easier we the phix Sun Well Jack we’ve played a minute still no score and we’ve seen this throughout the playoffs the emotion the first five minutes and then both teams settle down to some type of execution Phoenix has been off for a week and you can imagine they’re going to be a little rusty here oh there’s 5 seconds on the shot clock the Suns have the basketball got Fitz Simmons said if you see us being pushed around by the Portland Trail Blazers early on you know it’s going to be a long night cor set can’t get it to go and with 10 40 remaining in the first quarter it is scoreless along with Jack given I’m thand Ernie Johnson and the main man Kevin Locker in the studio back in Atlanta don’t know if we can top the excitement of game one but I’m sure these two teams will try I think once they get it going you’re going to see up and down basketball race horse basketball that’s what both teams to play Jerome KY who’s averaging just over 11 points in the playoffs 12 for the regular season gets on the board six- day layoff as Jack mentioned for the Phoenix Suns gave Tom Chambers a chance to heal up Dan Marley a chance to heal the outside shot will go ball belongs to the Suns and a new 24 so they’re really out of syn offensively right now as far as Phoenix cotton said he didn’t really know what to expect here he had been off for a week would rather have not had it that way although it did give Tom Chambers a chance to recover just a little bit from an injury of course Dan Marley had a chance to rest a few days also the last time Phoenix had that long of a layoff was the All-Star break Portland came into town immediately following and beat Phoenix ending their 17 game home streak Johnson shows a lot of patience oh you see good shots at the basket and the second Phoenix turnover Here Comes Porter so the Suns who only turn the ball over 15 times a game during the regular season have two already Terry from the outside and Phoenix has missed shots everywhere you can miss them some short some long but they are getting good shots at the bask and expect those to start to up Drexler the lane Jeff hor has had luck on fly Drex he says he credits that to a lot of his teammates helping surround him and if Clyde gets going for Dan Marley to come in Marley an excellent defensive play Drex were averaging 26 a game during playoffs Lang the turnar around won go down that’ll belong to the Portland Trailblazers so Phoenix has gone 3 minutes and 4 seconds of this first quarter without a field goal and what an exciting game we brought you in game one tonight with the Knicks beating Chicago and boy I tell you the Blazer fans were really into that ball game we’ll tell you more about that as we go on a lot of people surprised right now at the outcome of that game I’m watching cotton over on the sideline he doesn’t show much concern yet because his team’s getting good shots at the basket Drexler the spin move dishes it off inside to Williams misses the shot Duckworth can’t get it to go we’re going to have a loose ball foul on double zero that’ll be Kevin duckor his first first team fou by the offensive rebounds if I’m coton Fitz Simmons is my major concern so far in this game not so much that my team hasn’t scored because I’m down only six zip I’m really concerned though with Portland getting to the boards well we showed we saw Portland’s defensive dominance against the Lakers as the Lakers scored only 33 first half points in game four Barry the hornis SEC tries to Dish it back off shot clock at two Barry’s going to have to throw it up and barely Nicks the rim and sabalos tries to get the follow and he gets the foul instead so C looks a little frustrated on the offensive M yeah but I I think as long as Phoenix doesn’t get overly frustrated on the floor and start throwing up bad shots I wouldn’t be too concerned you know that this these shots are going to start going because of good looks at the basket Kevin Duckworth picks up his second personal foul that’ll bring Cliff Robinson into the ball game as you look at Cedric sabalos [Applause] 6 for n from the line now during the playoffs well here’s a guy that has potential to score a lot of points very quickly he minutes have increased his time has increased or his points has increased a Cliff Robinson with the redhe headband Danny a says if he wears a white one he’ll play defense if he wears a red one he won’t play defense so we’ll have to see I think I’d hide all of those red ones not let him find them oh still Phoenix going with an offer yet to get a field goal in the ball game Robinson big offense for Portland loses the handle Here Comes Hornes he’s got Johnson on the left Ling on the right oh what a pass by Jeff Hornes L can’t complet it but then Hornes SEC keeps scrambling the ball goes out belongs to Phoenix what an effort by that young man good job of seeing the floor understanding that Lang was right behind him he’s out leading the break makes a nice decision here to give it up Clyde got him across the arm didn’t get the call back to live action 62 is our score s and a half in the [Applause] first sabalos the spin move on kiry and Cedric sabalos with the first Phoenix field goal of the ball game see that’s why I’m not too concerned it’s a 6-4 game it’s taken us that long to get a field goal to go down so cotton has to feel pretty good right now Portland was the fourth highest scoring team during the regular season Phoenix the second Porter with a [Applause] [Music] two Terry Porter who in the month of April was very very hot continues that Trend as Kevin Johnson takes his time and Pops the outside shot Kevin can frustrate you of course you have to respect his quickness back off of him and if that shot is going from the outside he’s going to be very tough tonight D inside gets his own rebound and the foul we’ve got a timeout 640 left to be played in the first of Blazers in a low-scoring game so far lead by two Blazers lead lead the Suns by two 640 remaining to be played in the first quarter everybody in the building had their eyes on the diamond Vision scoreboard as the Knicks upset the Bulls in game one in Chicago and this is the reaction of course everyone in this building think thinks that Portland will be in the finals and they expect to be playing Chicago so if the Knicks could upset Chicago win this series I’m sure they would feel it’d be a little bit easier for Portland to finally get over the hump and bring home the big prize cotton fit Simmons in his final year will take over continue as player Personnel director for the Suns and Rick Adelman in his second year of a three-year contract took over back on February 18th 1989 and is under much criticism Believe It or Not Here in Portland New York beating Chicago talk shows are people here expect an awful lot from this ball Club they are expecting everything this year I like what Rick said when you told him about uh hearing the talk show last night he said see that’s your main problem right there listening to those talk shows listen to those talk shows I’m telling you Phoenix has made only two of 11 field goal attempts Portland though not much better only four of 13 so neither team burning it up here early four times in his career Clyde Drexler has had a shot in a championship two at the University of Houston and couple here in Portland and he really wants that ring to cap off an excellent career that career hopefully will prove a spot on the Olympic team this year Johnson inside with the penetration doesn’t get it to go the follow it does Phoenix getting some offensive board work of their own gotten Simmons and Paul Westfall challenged sabalos Perry and Lang earlier today Drexler uses the left hand to keep Perry away Drexler now with six in the ball game he’s using the screen away from the ball Hornes is going to have to get some help Barry gets Robinson up in the air tries to Dish It Off there’s Johnson turnover again two of them not over him back F wanted it good call by berie frier the outside shot goes down by Tim Perry his first two of the ball game it’s obvious Portland wants to give Perry and Lang as many shots from the outside as they possibly can they’re backing totally away from it two-point ball game Porter drives the lane throws it up there’s a whistle and Lang that’s Lang’s first personal foul second team foul shooting for p Terry Porter and at the line it’ll be Terry Porter Terry Porter out of Wisconsin Stevens Point is coach was Dick Bennett whose son Tony Bennett probably will be entering the NBA draft this year out of Wisconsin Green Bay quarter pretty good also out a seven eight handicap he tells me which means he’s probably about a three of four see that’s like Kevin Locker tells you he’s 15 he’s about a two okay you don’t bring your wallet when you play with the [Applause] guy second shot by Porter finds the [Applause] net so Kevin Porter now with six points and it’s a four-point Blazer lead inside of 5 and A2 minutes from the coliseum in Portland hor gets a piece of it Drexler dishes off inside Cedric sabalo is finding his way in the crowd right now Jack well great second effort that time by horn once again DRX it with the nice block and then the look down low for the carry Porter for three he has been lighting it up from behind the three-point line in the playoffs so far 64% from three-point land during the playoffs inside west who is checked in for Andrew Lang who has two personal fouls West is going to have to use his body he did a good job of posting up holding off Buck Williams that time three-point Blazer lead Porter the pull up over KJ doesn’t get it to go west tipped it lost it then he tips it over to sabalos who stepped out of bounds and Dick petta telling Danny a to quiet down tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern time this is going to be a great series the Seattle superponics against the Utah Jazz Jim Durham dick forace will be there for all the action and Danny a threw a towel on the ground right in front of Dick Peta and Dick said Danny we don’t do that here you’re right about that series though with the Jazz and the sonics the Sonic’s playing very well they just played tremendously well against against Golden State to put them out in four everybody knows Williams will go to his right on that drive he’s still able to get the shot off Porter for three he’s two for two nine of 14 coming into this game from behind the three-point line John out the penetration to sabalos the shot won’t go but there is the penetration again which causes a lot of things to happen offensively for Phoenix and defensive breakdowns for Portland and I think if you keep seeing that you’ll start to see Portland run some double teams at KJ the only guy they will not double team Kevin Johnson with is the guy that is guarding horness of course he’s on the bench right now so balis with 74% free throw shoot around the year during the playoffs he was five of eight coming into tonight the numbers on salls doesn’t get either one of them Porter sees an opening takes it strong to the hole with the left hand 14 points for Terry Porter in the first quarter we still have 355 left to be played it has been game offensively so far big rebound by Cy the outlet of Porters Phoenix has to get back defensively Robinson has it blocked by Marley who’s checked into the ball game and we’ve got a foul well they got bumped as he took the ball up but Kevin Porter Bo he has been very aggressive on the offensive end you see him right here somehow get that shot off well that’s a tough one going to the basket that’s Marley’s first personal foul as we look at the numbers on Porter Danny a is checked into the Blazer lineup Robert Pack will also come in or enus Watley will come in for Portland they’re going to bring Watley in and I think you’ll see Pat come in also to try to slow down Kevin Johnson if you see KJ penetrating getting to the basket Porter will get a breather Porter gets a hand a standing [Music] ovation Rick Adelman is going to have to seriously choose his moments to rest Porter and bl and uh and Drexler in this game they will need some minutes wants a timeout 336 left to be played in the first the Blazers have opened up a nine-point lead we’re Memorial Coliseum in Portland Oregon we have played just under nine minutes in quarter number one with the Suns and the Blazers in game one of the Western Conference semifinals and right now the Blazers put together a 9-2 run and they lead it 2314 how about homecourt Advantage the Blazers right up in there with the Lakers and the Celtics and you can expect that when you look around this building and when you listen you hear the excitement of the crowd the players play right off of that from high above the Coliseum West will get the step going to the Baseline as I mentioned he caught it in the paint and that’s where the problem started Phoenix still having a hard time finding the basket only six of 18 Portland has up their percentage to 40% talk about how Phoenix hit 51% during the regular season with Kevin Johnson leading the way at 59% and 25 points a game and that is Johnson’s second field goal of allall game and the big news is Jeff forc has been shut down so far but now Danny a is guarding it I mentioned Watley came into the game to keep Kevin Johnson from getting there and Johnson takes it right to him the first time he holds the ball for a second Marley streaking out the left KJ dishes off inside the jam won’t go but we have the fouls Perry went up strong couldn’t finish and it comes right off of the penetration