Trail Blazers Are Left Winless and Clueless

By MARK HEISLER

June 5, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PORTLAND — Next stiff.

All that Portland Trail Blazer depth and all that Trail Blazer attitude means nothing if all the Trail Blazers looked as if they’d dipped their fingers in cement, which they did Friday, shooting 24.7%, setting a playoff record for fewest field goals (19) and falling, 85-63, to the San Antonio Spurs who--as they did to the Lakers in the second round--took a stranglehold 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The Spurs broke it open with a 16-0 run at the end of the third quarter, aided by the Trail Blazers, who went zero for nine from the floor, zero for two from the foul line and turned the ball over three times.

“Maybe if we have a better third quarter,” said Portland’s Isaiah Rider later, asked what it would take to beat the Spurs, “or Sean Elliott doesn’t break our heart.”

Elliott put an arrow in them with his dramatic three-point basket at the end of Game 2, after which the Trail Blazers went home and went back to being the Trail Blazers.

During the three-day break, Damon Stoudamire blew up the notion that everyone was united in Coach Mike Dunleavy’s new team concept, saying he “would never forget” watching fourth quarters from the bench,.

In Friday’s fourth quarter, with the Trail Blazers having just gone on a 4-0 run, cutting an 18-point deficit to 14, Rasheed Wallace picked up a technical foul--for complaining to referee Mike Mathis about not calling a technical on the Spurs’ Jerome Kersey, who threw the ball down when he was taken out of the game.

Minutes later, Dunleavy had to pull Wallace, his only warm shooter, when Wallace started complaining about another call, so he wouldn’t pick up his second technical and get himself ejected.

In defeat, everyone took it characteristically.

Wallace, ringed by reporters after the game turned his back on them while he dressed, pulled on a leather coat and then walked through them, murmuring, “I’m outta here, folks.”

Rider put it down to insufficient opportunities for himself.

“We’re not going to me on the post,” he said. “We’re going to Rasheed--rightfully so. When they come to me, you see good things--I think.”

Stoudamire, the hometown urchin booed loudest of all the Trail Blazers after going one for 12 shooting, stood up and took it.

“They had every right to boo,” Stoudamire said. “I would boo if I was a fan and paid good money. I didn’t play worth a damn. I don’t back down from anything. I just didn’t play well.”

Except for threatening several NBA worst-ever records, the game was a farce. The Trail Blazers put on their playoff extravaganza fireworks show before the game, introducing each player with an actual accompanying fireball so hot, fans sitting halfway up the stands could feel the warmth. Their favorites actually carried the play in the first quarter, when the referees let them shoot 17 free throws, grabbing a 26-22 lead.

Unfortunately, while getting a bunch of open shots, the Trail Blazers missed 15 of 19 from the floor. Then everyone started pressing and things got worse.

“There was a sense of urgency,” said Rider, feeling diplomatic for a change, after charging the Trail Blazers “choked” in Game 2.

“At that point in time, you try to find your rhythm. Rasheed shot maybe seven for 11. Everybody else shot two for nine, oh for five, three for 12, one for 12. It was just, you know, I mean--we tried to find our rhythm and couldn’t.”

Rhythm, rhythm, who took their rhythm?

“It’s tough to figure out where to go,” said Dunleavy of his nightmare. “We tried pick-and-rolls, we tried sending guys into the post, we tried running guys off screens and we didn’t have anyone who could catch a roll.”

No one, of course, has come back from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs and, based on Friday’s game, the Trail Blazers won’t be expected to make history.

“We beat up Phoenix,” said Rider later. “We beat up Utah. Utah’s the best team in this league right now, period. We just got through ‘em. We matched their intensity and we got through ‘em. They [Jazz] have a tremendous trio and they get all the calls and they play well.

“Utah, when we prepared for them, it was a lot harder than playing against them. Right now, San Antonio has our number and they want to win more than we do.”

One other thing. San Antonio has a little poise and makes the occasional field goal, which comes in handy.

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FEWEST POINTS

Fewest points scored by team in playoff game since 24-second shot clock added in 1954-55:

54: Utah at Chicago (96), June 7, 1998.

63: Atlanta at Detroit (79), May 12, 1999.

63: Portland vs. San Antonio (85), June 4, 1999.

64: Portland at Utah (102), May 5, 1996.

64: Orlando at Miami (99), April 24, 1997.

64: Charlotte at Atlanta (96), April 28, 1998.

64: Utah at San Antonio (86), May 9, 1998.

66: Atlanta at New York (79), May 24, 1999.