1991 playoffs, portland - la lakers game1

[sportime]

Description : recap of game 1 of the 1991 western conference finals between the LA Lakers and the Portland Trailblazers
Source : clublakers
Quality : medium
File size : 72.8 mb
Duration : 08:46
Link : http://rapidshare.com/files/17866796...rs__game1_.avi

Comments : In the conference finals the Lakers faced a very strong team in the Portland Trailblazers. They found themselves in an unfamiliar position - they were the underdogs. Portland was the best team in the regular season with 63 wins. A final between them and the Chicago Bulls seemed like a foregone conclusion. It would be a fantastic matchup between the new powers of the NBA, with the ironic twist of having to beat and dethrone the teams that had won the last 4 titles - Detroit and Los Angeles - in the conference finals.
The Bulls did their job in a 4 - 0 destruction of the Pistons in the eastern conference finals. But in the west, Portland got in trouble. The Lakers absolutely stole game 1 from them and the Blazers now had to beat them in LA to regain the homecourt advantage. They never did and the dream finals matchup would have to wait for one more year.
Unfortunately the 1991 edition of those terrific Portland teams of 1990-1992 was the best one, but also the one that didn't reach the finals! In 1990 they were not ready for the Pistons (they lost 4 - 1) and in 1992 the Bulls had clearly surpassed them as their window of opportunity was closing fast (4 - 2 series win for the Bulls). The next 3 years Portland lost in the first round of the playoffs each time. I strongly believe that Portland lost their one true opporunity for the championship in 1991. And this game 1 is the one they must look back and regret for letting slip right through their hands, losing control of the series with it.
This was a weird series as 4 blowouts in games 2 through 5 were sandwiched by 1-point Lakers wins. Game 6 was as dramatic as game 1 (by the way, i wish somebody could find this game and upload it), it's just that there was a sense of inevitability to it. The Lakers had won far to many of those close games in the playoffs through the years to let this opportunity slip away. In the finals they simply decomposed as one after another their players were taken out of the series either through injury (Byron Scott, James Worthy) or through fatigue (Magic Johnson, Sam Perkins). In the end Vlade Divac was the only one left standing - he was their best player in the finals, just like he was the key player against Portland. Of course Chicago beat them in 4 straight after losing game 1 at home...