once again Kevin Johnson gets into the paint you can’t let him get this close this is what’s going to happen shot opportunities going to the basket that foul was on Robinson his first personal and at the line it’ll be Tim Perry here is a young man that has really blossomed this year personal High in all numbers I think the biggest Improvement although all of his numbers have improved he has increased his playing time from right around 13 minutes last year to 31 minutes per game this year and of course you get that kind of time you can expect all your numbers to increase and they did for Tim Perry it’s amazing how when you get more minutes you get bigger numbers works out fourth year Pro out of Temple download Drexler Marley on him inside of Robinson went for the slam decided to try to just lay it up but Mark West gets a hand on him early and West picks up his first personal foul now we saw Dan Marley on Clyde Drexler that was a matchup that cotton fit Simmons or that Rick adman was not really pleased about because he was afraid that maybe Clyde may get in foul trouble if either Marley or Perry is on him on the defensive end he’s now moved down to the small forward position and that of course means he will have to guard players that catch the ball closer to the basket guys that play with their backs to the basket and he was concerned especially here in the first period if he had to play Cloud at the small forward position Robinson gets the second Robinson with two points and the lead is down to six better job that time by W Here Comes AES and an excellent game four against the Lakers Drexler the quick pull up carries it give him the ball in the open floor even though Marley is a tremendous defensive player he’s not going to be able to stop Drexler when he has his momentum Johnson the spin move the penetration doesn’t get it West is hammered Johnson down on the [Applause] floor now here’s Clyde he’s got a head of steam going Marley trying to nurse the injuries trying to get back healthy just does not right now have the quickness to step over and cut him off at the line it’ll be Mark West Drexler picks up his second personal West the ninthe pro out of Old Dominion line drive only 64% on the year but he was three of three in the playoffs he’s shooting 63% from the field here in this in the from the field in this series so he’s almost shooting better from the field than from the free throw l the lead is seven 215 left to be played in the first quarter Drexler likes to have quick hitting shots once he gets the ball Robinson back to Drexler shot clock at nine the way to stop Clyde is to force him into the halfcourt offense Perry’s going to have to take himself gets it down to K Johnson looks at Marley takes it strong himself and Watley with the foul he had Marley on the left KJ decided to take it all the way and picks up his first personal Phoenix had two onone that time so wattley had to back off he thought Kevin Johnson would give the ball up he did not that time and he threw the foul it’s been an interesting year for this young man struggled at the beginning part of the Season C Fitz Simmons finally told him Hey listen look to score first then worry about making plays he wanted to make sure everybody touched the ball in the Phoenix offense the thing though that he is most proud of this season is the fact that he finally got his Academic Center opened up in Sacramento he’s uh doing a lot for the Youth of that Community where he’s from St Hope Academy open up on Martin Luther King Day this year five-point Blazer lead inside of two minutes age trying to spin on hornek Hornes putting the belly on him opens up [Applause] Watley Watley who’s played in three the four games against the Lakers gets his first two that’ll be an offensive foul as Jeff hores had to use the forearm on Buck Williams now you’ll see him run the double team at horn every time he tries to use the pick and roll now watch here comes West over Buck does a good job Buck Williams of stepping out cutting him off and they’re going to try to take away his shots coming off that screen Drexler Marley out him the little lob into Robinson [Applause] shot clock at eight Williams sneaks around West can’t get it Perry with the rebound the out to Horns three on four West fell asleep that time he was very fortunate F wanted to walk west gets away from Drexler and he completes the [Applause] slam Mark West who shot 63% on the year shows why he shot 63% on the year gets those shots just like he did that time good defense by Phoenix last Touch by the Suns lasers will have it 14 on the shot clock 49 on the game clock L cotton Fitz Simmons Wadley has done a good job of his own getting into the paint getting to the basket creating some shots for his teammates that’s what Rick Adelman said he goes I’d like to get Watley a couple of minutes pack a few minutes just to give Terry Porter a breather horc on the run the Suns Trail it by five Marley from way outside side nothing but air missed that one badly aim for three doesn’t get [Applause] it now there’s a two-c difference between the shot and the game club a five-point Blazer lead a a wants more minutes he’s going to have to make that outside shot though if he does not Rick adaman just can’t play him Marley for three this time a little bit off they get closer though still a lot of time AG forces it up with two seconds off the glass Williams the follow and it doesn’t go 12 minutes not exactly a wellplayed 12 but it is exciting Blazers leaded by five quarter number two still to [Applause] [Music] come Portland area today over 85 degrees and it is that hot inside tonight as we go to quarter number two with the Blazers leading by five it’s a good news bad news situation for Phoenix the bad news is you let Terry Porter get 14 in the first quarter the bad news is Jeff hornek didn’t score the good news is you’re still in the ball game and I think they have to be happy about that especially when you consider that they shot the ball very poorly in the first half of play they’ve allowed Portland to get up and down the floor as Portland likes to do it hasn’t been a real well played game to this point but Portland has been able to control the tempo and they have they have been able to do pretty much what they wanted to do here we see the starting guards only six points for Phoenix all of those coming from Kevin Johnson Portland with 22 14 with Porter eight for Clyde Drexler Tom Chambers in the ball game to start the second half he did not play in game two of the San Antonio series which surprised a lot of people and we asked how he’s been handling his somewhat of a demotion they said well you know the third game against San Antonio he played well got some shots to go down and hopefully that will build his confidence now cotton knows he’s going to need him in this series he’s going to get a lot of M Kevin Duckworth playing with two personal fouls gets his first field goal of the ball game Phoenix going with Chambers horn a sec West Johnson and Marlin whistle and a foul Portland counters with Duckworth [Music] asley Porter and Robinson well it is a handful of trying to keep Kevin Johnson from penetrating to the basket that is watley’s second personal Porter taking a little breathing time Kevin just right out lost the handle Here Comes Porter excellent for the easy two and that’s a very unselfish play by Portland P Porter considering he’s having such a good game to this point Steve Bert up off Phoenix’s bench he’ll check in the lineup now Watley drapes his body across Johnson who heads left Marley given the open J he takes it and doesn’t get it his shot still doesn’t look real good yet in practice a lot of people around Phoenix were telling us that his shot was flat when he came back from that strained knee Duckworth rather would face the basket than back into it a stops pops Pingo that’s the shot he must make if he’s going to get some minutes he’s going to have to make that shot Rick Adan had a funny comment we said hey Danny a played very well against uh the Lakers in game four made a lot of shot and he said well geez he goes you know I saw his comment in the paper that he wanted more minutes he goes he keeps making those shots he’ll give him more minutes that’s right a had 19 points and five assist in game four biggest lead of the ball game Mark West continues his offensive Onslaught six points for West seven points for the ball game six from the floor and that’s about as far out as you’ll see him take the shot Robinson the strong move west puts a body on him no basket it’ll be an offensive foul good defense by Mark West yeah Robinson’s not going to like to call Rick adelman’s not going to like to call but I think you’ll see Robin Robinson right here take the ball to the basket West he’s definitely there oh yeah definitely there good call by dick Metta underneath nine-point lead inside of 10 minutes from Portland Jerome KY jumps off the bench for the Blazers Steve bird has checked into Phoenix’s lineup and Dan Marley finally gets in the books his first two of the ball game only played in two of the games against San Antonio the first two and in game number two he went out early Robinson around Chambers but Chambers gets a little help defensively for West here comes hores to Marley thundering Dan with the left hand that’s where Dan Marley is really effective he finally got one shot to go from the outside you now have to come out there and play him and you’ll see him continue to try to get to the basket Now Phoenix a little more active defensively they really are Robinson head position on Chambers out the basket and the [Applause] foul Chambers has that left wrist heavily bandaged and his real problem is not shooting the ball because it is on his left hand the problem he’s having is catching the basketball especially in in traffic Robinson able to complete the three-point play so Robinson three of five from the line he has five points and the lead is back up to eight in case you just joined us in an exciting game one that score is correct the Knicks upset Chicago by five Chambers from outside and Tom Chambers who has struggled all season and that is a good sign for cottonfit Simmons played a season low as far as games are concerned he was forced to miss a lot of games with injuries and there’s an offensive foul again that’ll be on Terry Porter his first personal Chambers played Just 69 games this season the lowest number of games he’s played since the 85 86 season a lot of nagging injuries nothing real serious his numbers were low across the board Chambers in the corner doesn’t get it but Marley battles for the [Applause] rebound cor SEC outside size they got to get a shot for him yes they’ve got to get a shot or two for harness well that’s his first field goal Jack took him a quarter plus 4 minutes of this one duckor backs his way in uses his muscle doesn’t get it the follow won’t go but we have a whistle well I mentioned Duckworth is going to be the guy that has to be big down low for Portland he has to make his body felt down there on both ends of the floor good offensive board work by Kevin this time West picks up the foul there is his second personal foul and at the line it will be Kevin [Applause] Duckworth at the conclusion of tonight’s game Jack and I will be selecting the Budweiser player of the game Duckworth only 69% during the regular season from the line last year took a couple of months off after the loss to the Lakers in the finals took it very personally and he was is just torn apart here in the papers and among the media in Portland he’s the only guy that the fans here get on more than rck Adam Mark West now has nine points for the ball game well cotton I know he’s pleasantly surprised with that effort by West to this point he’s averaging only three points a game in the playoffs Cy had it into the hands of Steve bird bird who started the year in Oklahoma City of the CBA they can’t complete the pass to Hornet that is the eighth turnover for Phoenix halfway to their game total already age directing traffic Porter 14 first quarter points yet to C score in the second Phoenix has done an excellent job here in this period of forcing Portland into a halfcourt game BT takes a hard dive to the floor Hornes tries to grab Porter who runs right by him now see that’s the first time they’ve been able to get out in the open floor here in this second period obviously that’s the way Portland wants to play and they lead it by six inside of seven minutes Chambers a little pick and roll he’s got it that going to allow him to stand and shoot that jump shot he’s going to have a lot of success here in this game you must make him put the ball on the floor cotton was quoted in the paper that his Porter does not get the three to go we have a whistle loose ball foul that’ll be against Portland but cotton Fitz Simmons says we’re not going to run a whole lot of pick and roll but he did there 641 left to be played in the half and the Blazers lead it by four now this is Blazer basketball right here Phoenix has done a great job here in the second period for the most part keeping Portland out of their fast break offense but here they are they get the opportunity because they get the rebound and push it down the floor Robinson’s following up the play and gets the dunk Well Jack we talk about how bad Phoenix shot in that first quarter of play they are seven of 10 in quarter number two so they’re overall percentage is up to 44% Cliff Robinson has to sit down with three personal