Insights

The Scene

In what could be considered a surprise, the Rose Garden was loaded with celebrities, giving Portland its own version of Staples Center.

Starting with owner Paul Allen, who sat courtside with fellow billionaire Bill Gates, the Trail Blazers had plenty of big-name people in the crowd. There were Tiger Woods, Steven Spielberg and Jack Nicholson, who are known Laker fans. But the loudest cheer of the night came when former Portland great Clyde Drexler was shown on the video scoreboard.

Portland’s fans were also inspired by a NHL highlight featuring this year’s Eastern Conference finals between New Jersey and Philadelphia. The tape explained how the Devils trailed the Flyers three games to one but still won the series, 4-3.

Then in the second half, fans were reminded of the 1977 Portland championship team, which dropped two games to the Philadelphia 76ers only to win four in a row to win the series, 4-2.

Moment of day

After trailing much of the first half, the Lakers were picking up steam at the start of the third quarter and had cut the Trail Blazers’ lead to four points. But the rally-killing moment came when Glen Rice had the ball with less than two seconds remaining on the shot clock and was stripped by Steve Smith, who scored on a fastbreak layup.

Smith then made another basket and the next thing the Lakers knew, Portland was back up by 10 points and the Rose Garden crowd was back into the game.

Matching up

Scottie Pippen talked about being aggressive and getting his offense going early, but he failed to do so in the first half. The Lakers assigned Glen Rice to defend him early and then switched to Kobe Bryant, which seemed to take Pippen out of the offense as he took only one shot in the first half and did not score.

Pippen, however, had a much larger impact on defense. He began the game defending Ron Harper and then guarded Brian Shaw when he entered the game. This enabled Pippen to trap the ball, especially when it was thrown inside to Shaquille O’Neal.

Bryant had a rough first quarter, missing four of five field goal attempts, but he did step up in the second quarter with 11 points to keep the Lakers within 10 at halftime.

Pippen picked up his play in the second half and got a physical wake-up call when he was slammed to the floor by O’Neal on a layup attempt. Pippen played more of a quiet ring leader all game and finished with only nine points.

Bryant made four three-point baskets in the final minutes, but it was too little too late.