Elliott’s Three-Point Basket Puts Portland on Its Heels

Remember the Alamodome?

The Lakers won’t soon forget this misplaced barn that was built for an NFL team that never showed, and Monday in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals it fell in on another team, the Portland Trail Blazers.

Portland blew an eight-point lead in the last 1:59 and lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 86-85, on Sean Elliott’s dramatic, falling-out-of-bounds three-point basket with nine seconds left.

How probable was that?

“I got 100 bucks right now to see him make that shot again,” said the losing coach, Mike Dunleavy, grinning.

“If his heels would have come down, he’d have been out of bounds,” said the winning coach, Gregg Popovich, looking wrung out.

“We looked at it [on tape]. He shot it off his toes and if his heels had come down, it wouldn’t have counted. I don’t know if that’s why he did that. He must have had a feeling he was close to out of bounds. It’s one of those things I’m not going to quibble with.”

The way the Spurs are going, why would he? It was their eighth win in a row in the playoffs. The Lakers thought they had them beaten here in another Game 2 a couple of weeks ago, leading by one point with Kobe Bryant at the line in the closing seconds. But you know how that turned out. Instead of going home with a 1-1 series and home-court advantage, the Lakers went home 0-2 and were terminated altogether within five days.

Determined to turn this series around, the Trail Blazers came out blazing Monday, led by their fiery power forward, Brian Grant, who had six points, three rebounds and a block in the first 3:30. The Trail Blazers took nine of the game’s first 10 rebounds, led by 11 in the first quarter, 17 in the second and 18 early in the third.

At that moment, Tim Duncan, who has shrunk to mortal size in playing against the big, tough Trail Blazer defenders, had been able to get off only five shots. The Trail Blazers were daring Avery Johnson to shoot and he was short-arming shot after shot off the front rim, obviously feeling the pressure.

Johnson missed all six tries from the field in the first half, and whenever the ball went into Duncan, Johnson’s defender, Damon Stoudamire, turned and high-tailed it to double-team Duncan. The Spurs weren’t merely behind, they suddenly looked like a trophy marlin on someone’s hook.

In a big turnaround, Johnson kept shooting and started making (five for 11 in the second half) and the Spurs rallied. It looked as though the Trail Blazers would hold them off, leading, 84-78, in the final minute.

However, Walt Williams wandered far enough away to let Elliott get off a three-point shot that dropped with 56 seconds left. The Trail Blazer lead was three and the nightmare was closing in.

With 37 seconds left, David Robinson tipped the ball from Rasheed Wallace.

The Spurs broke out and Mario Elie was fouled going to the hoop. His two free throws made it 84-83 with 33 seconds left.

Stoudamire, told by Dunleavy to take a quick shot so Portland could get two possessions to the San Antonio’s one, missed from 20 feet. But Grant tipped the ball from Robinson to Williams, who passed to Stoudamire, who was fouled.

However, with 12 seconds left and a chance to push the lead to three, Stoudamire missed the first and made the second, making it 85-83.

The Spurs called time. Elliott, who had already made five of six three-point tries, says he told teammates, “I’ve got one bullet left in the gun.”

The Spurs in-bounded the ball, barely. Stacey Augmon dived for Elie’s pass and just missed it. Elliott caught it along the sideline near the corner with his momentum carrying him out of bounds, but was able to stop himself enough to turn, square and fire.

“From where I’m standing, it just looked like it was off,” Stoudamire said. “That just seems to be the luck of this team when we play them. You just don’t have an answer when a guy hits a shot like that.”

Said Elliott: “I mean, that’s my shot. The corner shot.”

They can never take this one from him. Game 3 isn’t until Friday and the Trail Blazers had better avoid their TVs because Elliott’s shot will be replayed 1,000 times or so by then.

Portland had a last possession but Jim Jackson, driving the baseline, ran into traffic, put the shot up and had it blocked by Elliott and Robinson. The ball bounced to Williams, who got off a 10-foot bank shot that missed.

Someone asked Elliott if he thought the Spurs had stolen this one.

“Absolutely,” he said, smiling, “and we feel good about it. We’re not going to give it back.”