fouls and that will bring Buck Williams back into the line up Williams by well the pace of this game is definitely right now to the liking of Phoenix they are a team because of Kevin Johnson’s ability to penetrate breakdown defenses they are a team that can play a half court game but not a good outside shooting team will struggle if they’re forced to play half court four-point game Bert takes it into the paint to Marley uses all muscle and he gets the roll he just used his shoulder to clear Drexler out that time two-point lead for the Blazers 615 left to be played in the half Drexler takes it inside goes to the floor but pretty much unmolested Jack they’re going to have to continue to clear it out Marley taking it up on him himself a personal challenge to stop Drexler from scoring in this game now KY goes on Marley Williams takes Chambers well now there he is he puts the ball on the floor Williams came out and played him Tom doing a good job offensively so far at one point in his career heie Brown called him the toughest cover in the NBA and rightly so well because of his size he’s 610 and he shoots the ball so well from the outside and he can put the ball on the floor it’s a tough match up at that position the foul was on Bert his first personal 547 left in the half Blazers lead it by two they led by five at the end of one Williams they’re going to give him that shot and the NBA’s number one field goal percentage leader can’t get it to go and into the Crowd Goes Jerome KY well Justus as pH as Portland wants Lang and West to stand and shoot the jump shot from the outside Phoenix would like to see Buck w shoot that shot from chambers rolls over to the Baseline doesn’t get it Marley just pushes KY out of the way but KY says I’m going to reject it because of that here comes Porter to Drexler to the hole doesn’t get it Chambers the outlet to burd Duckworth coming hard but he can’t catch it good decision by Duckworth to just let him go Kevin Duckworth has two personal fouls already Robinson has three so they’re going to need him in there need him to stay out of foul trouble our first tie of the ball game 43 a piece inside of 5 [Music] minutes Drexler tracks down the loose ball shot clock at 10 he lets the three fly doesn’t get it Duckworth the return duckor that’s all he has to do he just has to continue to follow up shots he’s going to get a lot of putback opportunities only two teams have taken more threes then Portland Marley’s three won’t go down Chambers had a piece of it can’t come up with it Drexler the lob inside kicked out with 16 on the shot clock the Blazers have control sabalos comes back on the lineup Marley is going to take a breather Here Comes Kevin Johnson and Steve bird who played a couple of pretty good minutes comes out now how long how long does cotton fit Simmons run Mark West Andrew Lang has had a seat on the end of the bench for a long time as has Tim Perry well you have Wes scoring as well as he is he’s re bounding he’s doing a good job you have to leave him on the floor I think you leave him in there for the rest of this time if he continues to stay active as he is right now loose ball foul was called on Clyde Drexler that is his third personal foul so Drexler with three Robinson with three Duckworth with two Portland has to be careful in the final 419 Rick adan’s going to have to get him out of there he’s not made a move to the bench yet horc right around Drexler dishes off inside and Mark West withth one of those high percentage J jams 11 for West 16 was his season high this year that’s just what I’m talking about right there West making himself a presence down low you leave him in there on the floor as much as you can when you get this bonus Porter way around horac nobody rotates on defense and Porter now with 16 points for the ball game we wondered which Andrew Lang and Tim Perry would show up in this game another penetration another easy two for West just what Rick Adelman feared is the penetration and it’s not only Kevin Johnson that’s penetrating getting to the pain area you’ll see Porter right here get right to the basket no weak side help that time but everyone for Phoenix that has played the point guard position has been able to penetrate and get easy shots for West and the rest of the people on the inside for Phoenix and at the line it will be Mark West second round pick back in 1983 by Dallas this is his fourth team he’s played for can’t complete the three-point play but we’re tied up at 47 our second tie of the ball game Porter just flat out loster we talked about how hot it is here it is extremely warm in the building and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lot of wet spots on the floor with players falling around in a lot of the sweat because uh I can imagine how hot it is for them he fell down right about the same spot Drexler just went down so you might be right well they clean that off shot clock at 10 Johnson sizing up Drexler Hornes SEC left open spotting up for the three but instead takes it inside the penetration sabalos had it Duckworth knocks it out shot clock and for as I mentioned in an attempt to keep Kevin Johnson from penetrating the double team came very quickly that time 20 SEC passing up a lot of shots though and turnover Here Comes Drexler get that video cam going and he gets it to [Applause] go the ninth turnover by Phoenix allows Portland to go up by two and cotton Fitz Simmons wants a timeout 255 in the half it’s a two-point ball game in [Applause] [Music] Portland hope you at halftime Ernie Johnson in our Atlanta Studios along with Miami heat head coach Kevin Locker they’ll take a look at the New York Chicago game show highlights of that plus we’ll take a look at tomorrow night’s opening game between Seattle and Utah that’s all coming up on our credential Halftime Report with Ernie Johnson we are at the memorial coliseum in Portland where the Blazers have led by as many as 11 we’ve had three ties Phoenix has never LED in the ball game and right now with 255 left to be played the Blazers up by two what a change though in this Phoenix team from the first period when they shot 33% from the field they’re shooting 67% here in the second period 12 of 18 field goals they’re rebounding better Portland leading by just one rebound here in the second period 7 to six along with Jack given I’m Ron th gling be with us this evening game two of our double header here on [Applause] TNT we’re keeping an eye on that guard comparison because that is what Rick adman said would be the barometer for a victory by Portland and right now Portland all over Phoenix 30 to eight as Fenix not really getting the shots Jack only three of 10 Jeff Mar really hasn’t had many shots in basket so far and I think Fenix Phoenix will have to try to find a way to get him more Shots cury Out him Phoenix loses the ball Portland has it Drexler and he’s just going to have to be grabbed by Kevin Johnson who said I had all ball and that is the 10th turnover for the Phoenix Suns sure looked like Kevin Johnson made a good defensive play there he guessed right that time as Drexler fake to the middle then decided to go around the Baseline KJ was right there and they’re saying Clyde was not in the act of shooting because it was that close to being a good defensive play Drexler backing in on West the turnar around left handed hook goes down a Duckworth now with eight for the ball game the lead is four they can get him all the shots he wants as long as he continues to post strongly down on the low post these two teams have met in 14 playoff games and they are seven and [Applause] seven cor SEC with seven on the shot clock Kevin Johnson a little bit out of his range but he buries it so Johnson who shot only 22% from three-point land during the regular season cuts the lead to one but Drexler oh West went after that shot West did but Drexler just changed it up as much as he had to to get it off Marley wants to come in for Phoenix Danny AES for Portland [Applause] Johnson on Drexler to Chambers takes one dribble the off balance shot won’t go Chambers tries to force it up hits the side the return well that’s what you need from Tom Chambers right there and cotton giving him the go ahead right there on that play get second and third effort hard work by Chambers who checks in now with eight points for the ball game one-point Blazer lead inside of a minute and a half duckler from basket and the whistle all night long Phoenix has no one with the size of the strength to keep him away from the [Music] [Applause] basket duor didn’t want to take this one but he understood he had Cedric sabalos on him so why not that’ll be sabal’s first personal foul Duckworth will go to the line try to complete the three-point play two of two so far tonight he has 10 points for the ball game to go along with four boards so Kevin Duckworth who came over here from San Antonio in a trade back in December of 86 for Walter Barry now with 11 points Johnson the dish to West 11 turnover for Phoenix three on three to Cy to the hole doesn’t get it and now Phoenix with the numbers three on one to Chambers he waits goes up does draw the foul but he doesn’t get the basket but still Jack it was a three onone by Phoenix and they W able to convert it Portland missed the easy opportunities and as is normally the case with good teams you give them a chance and they’re going to take advantage of it Phoenix they’ll turning the ball over much more than they have in this playoff series coming into this series they were after well after last the last series with San Antonio they averaged only 13 turnovers per game [Applause] Tom Chambers calmly steps up drops it down the numbers on Tom Chambers a 5year scoring low and a his worst field goal percentage of his career he set Club scoring records his first two years at Phoenix so you can imagine how frustrating these last couple of years have been for him he has handled the fact that he has been relegated to a bench player and a lot of times not playing the quality minutes he didn’t like that but cotton told him that’s his role we have some young young players that are playing well and Tom Chambers just trying to take advantage of the minutes he gets inside of a minute Duckworth the push shot nothing but air Chambers with the rebound he wants a little bit of help 16 second difference between shot in the game if Phoenix hurries they’ll get the two for one great job defensively by AE Marley can’t get it to go here comes Porter Taps it to Percy oh he doesn’t get it but we have a foul good Hustle by Mark West getting back defensively for Phoenix he did do a great job West under the basket when that turnover took place but you’ll see the effort and I think KJ right here slowed the break down just enough to give West a chance to get back walks right underneath him and that’ll send kiry to the line for a pair West his third personal foul I think cotton will have to get him out of there you don’t want to take a of allowing him to pick up foul number four particularly since he’s having the kind of game he’s having to this point well Jerome kiry one of the many players on Portland to come from a small College he’s out of Longwood College Virginia he had Wisconsin Stevens Point Eastern Illinois on that they go for the uh the athletes that uh kind of uh off to the side Duckworth sits down tell you what you have to give poor Portland’s front office people their Scouts m a lot of credit for going out seeing these guys play understanding that even though they are playing at small colleges they do have the talent and they’ve made some good picks and these guys have proven them right Cy gets them both Phoenix should have the last shot they Trail it by four they’ve Trail by as many as 11 in this game a game in which they have never tasted the Lead watch the double team come here trying to take the ball out of the hands of Kevin Johnson P came over for the double team Marley splits it the right-handed shot goes down with 6 seconds left in the half Here Comes age Johnson steals it with 1 second he’s going to get it up before the buzzer it doesn’t go the first Phoenix has dodged the bullet the whole half they find themselves trailing by two we still have the second half to come stay with us Ernie Johnson and Kevin locker with the presential halftime report coming up in a moment and Report playoff edition Miami Heat head coach Kevin Locker he joins me here in the studio we’ll take a look back at that stunner in the first game of the Eastern Conference semis as the Knicks beat the Bulls in Chicago and we’ll look ahead to game one of the Sonic’s Jazz series tomorrow night on TNT it’s all ahead played 24 minutes at Memorial Coliseum in Portland there you see at the Blazers leading Phoenix by a deuce in game one of their Western Conference semi-final Ernie Johnson in our Atlanta studio with the credential Halftime Report Miami Heat head coach Kevin lockery is here Phoenix has to feel pretty good the back court is not really lighten it up they’ve turned the ball over a lot but only down by two you’re on the road your back court has a total of 11 your two best players you get now scored 30 to 11 in the back court you have 11 turnovers and you’re still in the game on the road they have to be delighted delighted also a good word to describe the New York Knicks tonight because they went to Chicago Stadium they’d lost 14 straight games and they beat the Bulls in their place your thoughts on that one Kevin Patrick you had had a perfect game it’s very rare that a player comes up big and every statistic he won the battle but over Michael which is very rare also in this league and he had a perfect game the domination of the middle by the Knicks was a total difference in the game let’s take a look at some of the highlights that was game one of our double header the Knicks and the Bulls at Chicago Stadium physical very early a message sent by the Knicks Kevin they said it was the first play of the game the first time Chicago drove to the hoop Oakley laid him out flagrant foul but the message sent now look at the good defense Greg Anthony the steel launches that three-pointer and it goes part of an 11 nothing New York run Phil Jackson yeah you can see why he’s got that look on his face but here’s where Michael Jordan really catches fire he had 31 points on the night this is usually where he’ll take control of a game and Chicago will pull away but not tonight because Patrick euwing match Jordan bucket for bucket and look at this huge one with the shot clock winding down he drains the long jumper and this is the play that iced it into the paint Ying off balance and it goes and Pat Riley’s guys have got game one at Chicago Stadium the final score 94 to 89 the Knicks take a one- nothing lead over the Chicago Bull Chicago after a sweep of Miami well rested but maybe too well rested I think our uh just a little bit of our layoff that’s the longest layoff we’ve had of the Year gave us a poor first half gave them hope and they came out and were able to sustain their effort through three quarters our fourth quarter run was very good the lead was there but they came through at the end of the game they really uh executed well and they got Patrick shooting some great shots at the end of the game well I think it’s important for our players to understand that there’s going to be Peaks and valleys in the game and against Chicago you know an 11-point lead with Michael and Scotty is not going to mean anything but just to weather the storm and and gather yourself uh you know Patrick having uh the kind of half that he had for us if we could just execute and get him the ball where he he wanted it then I felt we could get a shot it was very fulfilling um you know when we came in a lot of people died us they felt that we were going to get sweep like we did last year but I thought that my teammates and myself showed a lot of character a lot of Pride we fought hard and we got the victory know we got this one we have hopefully three more to go yeah what a tremendous night for Patrick Ying now if you’re Phil Jackson how do the Bulls regroup what do they do in game to they they have to be concerned because now the pressure comes back on them for the first time and uh it’s not going to be as easy to repeat as it was last year and the Knicks a very physical basketball team really unfamiliar territory for the Bulls as they lose game one now tomorrow night here on tntt it’s game one of Seattle and Utah the coach and I will be back to take a look at that series when we come [Music] back in Portland the Blazers with a 58-56 lead over the Phoenix Suns as they open up their Western Conference semi-final series as the presedential halftime report continues Ernie Johnson and Miami Heat head coach Kevin lockery back here in Atlanta tomorrow night Seattle and Utah tip it off game one of that Western Conference semi-final looking for a good one there coach that’ll be a good series uh uh Utah’s coming off a tough time against the Clippers another rested team in Seattle didn’t help Chicago to be rested so I think it’ be an excellent series that’s the coach’s viewpoint on this thing now let’s listen to The Players involvement let’s start with Jeff Malone who’s 25 points last night got Utah into the semis no question about it was a tough series and we knew it was going to be that way a lot of people you know didn’t talk highly about the clippers but down the stretch they play well and it’s going to be tough against the like you say I’m sure they’re very confident right now cuz they beat us twice in here but we looking forward to playing those guys again it’s be a great series it’s the perfect mix uh I really compare it to the team that I was on in Phoenix we had the older guys and the young guys and uh the young guys were more your your energetic players you know the high jumpers uh the runners the the guys that getting there Play Good D I mean we have it all I mean one through 12 everybody on our roster are legitimate NBA players and can be playing good minutes on other teams Shadow is a very athletic very physical team and I I think a little versatility out there wouldn’t hurt us so uh it remains to be seen I I know that it’s tough to take a car Mone out of the game anytime but when you get a good spell in there from David benw then I think you have to do it I think potentially we are a team that teams that are going to stop one another but we’re always going to have some somewhere else to go and so I think it has the capability of being an excellent series Kevin there is a real confidence exuding from that Seattle ball Club they have really played well and one of the reasons I think Shawn Kemp who and this is a breakthrough series for him he’s a young rising star in the NBA he’s a great talent he’s got unbelievable jumping ability athleticism this play here shows there double double team Pierce in the corner what Sean km put this one away down the middle get out of the way here he comes didn’t hear you co didn’t hear me he got buried and he and he paid for it that’s that’s getting paid that’s taking the judge full CH now when you talk about the Utah Jazz you’re talking about John Stockton who can really dish Carl Malone can really score and Jeff Malone can do it too that’s their off Ive power the two Malones and and Stockton we’ll see an awful lot of post up by col Malone but here’s the pick and roll run perfectly Stockton this is Delaney R excuse me he come up the and spell John stockt and he also can hit three-point shots the lady R like he did the other night it’s a pick and roll no matter who’s picking and who’s rolling that’s game one of that series coming your way tomorrow night here on TNT we’ll have it in a 9:00 start eastern time Seattle and Utah and when this night is through after game two we’ve got Inside the NBA Fred Hickman joined by Doc Rivers they’ll have the story on Chuck Dy who made it official today stepping down in Detroit away from the second half action is the Portland Trailblazers lead the Phoenix Suns by two along with Jack G I’m Ron thulan and Jack first of off for the Phoenix Suns Jeff Hornes did not have a good half but their bench scoring really made up for the deficiency at the guard position yeah I think cotton must be really really pleased with the fact that his team didn’t play real well and are still very much in this ball game you talk about the difference from the first period to the second Phoenix struggled both teams actually struggled from the field and the percentages for both clubs picked up a lot the bench scoring 33 points Off the Bench a real pleasant surprise from West and from Tom Chambers horc will get to the pain area right here as has been the case a lot for the Phoenix Suns the penetration has been just tremendous and West has been the guy that has gotten a lot of points Marley also here uh this is late in the second period was able to put the ball on the floor get a little bit closer and get one to go down we talk about the guard situation this is what Rick adman wanted to do is control the guards and they have done that effectively but what they haven’t done in which we talk about at the top of the show is control the boards right now Phoenix out rebounding Portland 26 to 25 but Terry Porter had the H hand 14 first quarter points yeah he ended up with only 16 but he did give Portland some much needed offense defense in the first period made a couple three-point baskets and then Portland must do more of this they’re not a good halfcourt team they get out in the break those athletes can use their talents in the open floor and get some easy baskets and the starting guards for Portland combined for 30 points on 12 of 22 shooting so they have an ond night going but once again it’s the rebounding key that has kept Phoenix in the game and the bench scoring along with the assist Phoenix already with 14 assists and Portland only with eight Phoenix turned the ball over a lot in that first half they turned it over 11 times but Portland did not capitalize on that Jack they only scored 12 points off those 11 turnovers Phoenix even though they turned the ball over they did a good job of converting defensively and they limited Portland fast break opportunities especially there in the second period Well let’s see as Dan Marley will get the starting nod in the second half so sabalos and Perry are both taking a seat Marley and Chambers been a sort of a surprise move for cotton Fitz Simmons starting this second half Marley during the regular season did start 15 games Chambers started 66 of the 69 he played inside Drexler gets positioned on Marley Drexler with 16 he ties Terry Porter for the lead so far believe it or not Mark West LED Phoenix in scoring in the first 24 minutes with 13 points Chambers had 10 Johnson the best starter with nine I don’t know if Phoenix can win with Jeff Hornet getting as few a shot opportunities as you got in that first half of play Let’s see which Andrew Lang shows up for Phoenix the one that can dominate on the defensive end that foul was on Johnson that’ll be his second personal foul this the first time we’ve seen this Portland just cleared out the floor and allowed Drexler to post up against Marlin R Adin said he wants quick hitting post up for Clyde Drexler early in ball game now Duckworth with the right-handed hook Lang had pretty good position on him but KY came up with it and the ball belongs to Portland with 21 on the shot clock Chambers upset he felt he was held on that attempt to get the rebound and they want to clean up the floor dick petta said 11:06 remaining in the third quarter 6056 is our score in case you just joined us Portland led by five at the end of one two at halftime led by as many as 11 pH has never had the lead Johnson had it pery over the back I thought Cy got away with one the time before I thought he was holding Chambers to keep him off the offensive boards excuse me the defensive boards Kevin Johnson in that first half only nine points six in the first quarter Jeff hornek none in the first quarter only two for the half he had only three shots also [Applause] a little weave by Phoenix as the shot clock winds down to three Hornes SEC the running right hander goes down they’re going to have to find him some opportunities with Kevin Johnson not getting the score scoring done corc has to be effective offensively back to a two-point lead Cy from the outside Williams had position on Chambers quarter for three is third of the ball [Applause] just where he the way he started the game spotting up for the three-point shot we talked about the playoff series between these two teams in games at is seven AP piece as Chambers lets go with a three and hits nothing but net Tamers playing with some confidence he made his first shot from the field was forced to put the ball on the floor got some points close in as well so he’s playing very well Williams battles in on chamers uses his musle to bule Chambers in and Williams with his first field goal both teams talking to the officials an awful lot in the seven play off losses to [Applause] Portland only a couple have been by as many as six in fact only twice rexler turnover number 12 the layup rexler with 18 for the ball game the lead is up to six a lot of complaining to the officials about the physical play and the foul the whistle not sounding both teams feel like they’re getting fouled a lot it’s playoff time you have to expect [Applause] that everything picks up during the playoffs shot clock at three shot clock at two shot clock at one chamers does not get it off in time we talked at the top of the show Portland’s defense during the playoffs limiting opponents to just 43% shooting and only 94 points we saw one of the reasons why right there that was a good defensive set right there but Phoenix for the most part had done a good job of getting shots Kevin Johnson and company has been penetrating to the basket finding a way to score Drexler wanted the ball he got it the three Won’t Go Down Kevin Johnson tracks down the loose ball inside of 8506 Point Blazer lead horc a little more active looks for the pass mes it away as barley look left with right he’s just not looking for his shots and I’m surprised they’re not doing something to get him from screens along the Baseline they’re trying to give him an opportunity to create the shots for himself I think he had it there and he gave it up he did when you get in this few shots as he’s gotten so far in this game though you’re not going to be as aggressive on the offense Drexler throws it into the second row Phoenix has it but for the most part Portland has protected the ball well Chambers blocked as he got Williams up in the air and we have a foul what did they get Williams and is Duckworth’s third Chambers trying to get the ball into the paint trying to get the ball to the basket he shot the ball very well from the field in the first half I’m surprised he’s passing up those shots from the outside trying to get closer in [Music] Chambers perfect from the line three of three Tom Chambers last year was able to draw the most fouls of any starting four in the league third most of any starting four in the league go back to that statement huby Brown made about him being a tough assignment he plays the power for forward spot but really is a small forward because of his ability to put the ball on the floor his ability to shoot the ball from the outside Chambers now with 15 for the ball game the lead has been cut back to four as we near the 8 Minute Mark of the third quarter Lang wanted the double team with Marley has to quickly back off on Duckworth KY in traffic Phoenix has control of the basketball Phoenix doing a good job defensively also both teams switching a lot they have a lot of quickness at every position Baseline Jumper by Chas neighbors won’t go Lang with the rebound and the return Andrew Lang his first field goal and first points to the ball game we expected this to be a fun series to watch in the competitive one and that’s what we’re going to have Drexler kicks it out of the he’s so quick he’s so quick just ran between three Phoenix players that time and somehow came up with that ball tell you what Jack there everybody at Phoenix had a shot at picking that up and Drexler is whistled for his fourth personal foul fourth person we’re at the memorial cisum in Portland Oregon and we are in the third quarter with 719 left to be played the Blazers leaded by four as they’ve led by as many as 11 Drexler now with four personal fouls as we take a look at tonight’s Chevrolet scoreboard as horc only his third field goal in the ball game but second here in the second half but Phoenix finally ran a screen for him along the Baseline to free him up Porter outside working on Johnson he pulls up with a 16 got Porter with 21 for the ball game 31 is his season high this year in the playoffs his high was 20 and Marley answers it’s nice when you can interchange those two Marley when he’s on just as effective from the field as h now Marley trying to track down Clyde Drexler Corner goes inside to William B shot with the [Applause] hook Williams with four and they’ll have another shot at [Music] it Porter on Johnson good look inside horness SEC the defensive play shot clock at 14 Duckworth has the ball knocked out with the foul will be called by Kevin Johnson Johnson Kevin Johnson picks up his third personal foul but the Blazers behind Clyde Drexler leaded by four TNT as our NBA playoff action continues it will be game one and the best of seven with Seattle and Utah in the other Western Conference semifinals join Jim Durham and dick forace for all the action at 9:00 eastern time that’ll be coming your way tomorrow night talked about in the playoffs Jack how physical it is Case in point you’ll see Duckworth right here here go for the block and Clyde Drexler makes the best move of the game for him on the floor getting out of the way of delor that’s he’s a little bit off balance and watch how quick Drexler is though needs Hornet to the ball and then gets right to the basket you know he get so many baskets as it is you don’t want to give him an opportunity to get the garbage baskets the ones that he just got there all right now the bench field goal percentage 59% for Phoenix Portland 50% for the ball game Fly Drexler despite having four personal foul stays in the ball game and we still have 607 remaining in the third cotton Fitz Simmons makes one change in his lineup as Cedric sabalos comes back or Tim Perry comes back in I think the reason Drexler stays in the game right here is because I think both coaches know that as soon as that a run comes by either team this game could be over so you just can’t afford to have Drexler on the bench right now Drexler for three it won’t go Perry tries to come up with it instead he knocks it out of bounds that’s the field goal percentage in the third quarter it’s amazing after the way the game got started 33 and 34% in the first period on Drexler Duckworth Lang moves out on him Lang got a piece of that ball and who comes up with the loose one rexler guy that does it a lot inside Cy everybody got a piece of that Duckworth again using the big body can’t get it offensive work now Lang and Duckworth go into a headlock with each other and Williams finally completes it the offensive forward work and you just have to love it Portland getting in they’re making it very difficult for Phoenix we talked about the rebounding of Phoenix if they want to stay in this basketball game they’ve got to control the boards they did in the first half Johnson the penetration knocked out by Drex the thing that the offensive board workor does is it limits the opportunities for Phoenix to get in the open floor let’s take a look at the last bucket By Buck Williams and I hope we get to see a lot of this series and watch how aggressively well we don’t but Portland knocked it around like they were playing volleyball three or four times just knocking it back and forth until they were able to get the high percentage shot from Buck Williams well everybody in the arena except for Bernie frier thought that was a foul Bernie the official said it was 3 seconds [Applause] 456 left to be played in the third Drexler pulls back doesn’t get it l clears the rebound that may have been a good non call by dick Metta Lange did travel but he got bumped Johnson the pull up Jay and he’s got it so Kevin Johnson now with his first field goal of the second half has 11 for the Ball Game Rick Adelman wanted to keep the two guards under 50 points combined Duckworth and Tim Perry took a big elbow to the eye oh he sure did and he has to be hurting Duckworth meanwhile picks up his fourth personal foul got him right in the eye and Tim Perry is saying leave me in the game please he wants the watch Duckworth right here going to get the pass and watch him just clear Parry out he uses that left arm Kevin Duckworth all 280 plus PBS of them to go along with the 7t frame chamber set to check in for Phoenix hor a sec on Drexler shot clock at seven shot clock at four corect to the big shot oh boy he has not put the ball on the floor this whole game and they’re going to get Clyde Drexler two free throws on this as Tim Perry Just grab hand full of Jersey one of the few times you’ve seen him put the ball on the floor hor here3 that is Tim Perry’s second personal foul the problem there was that five Drexler just snuck by everybody down the court and that is what happened in the two losses Phoenix had to Portland is that Portland kept beating him back Perry got that finger in the eye he has to be having trouble seeing right now the chambers comes into the ball game and Perry sits down Danny a comes in for the Blazers and Jerome KY sits [Music] down you know you ask how long in the first half cotton could leave Lang on the floor I’m going to ask right now how long he can afford to leave West on the bench West had played so well in that first half he needs a minute he’s having a lot of success pass down low well now Kevin Johnson starting to look for that outside shot which may open up the penetration Porter misses his first three of the game but Buck Williams is there for the board a given the 15 he takes it doesn’t get it the offensive P work again Williams The Whistle once again as you mentioned Portland controlling underneath they’re sending Four Guys sometimes Five Guys to the basket now if Phoenix can get it off they’re going to get some easy shots on the other end two when you have as much confidence in your rebound ability you can send Five Guys to the board foul was on as you saw Andrew L Charles Williams better known as Buck who got the nickname from a friend at age 12 has led the league in field goal percentage two straight years the first time since Kevin mccale was able to do it back in 8788 he shot only 59% from the free throw line 13 of 22 in the series against San Antonio Portland has a team shot only 67% from the free throw line in that Series so they’re going to have to start making those free throws Marley over age buries it good ball movement that time Phoenix looking for the open man so right now Portland finds themselves on another tie at 77 Phoenix working very hard both on the defensive end and offensive to stay in this ball game Chambers tipped it up and in except it didn’t go a with the follow Now Kevin Johnson should take Danny a off the dribble you would think inside the leg in a crowd ugly shot the Portland can’t hold on to it time out finix we’ve got a timeout 246 remaining to be played in the third quarter and we are noted up at 77 [Applause] and I just don’t know how to you see Tim Perry he’s going to the locker room right there during that timeout I don’t know how to read this Phoenix started out shooting the ball very poorly now they’re shooting 69% here in this period Portland 41% you would think Phoenix will be up in this game and they just now get their first lead of the game so uh it’s been a game of streaks neither team has been able to sustain any kind of momentum at all I’ll keep you updated on Tim Perry’s condition after getting hit in the eye but Kevin Johnson as he mentioned beginning to look for his shot a little bit more that is what cotton told him Midway through the season great pass to Dan Marley inside it didn’t go almost hit the 24 second shot clock two onone Cy to [Applause] a and we’re tied again Portland is a team of streaks and they put on streaks offensively and defensively the key to beating them is withstanding those streaks well the real problem for Portland is that they turn into a perimeter team and they have shot a lot of shots from the outside here in this third period Johnson’s three won’t go tied up at 79 inside of two minutes in Portland they are just not a good perimeter now this guy can shoot it but as a team Portland not good from from the perimeter play off experience of Danny a Cuts in the paint off balance shot he does draw the whistle Terry Porter gives Danny a a look like why are you trying to do it yourself well that’s not Danny Ang’s G and Porter knows that as does everyone else here he is not going to be effective putting the ball on the floor trying to shake people he has to spot up use some screens to get open for for his jump [Applause] shot that foul was on Dan Marley get the first to go the age with seven for the ball game as Enis Watley comes back into the lineup Terry Porter will take a [Applause] seat a gets him [Music] both two-point bler lead Watley on Johnson Lang sets the pick Johnson Works off in now Lang and Williams and Lang takes a big elbow for buck Williams underneath Chambers over Robinson doesn’t get it good position by Lane can’t come up with it Marley does new 24 Phoenix beating Portland to the loose balls right now they’re coming up with all of us the crowd starting to get into it horn SEC lets it go for three boy he was 5T outside a three-point L plus we have a foul says Bernie frier as we talked about Buck Williams and Andrew Lang getting into it and I think that may have been it and Lang does get the free throw because the foul foul occurred in the act of shooting so Lang will shoot one I tell you what Buck Williams and Andrew were going at at the previous possession here they are again but Buck real close right now to picking up the technical Buck talking to Andrew Lang Andrew Lang he’s not talking to the official he’s talking to Andrew Lang out of Arkansas the fourth year Pro who’s not paying much attention to him and we’ll know how much attention he’s playing after he makes this or misses the free throw he makes [Applause] it he got one and it is a two-point Sut lead at 8381 inside of one minute Robinson takes Chambers to the hole and he’s got it well he’s put on his and there they are going at it they’ve been going right at it and I think you have a double technical actually Lang is going to get H with the technical foul and KJ is doing just the right thing how can you call it one way and not call it the other if anything both teams should get a technical here it is again there’s Lang and buck Williams going at each other and I tell you I don’t see how they didn’t give him both they both pushed off from another angle well Buck really didn’t push but still uh you know that situation is going to be getting out of hand maybe that technical foul will Comm down West is up and probably will check into the game for Lang I would assume because they cannot afford to lose it and that is what’s going to happen Andrew Lang sits down Mark West checks in but in the playoffs or in any game in the NBA if somebody pushes you jack you’ve got to push him back if not they’re going to push you the rest of the game you have to and of course uh Portland knows they have to be physical with this team so I would assume they’re trying to make a statement down low quter second half it lost it Chambers is tied up throws it away to a he’s got Watley on the left good play by Marley who gets his hand on it with 25 seconds remaining in the quarter a note on Tim burry he will return He took a finger in the eye well the doctor the team doctor just looking at it he’ll be coming back into the line five second difference between the shot and the game Clock Two Out Wat ly way out front they clear the middle out hor right on Danny a slapping at the basketball the double team by West and Hornet a throws it right into our table is Marley and Watley combine the line and that foul will be on Dan Marley I tell you what if you don’t realize how hard these guys are playing you should sit here and feel the Collision right in front of us it moved our table back about 4 in every possession in this close ball game is a big possession Phoenix has been doing an excellent job of getting to the loose balls they almost came up with a steal that time Wy has given this team some good minutes did a good job in that first half Steve Burt will check in the Phoenix’s lineup Watley the sixth year Pro out of Alabama was a first round pick back in 1983 by Chicago made one guys that first half of play but he did a real good job of running the floor and keeping Kevin Johnson away from the basket now Rick Adelman goes with a quick team as Buck Williams goes out to a round of applause Robert Pack checks into the [Applause] lineup so now it’ll the a pack Watley Robinson and kiry for Portland in the final 8 seconds rley gets him both three-point BL her lead rley with the steel makes once doesn’t get it Burt comes down with it Johnson if he hurries will’ll get it off he does at the buzzer and it goes Johnson is he excited or what Kevin Johnson looked up at the clock showed a great deal of patience let’s look at it again and that three-pointer by Johnson ties it up at 8 [Applause] six inside the memorial coliseum where 12,888 did not like the final call of the quarter as we tied it up at 86 now remember it is not the clock it is the horn and the light I think the shot was in the air and I think it should have counted Terry Terry Porter doesn’t like it they showed the replay up on the big screen and you could not hear the sound and the crowd thought as Terry Porter thought the shot should not have counted which is a case in point I think for other sports not showing controversial plays on those big screens can cause a little bit of animosity but we have 12 minutes left to be played in the ball game we’re tied up at 86 Portland has led by as many as 11 but Phoenix’s V scoring and hitting the boards has kept them in this basketball game and in that quarter horc had nine and Johnson had nine the guards finally coming to life for the Phoenix Suns they are shooting 51% for the game only 41% for the Trailblazers they shot 63% in that third period Well Cliff Robinson goes with the white handband and according to Danny Angel’s philosophy that means he’ll play defense in this quarter not bad field goal shooting in that third 63% for Phoenix Johnson has been looking for his shot has been hot gets a second chance point for the sun he gets up off the floor at his size it’s amazing that he can get up as high as he does he is 6’1 now wat Leon Johnson HC being trailed by age the penetration kicking back out to Marley who drains the Joker and it’s once again Kevin Johnson with his penetration finding shots for his teammates a lot of teams believe believe that if you keep it close with Portland near the end they’ll self-destruct right we’ll have to see they know that they don’t shoot free throws well in the final 5 minutes they don’t shoot it well in 48 minutes right as I mentioned they were shooting only 67% in that series with San Antonio Duckworth Works in strong as the shot clock goes off and Kevin Johnson with the rebound suns have their biggest lead of the game it is two inside the Marley and thundering Dan works his way around for two more he has 16 and while the action was going on under the basket Jeff hornek and Jerome kiry were squaring up out around the half court line facing off with each other order and Drexler set to check in for the Blazers the basket won’t go here’s the last basket by Dan Marley you’ll see him right here Marley doing a good job and as I mentioned one of the officials tied up during this little melee under the basket out at half court trying to keep Jeff Hornes SEC and Jerome kiry from squaring [Music] off FFF Robinson a young player who matured an awful lot last year gets his first has provided some excellent punch Off the Bench for Rick Adelman this year as Cedric Sabal checks in the lineup and they’re going to give Jeff hornack the rest Robinson blocked over a 100 shots this season the first player to do that since Sam buy was a part of this team of course Sam went to New Jersey when Buck Williams came over here few years ago the crowd is standing the suns are leaded by two their biggest lead was four zalos Baseline fakes once tries the reverse doesn’t get it and will have a loose ball foul and that will be on Cedric [Applause] sabalos well that’s the problem with sabales he is known to take low percentage shots at time he has to make sure they need his offense he has to make sure he remains concentrated here re for dishes off West got a piece of it then Johnson from behind over Duckworth Kevin fought he had all basketball but what he has is his fourth first [Applause] one the that’ll send Kevin Duckworth to the line that was close it was close I still think Portland needs to take more advantage of Kevin Duckworth on the low post though I don’t know that Phoenix has anyone especially when you look at this lineup that can body up with Duckworth and keep him away from the basket that’s the regular season in the playoff which shows you what type of year Kevin Duckworth has had up and down and this is the former most improved player in the NBA duck gets the second that’s his first point of the second half he has 12 for the ball game the lead of Phoenix is [Music] [Applause] [Music] one great pressure defense by Portland inside sabalos had a cutting Perry Marley the save shot clock at one Perry throws it up they’re not going to get it off well that half pressure by Portland at times Phoenix looks totally out of wh I mean they just seem like they don’t know what they’re doing at times and Portland needs to play that way every minute they do that they’re unbeatable Tim Perry is going to come out of the ball game but thck Peta says to Tom Chambers you have to sit down Tim’s going to stay in because cotton Fitz Simmons looked right at Tim Perry said didn’t you see the clock which the hook came out right away a little Sparky Anderson action lot of turnovers in this ball game 29 rexler drives Baseline the whistle and the foulley that’ll be Dan Marley’s third personal foul he’s just too quick Marley when he’s healthy does a much better job against drein Marley you see his knee with that Grace on it just does not have the movement [Applause] yet six straight years for Clyde Drexler 20 plus scoring and since coming over or since playing here in Portland he’s really sacrificed some offense for the team as he averaged 27 points back in 8788 West keeps it alive and we have a foul is that Robinson well Duckworth should be glad foul Robinson son picks up his fourth so Robinson now with four Duckworth with four Drexler with four drexler’s had that picked up that fourth foul early in the third quarter he spent some time on the bench Rick Adelman got him out of there protected him just a little bit to save him for this fourth period CL though understands his situation he knows he has to stay in the game the switch that puts Cy on Johnson Marley left open for the three and he buries it you remember the first one he took didn’t come anywhere close to even touching the rim well that’s persistence there took the most threes on this ball Club that’s his first this evening to [Applause] make Robinson on Chambers backing his way in Chambers slaps that it had a piece of it Robinson forces it up gets the return and Chambers clears the rebound he was lucky to get the return right in his hand he was lucky to get another chance Robinson right at the basket just missed that one Phoenix by three inside west dishes off soos Can’t Hold On and Here Comes Portland quickly back on defense but not quick enough for Drexler who misses it Phoenix wanted to jump ball but it will be a foul instead and that’ll be on Mark West his for Chambers has been lucky a couple of times he missed another chance to get the defensive rebound this time though he’s not as fortunate because Portland does end up on the free throw line tell you with sabales in the lineup and with Chambers in the lineup Phoenix really struggling on the board with those two nobody said a word as Ro Percy got ready to shoot the 675 consective sellout of Memorial Coliseum in Portland where the Phoenix Suns have taken over the lead 9 391 with 817 left to be played Jeff fores comes back into the lineup Cedric sabalos takes a seat on the far end of the bench Robinson comes out for Portland Buck Williams checks back in Portland will break ground for a new building in July this building holds only 12,888 I guess it’s the smallest arena in the NBA smallest in the NBA onepoint Phoenix lead their biggest has been four Johnson over Porter and they have made some big shots and once again that’s the difference in this Phoenix team and Portland team they are a team capable of making the outside jump shots when they’re forced to go in the half court game rexler tries to answer way shorten to the left kicks it back out to Porter KY left open from [Applause] 19 well Kevin Johnson has had the hot hand for the Phoenix Suns the thing you must look at though is where are the shots coming from for Portland if you see them shooting the jump shots they’re not going to be as effective West has it rejected by Cy Portland on the run the crowd is into it Duckworth has it stolen by Johnson Phoenix the other way the look into the Marley doesn’t get it but the whistle blows great timing on that pass from KJ he had to pick the moment to throw that pass at the precise time he did it that time after getting to the paint area he’s telling cotton he’s low winded he needs a breather here well watch kiry on this block great weak side help and another angle Dan Marley goes to the line 76% on the year and during the playoffs Dan Marley was six of six from the line now make it seven of seven so he’s yet to miss from the strike and his points tonight add one more to that 21 for the ball game 13 here in the second half Phoenix back up by three well Kevin Johnson Better catch his breath very quickly here he can’t afford to stay on the bench any more than a minute or two rexler on horn SEC West tries to give him some help shot clock inside of 10 rexler spotting up on the outside Duckworth takes it down deep doesn’t get it Chambers has it and the ball goes out and it’ll belong to Phoenix we talked about controlling the BS at the top that is what Phoenix needed to do and they’re doing it here in the second half we have a timeout 649 left to be played in the ball game can Phoenix hold on we’ll find out they lead it by [Applause] three and here’s tonight’s Dutch playy in the paint we’ve talked about the rebounds situation although the Blazers have it on the offensive end the second chance points awfully close I’m surprised Portland hasn’t been able to convert more of those opportunities they have had some chck shots there real close in at the basket KJ stays on the bench just a little surpris on him about hit the now the crowd trying to get their Blazers back in it is the fourth quarter field goal percentage has Phoenix hot port and N BT almost turned it over almost PC from way outside my goodness that’s his second one from about 5et outside of the Ark Drexler comes inside hard and he goes down hard on that left elbow but he quickly bounces up that foul was on Mark West that’ll be his fifth personal foul well I’m still thinking about that three-point shot that Jeff made you just don’t expect him to pull up and shoot it from that far out and especially when he had the first half kind of first half he had only one of three field goal attempts in the first half doesn’t get it to go watch right here he’s going to just make a move and he’s way out beyond that three-point line all bom for all young basketball players out there Jeff Hornes they asked him what it took to become a good shooter he goes a lot of shots a lot of practice and the green light from the coach that outside hores SEC again he goes down hard as cursing knocks him Porter Falls and we have a loose ball foul that’ll be on Dan Marley and I never saw it but that is his fourth personal foul so Marley with four West with five and Ling with four Johnson with four but Jeff Hornes says he got hit in the face on this play and there’s The Bump by Marley and maybe a little acting there well I tell you what I don’t think he hit him I think if Dan Marley’s going to hit you you’re going to go back about two or three feet I think so Terry Porter who had 14 in that first quarter really ignited Portland now has 22 for the Ball Game Six coming here in the second half he’s four of four from the line the Suns lead is now down to three they’ve led by as many as five that is their biggest we are at the six minute Mark of the fourth and final quarter in Portland BT patiently waiting for the double team still surprised Kevin Johnson is still over on the bench I thought he would be back in by now he has four fouls Marley draws the foul although Bert you know he does a good job a guy that the sun signed out of the CBA he comes in he has been given this Phoenix team a lot of good minutes he replaced Nel Knight on this roster night out obviously for the rest of the season so Bert doing a pretty decent [Applause] job well you talk to the Phoenix players and they say the heart and soul of this club is Dan Marley Duckworth has to sit down with five personals Robinson comes in Marley who came back from surgery on assist which was adjacent to a spinal cord gave everybody quite a scare well I just remembered when Phoenix made Marley their pick a couple years ago people booed everyone in Phoenix booed they booed when they picked him Cotton came on and said you guys are going to live to regret ruin this guy and he has proven cotton right cotton working dick petta the official on the far side now it is Porter with Bert on him Bert tries to put a body goes for the fake offensive foul says dick Metta you called it Jack yes and I think that’s a good play and we talked we talked Bert the fact that he has played well backing up Kevin Johnson at the point guard spot he holds his ground Kevin Johnson gave him the pump fake he didn’t buy it and I think that was the proper call Rick all told us at the beginning of the year he didn’t want his team wasting energy complaining about calls Jeff Hornes wisle calls a timeout at the double team and Kevin Clyde Drexler comes over to talk to dick petta but we do have a timeout the boirs are out in Portland but the Suns leaded by five with 517 left to be [Applause] played let’s take a look at that Terry Porter foul what happened Jack well I think Porter just jumps in and this one now yes bird does go up in the air but from the other angle you could have you would have seen that he did in fact jump in I think right now with Portland they’re a little bit too concerned about the officiating and not about what’s going on the floor they have to just wipe that out of their minds right now and play ball Porter takes it into the paint knocks Chambers over no call they’ll try it again has it blocked by West this time a call Mark West and that’ll be Mark West sixth personal foul so West with 13 first half points will leave the ball game with 458 left to be played and that puts a great deal of pressure on Andrew L West though has given this team some very very valuable minutes Lang is going to have to come in Ron now and play aggressive basketball on both ends but he has to be very very strong on the boards and at the line it will be Porter I didn’t know it could get this quiet in this build I don’t think so let’s take a look at the foul trouble situation West out Lang and Marley with Ford Duckworth one away from being sent to the bench Drexler and Robinson with four a piece Porter with the second Terry Porter a perfect six of six from the line the lead is down to three 455 look be played in the ball games Rick adelin said he wanted to make Phoenix a jump shooting team well they’ve been hitting the outside shots in the second half let’s see if that strategy continues Marley took his eye off the ball which allows Drexler to come up with it here he comes now that’s Portland right there that’s Portland basketball the still lead to the quick basket opportunity Marley got it down quickly a one-point Advantage for the Sun [Applause] Chambers posting up Robinson it goes out but we have a foul and that will be on Robinson his fifth Robinson thought he got cleared out that time by Chambers we’ll watch right here on the replay I think he might have an argument initially now just watch right here there he is clears clears Robinson out and then Robinson reaches over Marley will trigger the inbounds pass surpris KJ is not handling the ball here there he is Jamber what get there Portland has a chance to take the lead Drexler dribbles it off his leg he’s down and we’re going to have time out well it would have been a 3 seconds or a jump ball Rick Allin I think may take a 20 and it will be a 202 timeout let’s take a look at that whole series again if we can because F Drexler dribbled it off his legs he really he really dodged a bullet because he was trying to do so much himself I think he glanced and he saw Tom Chambers coming up from the weak side tried to change over and the ball hit right off of his knee good effort just to save [Music] that here it is again now watch Chambers comes up and F just kicks it right there Bo he’s going to have a terrible knee burn that was a good time out because Tom Chambers and Jeff hornek were about to tie it up listen to the crowd in Portland they want their team to come [Music] back a chance for them here to gain a one or two-point lead [Music] theas what a game we started out with tonight here on TNT the Knicks in an exciting finish over the Bulls and it’s coming down to that here in Portland this evening and I feel the trend will continue tomorrow night with Seattle and Utah Porter for three doesn’t get it the tip won’t go the rebound comes to Phoenix guess who it is Jeff cor he’s not scoring a lot of points tonight but he’s doing a lot of things that don’t show up is Johnson knocks down Porter takes the J and he drains into Rick Adelman is livid on the far side Porter got away with one flop before so yeah he’s saying you call the offensive foul on Porter and you don’t give us the play on that one Robinson KY posting up on hor SEC takes it inside out the basket oh he just cleared him out that time stayed right with the play the foul was on Jeff Hornes only his third and just watch how badly he wants this basket and he just stays right with it a good pump fake well that’s big concentration there that was the second personal foul at hes SEC the last three or four baskets though for Portland have been down in the paint area either either off the offensive boards or by penetrating and getting into the paint Cy a perfect four of four for the line get completed Robinson with the rebound the outlet Suns by one just about 3 minutes left to be played Robinson on Chambers Drexler cuts through the paint he’s posting up on Hornet they’ll try it again chavers on the double shot clock at three shot clock at two Ling with the rejection and then chavers is fouled by Clyde Drexler oh that’s a big play by L drexler’s fifth personal foul Lang LED this team in blocks clad wanted the goal T here but boy look how high he goes up to get that one that was close to a goal tning yes it was let’s take a look at it see if we can see if it’s coming down I don’t know that’s very very close very close but the fifth foul on Clyde Drexler and that’ll send Tom Chambers to the line on the other end he’s perfect from the strike rang average two and 1 half blocks over the regular season right below two blocks per game here in the playoffs how about that Chambers adds one more to it the lead is three 240 remaining to be played in the ball game Portland seemed to have this game well inhan in that first 24 minutes Porter to the paint uses the right hand the basket won’t go Andrew Lang and Kevin Johnson said Porter was using his arm to fend off the [Applause] Defenders Lang picks up his fifth personal foul let’s see if he uses that arm well you see laying right up under the basket right there got to Porter just a little bit late yes I think Porter did push off but Lang got him first [Applause] Porter from the [Applause] l seven for seven for Terry Porter 26 points with the seventh year Pro out of Wisconsin Stevens Point 31 of 39 now the Blazers from the line make that 32 of 40 the crowd is standing to the chant of Defense [Applause] [Music] Chambers turns he’s got it oh big shot and he made that under a lot of pressure 19 points for Tom Chambers as horness will be whistled for the foul going for the ball yeah not a smart play by Jeff Hornet you won’t see him make that play very often that’s his third personal foul both teams are in the penalty Terry Porter doing a good job of keeping this dribble alive making sure that either gets a good look at at the basket or one of his teammates this is a young man that’s had to overcome a lot of adversity the last two years his mother passing away last year his father Herman died during training camp this season he took it quite hard because he said his father taught him everything about basketball and in fact he said you know my father always thought I was overpaid and no matter how much I made I should still work on my game Corner perfect from the line 10 of 10 and the lead is back down to one nearing two minutes left in the [Applause] fourth Chambers wide open underneath he got away from Robinson no but he saw him Johnson tries to force the pass turn over I give Terry Porter a lot of credit Terry stayed right with Kevin Johnson they’re using a screen along the Baseline to try to free Johnson up but Porter doing a real good job Porter taking his time out front they’re clearing the [Applause] midline Drexler tries to take Marley off the dribble the switch by Chambers inside rejected by Andrew Lang is second block to Johnson he’s going to have an easy Cham what a block by Andrew Lang whaty we talked about him when Mark West took over that Lang needed to step up and he did just that the Suns by three Suns by three and this is the play that made it all happen Andrew L well watch this block here there’s no question that’s an excellent defensive play and it leads right to the fast break opportunity for KJ Johnson takes it in for the slam it is an emotional series as you can tell by Kevin John and Rick adman on the play he didn’t like the call he thought there should have been a foul I think on drexler’s drive on Chambers well I thought Chambers did get him with the body as Clyde tried to get to the basket here’s our update yeah although horness SEC not scoring a lot of points tonight you see him with 12 assists and that’s what he does he finds a way to help this team and he finds a way to beat you Rick Adelman like to keep the 10 assists between the two of them right now it is not that at all the reset nobody has a foul to give the sun’s still with three timeouts plus a 20 blers with two full and the foul trouble West is already sitting down Lang and Marley close to it Duckworth Drexler and Robinson with five each 128 left to be played in the ball game inside to Drexler working on Marley to Robinson to the hole up the basket well cotton saying that was an awfully quick whistle that time Langs going to pick up the foul I don’t know for sure that is where it comes from there he is he pushes Jerome KY out of the way it didn’t come on the shot but he’s fouled out of the ball game four blocks have been the big one because two of them those have really put the brakes on the Blazers but he’s going to have to sit down with 115 left to be played in the ball game now Cotton’s going to have to go for a smaller lineup he won’t have a true Center in the lineup he’s going to bring Tim Perry in who stands at 69 but he is not the size of Andrew Lang at 611 250 how about free throws in the quarter so if Rick Adelman and the Blazers think that it’s not going their way that stat tells likewise something different tell the story if you look at the Phoenix Phoenix roster Kurt rambus at 68 has not played in the playoffs this season D Gerard mustaf has been bothered by a bruise of the right thigh at 610 and he didn’t even dress tonight and he’s not dressed so you have to come now with Tim Perry at 67 it comes down to a minute and 10 game we are tied [Applause] Johnson working around looks for Chambers he forces the shot doesn’t get it and’ll we come right back to Kevin Johnson inside to Perry who’s fouled on the play fouck Williams Buck Williams picks up the foul and Kevin Johnson holding his left hand and Joe crosy the trainer of Phoenix is going to have to look at it spray a little cold spray on it over there to try to freeze it up that’s what he’s doing right there on your screen Tim Perry at the line the red and white pom pons are waving he gets all bottom on that one no pressure 80% here in the playoffs 8 of 10 Tim Perry coming into this game the numbers on Perry tonight maybe we can show you what he is looking into there it is but the only thing he should be seeing right now is the front part of the rim concentrating on the front of the rim he concentrated on the front of the rim he hit it too much he hit it a onepoint phoenix lead inside of a minute Johnson the concentration on Porter gives it up to Drexler well I would just clear out and allow Drexler to work one-on-one Fenix handling that Marley comes over for the double team it’s loose on the floor we’re going to have a jump ball with Marley and Cy but what defensive effort by Dan Marley coming over on the double team to tie him up I see that’s just what I’m talking about right there Phoenix is doing a good job against that pick and roll situation I would give Clyde the ball and just clear out and allow him to work one on one against Dan Marley well Dan Marley did a smart thing he went out to half court and they were going to have hores sec jumping because of his bad knee Bernie frier said it’s you Dan the tip belongs to Drexler and a timeout by Portland when we come back it’ll be a six-second difference between the shot and the game clock Portland will have the basketball trailing by one they’re standing in Portland where they Trail the Suns 111 to 110 with 29.1 left to be played Portland will have the basketball a 6-second difference between the the shot and the game clock Portland only one timeout remaining if you’re Portland you would have to think that they’re going to clear out for Clyde Drexler I think Phoenix has done such a good job against the pick and roll of forcing Drexler to give the ball up or double teaming that it would just make sense if you’re going to give him the ball just clear out and allow him to work against Marley or hor a sec whoever guards and of course as Marley is on and Marley still is bothered somewhat by that knee and he’s not been able to handle drexler’s quick move to the basket Phoenix playing without a Center Portland slow coming out of the Huddle to where cotton fit Simmons walked over to the officials and said come on can we play [Applause] basketball Tom Chambers coming off the bench to provide an offensive spark tonight yeah what a pleasant lift that has been we’re going to sit watch this with you two exciting games tonight it comes down to this Porter goes the foul by Chambers as he puts out the hip and that’ll be Chambers only his second but it’ll send Terry Porter to the line Chambers thigh or knee hit Terry Porter’s thigh as he comes over the there it is right there there he hooked him with the right leg Tom didn’t like it what else are you going to call that it was right there we talked about Portland and their free throw shooting in the final minutes of the [Applause] game the porter no problem he is 11 for 11 from the line tonight and we are tied 14 coming in that first quarter for Porter yeah he got off to such a good start making the threes as he has during this whole playoff and he gets the second a one-point lead Phoenix will use one of their timeouts with shot clock has been turned off Phoenix can run it to the end a trail by one tonight’s excitement on DNT with Inside the NBA Fred Hickman and Doc Rivers of the LA Clippers coming up next on TNT tomorrow night excitement continues playoff action we’ll have Sonics and Utah beginning at 9:00 eastern time talk about first game in Import in the playoff series the Blazers 10 and one series record when when they win the first game of a series when they lose game one they are 2 and 12 and overall 81% of the teams that win game one go on to win a series well I think what you’ll see here from the Phoenix Suns Kevin Johnson will probably start out along the Baseline they will set a screen down there to free him up and I still think even though Kevin threw the ball away the last time they tried to do that you’ll see him try to use his quickness to break down the Portland defense and find a shot for one of his teammates well Phoenix will be taking the ball out underneath the basket going the length of the Court the shot clock has been turned off well since they are going to bring it the length of the Court they will give Kevin Johnson the ball and just allow him to bring the ball up the floor Terry Porter’s done a real good job though of not allowing KJ to break them down high pick and roll Johnson goes around it Porter slaps it away stolen by Drexler we’ve got a whistle and a foul go from behind look at it again I mentioned Terry Porter he’s done a good job of keeping Kevin Porter away excuse me keeping KJ away from the basket The Long Reach knocks it [Applause] away rexler six him nine from the line he’ll have another rexler on his free throws has been falling away as he has let the ball go see if he stays in there longer this time it almost looked like he double dribbled when he came up with the steel down the far end [Applause] he missed it he went over the line too quickly and it’ll be Phoenix’s ball so they have a chance to win and cot Fitz Simmons calls a timeout 10 seconds left to be played in the ball game and the Blazers leaded by two we’re going to be back 113 111 10.3 left to be played in the ball game as P Drexler just three of six from the line in this quarter now the old added is when you’re on the road you go for the win not the tie is that what CT fit Simmons is telling his troops right now I wouldn’t run a play for a three-point shot but definitely if some penetration comes and I can see someone spotted up behind the three-point line yes I would take it without hesitation timeouts remaining the Suns with a full and of 20 the Blazers with one full timeout left Ed Neely is taking off his jersey coming out into the lineup now for the Phoenix Sun you wonder why Ed Neely well Ed NE has added something to his repertoire this year and that is the three-point shot on the Year Ed Neely is 20 of 50 during the regular season 40% that gives you an extra added man out there that can hit the three right he is two of five from three-point land during the [Applause] [Music] playoffs Chambers better do something we’ve got a whistle timeout Phoenix they couldn’t get the ball Kevin Johns 22 time out Kevin Johnson says it wasn’t the play they obviously wanted credit goes to Portland’s defense well credit goes once again to Terry Porter making sure that Kevin Johnson doesn’t catch the basketball and I still think he has to handle it in this situation I know I’ve called on him a couple times here late he lost the dribble to Porter’s defense once Porter cut him off and he threw the ball out of bounds but he is still one of the best at Pin rating and number one making the shot if it’s there but the other thing finding the open man after the help comes now another problem that presents itself for Phoenix if they do shoot they may have to do it quickly because it won’t give them a chance with only 6.1 left to get a follow shot right they don’t have the luxury here of working it to get the shot they want Danny age in the lineup Jerome KY Terry Porter Cliff Robinson and cly Drexler for Portland Marley John Chambers NE and Horn SEC for the Suns you might see Cy jump out of bounds to force the delay a game just to see what they’re going to be doing I don’t think Danny a could come into the lineup right they’re going to make him go back out he cannot make a substitution during that time out 2 second timeout and now dick petta talking to Rick Adelman about it so as for were obviously some type of defensive purposes out front which is sort of funny in itself let’s see if they’re going to let him it know they’re not going to let him in but Williams comes back in giv him a little more quickness here we go Chambers goes up the shot won’t go the rebound point1 left Portland has the basketball Phoenix has the basketball with 01 they cannot get a shot off unless it’s tipped because you have to have at least 3/10 of a second for a shot and we’re going to take a look at Tom Chambers I thought although he was moving forward he got a pretty good look at a basket I think he did and once again I I have to give Terry por Terry Porter a lot of credit you know that Phoenix wants to get the ball to KJ but look at how he is faceu guarding Kevin Johnson to keep him from shaking free that’s a pretty good shot right there for Tom Chambers doesn’t get it to go the ball belongs to Phoenix and really they should add a tenth of a second on the clock as we look at it from another angle Tom got a good look at he did he did the shot just would not go down and we saw in that first replay there was two t of a second left when the ball went out of bounds so now Phoenix have no timeouts remaining Portland still has one so they’ve got to get the ball in I guess one of the things you want to do is to tip but obviously you try to draw some type of contact and a foul I think you’re right I I think if uh I’m Portland I just maybe even if I if I can’t get it in just throw the ball off the leg of one of the players to get the clock to start just get the ball in bounds is what they have to do right now Rick Adin telling his troops to be careful about that possible tip in the other huddle cotton Fitz Simmons trying to figure out a way to get a ball tip considering he has two centers sitting down having fouled out of the ball game and he has to go with some small lineup Paul westall talking to Kevin trying to devise away to get a shot that takes less than a tenth of a second but once again the NBA the old Trent Tucker rule you need at least three t0 of a second for a shot you can have a tip though with a 10th left this is I I thought the ball was going to Portland it is it’s going to Phoenix yeah my my bad call yeah and now Portland calls no delay of game warning up Portland has no timeouts left Phoenix has there no timeouts left a delay of game warning up Portland here we go the tip it won’t go down and Portland wins game [Applause] one Ro [Applause] and4 the final score 113 to 111 Portland winning game one of the best of seven Series game two will be played Thursday night and you’ll be able to see it right here on TNT but a big game for the Portland Trailblazers as they were able to win at 113 to 111 joining us is Clyde Drexler and Clyde first of all that was a difficult game you got up early in that first quarter you had the 11-point lead and you had to really hang on Phoenix a very Scrappy team in late in the game a very Scrappy team and we wi just ated a very close contest and uh we got nothing less than what we anticipated in tonight’s game CL I’m wondering if you had time to shift your attentions from the Lakers to the Phoenix Suns you had only one day between series it has to be tough to you know to start thinking Suns after thinking the Lakers it’s definitely tough but it’s something that you have to do I think we had less than uh 48 hours to prepare for the Sun and that’s a difficult task this team has been resting at home for five or six days and uh I think we came out and we played a super game five 26 points 10 rebounds two assist you had to sort of take it over there in the in the in the third quarter you had to really take control of the ball game Terry was having a good game but you sort of came onto your shoulders I think it’s a team effort I think Terry’s free throws down the stretch with the difference I think uh I missed quite a few and uh you know we were struggling at times but the the thing is we just never quit we we kept the faith and the defense is what bailed us out I thought the defense I was just going to ask you about that particularly the job Terry Porter did on Kevin Johnson down the stretch he just could not Shake Terry Porter I thought he did a one wonderful job Terry uh really uh became more aggressive on the defensive end and it really paid off for us I think that was one of the keys in the game in tonight’s game one final question how important is it to win that first game of a series CL it’s awfully important to get off on the Good Foot and uh just keep the confidence I think nothing could be better I think now we’ll get a chance to settle down and concentrate more on the things that they like to get done and hopefully we’ll be better in game two all right Clyde thanks for stopping by right at the end of the game Clyde direct of the Portland Trailblazers is Portland wins game one of this best of seven series now let’s go back to Atlanta with Ernie Johnson and Kevin lochry gentlemen all right thank you Ron thulan tough game for Portland Rick Adelman looking like Robert Hayes the pilot and airplane sweating profusely down the stretch there going to be a good series here Ernie coaching is a great job it’s a great way to make especially when you’re sitting here doing I tell you but it’s a great win for Portland but Phoenix can’t be ashamed of himself they had a good effort they turned the ball over a little too many times in this came to win to win a game on the road but they had a chance they had the last sh shot of the game chames got a pretty good shot so the number one seed in the west wins game one the number one seat in the East the Chicago Bulls surprise surprise they open at home at Chicago Stadium lose to the New York Knicks 94 to 89 Michael Jordan had 31 but the game was dominated coach by Patrick Ying with 34 ear perfect game by Patrick Yan 34 points 16 rebounds six block shots five assists and no turnovers you can’t play better than that he dominated the middle and when you outplay Michael Jordan in a game you’ve really achieved something yeah New York had lost 14 in a row to the Chicago Bulls they snap that streak and take the early lead in that best of seven Eastern Conference semi-final the highlights of that you can see on Inside the NBA which comes your way next on TNT Fred Hickman your host Doc Rivers joins him the story on Chuck Daly and his resignation in Detroit and they’ll preview the Sonic’s Jazz series and that one gets underway here on TNT tomorrow night 9:00 time Sonics and the Jazz here on TNT I’ll be here the coach will be here hope you’ll be here too bud player of the game comes your way next we’ll see you tomorrow night once again our final score Portland wins game one of the best of seven Western Conference semi-finals 13 to 111 and our Budweiser Most Valuable Player Terry Porter 31 points seven assists seven rebounds and of those 12 of 12 from the line 10 of 10 in that fourth quarter Terry Porter our Budweiser player of the game be sure to stay with us NBA action continues youa tomorrow night 9:00 eastern time Seattle against Utah that’ll be with Jim Durham and Dick forace and coming up next here on TNT inside the NBA Fred Hickman along with his guest Doc Rivers of the LA Clippers all coming your way next right here on TNT once again our final score Portland wins it 113 111 this by 24 by Kevin Johnson of the SS for Jack given and our entire crew in Portland Oregon I’m Ron thand thanks for watching and good night everybody [Music] [Music] a [Music]
This is game one of the 1992 Western Conference Semifinal series between the Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns played on May 5, 1992. Terry Porter scored 31 points as Portland took a 1-0 series lead with a 113-111 victory. Clyde Drexler scored 26 points for Portland, who attempted 47 free throws in the game. Kevin Johnson’s 24 points led Phoenix. Dan Majerle added 23 points off the bench.
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Glad to see another one of your uploads. One of the best 90s channels out there, great quality as usual.
Thx for the game!!
480p?
Thank you!
Thank You! 😊