Editor’s note: This story was originally published Dec. 2, 1990. The Oregonian/OregonLive is republishing it today to correspond with the rebroadcast of the game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on NBC Sports Northwest (Comcast 37/737). That network has been airing classic Portland Trail Blazers games.
By Dwight Jaynes, The Oregonian
The Portland Trail Blazers dug themselves a deep hole Saturday night. Then they climbed out of it by piling miracle on top of miracle in an improbable 130-124 triple-overtime win over the Seattle SuperSonics.
The remarkable win, Blazer coach Rick Adelman said, ranked at the top of his hit list. And it was Portland’s 13th against a single loss this season.
“That, to me, was the best we’ve ever had in the regular season,” Adelman said. “We had it won twice, and we lost it three or four times. I just didn’t ever know what was going to happen next.”
That Portland even got the game into the third overtime ranked as a major accomplishment. The Blazers trailed 77-63 going into the fourth quarter and were as flat as yesterday's stale soft drinks.
But Danny Young and Mark Bryant came in off the bench to spark a fourth-quarter rally and put Portland in position to win the game.
Portland led 94-91 with 41 seconds to go in regulation but then watched Sedale Threatt and Xavier McDaniel score to push the Sonics into a one-point lead.
But the night was still young.
Terry Porter found Jerome Kersey under the basket and he was fouled as time ran out. Kersey, only a 64 percent foul shooter, missed the first shot, then swished the second to tie the game and send it into its first overtime.
"It was loud out there,'' Kersey said. "I made the one with the most pressure — the second one.''
Then came the game’s most controversial moment — at the end of the first overtime.
The Blazers, trailing by two points, were trying frantically to tie it as the clock was inside five seconds. A foul was called on McDaniel during a scuffle and Kersey retaliated to the foul, pushing McDaniel.
The result was a technical foul on Kersey, which Threatt turned into a point that pushed Seattle into a 106-103 lead with 2.0 seconds left.
Portland inbounded to Porter, whom the Sonics tried twice to foul. Actually they did foul him, but the referees chose not to call it. Porter lost the ball, got it back and then hammered home a desperation three-pointer that a local TV replay showed to be at least a half-second after what should have been the final horn.
But the officials counted it.
“They were trying to foul me,” Porter said. “And they did foul me. I lost the ball but everybody was trying to get it and it came right back to me.”
It was an incredible shot for Porter, who would finish the night with 38 points.
But there was more. A lot more. Portland scored four points in the final 7.3 seconds of the second overtime to prolong the situation again.
The Blazers trailed 118-114 in the second extra period after Gary Payton seemingly wrapped it up for the Sonics with a drive up the lane and a basket with 8.3 seconds left.
But Portland inbounded to Danny Ainge, who was fouled by Payton immediately.
“A huge play,” Adelman said. “We just didn’t have any time and it got us to the line right away.”
Ainge made both free throws, then tipped away an errant inbound pass by McDaniel, setting up Porter for a layup that tied the game.
In the third overtime, the Blazers fell behind 122-118 before getting a basket from Cliff Robinson, two hoops by Porter and a pair of free throws by Clyde Drexler.
After Quintin Dailey made two foul shots with 22.3 seconds to go to draw the Sonics within 126-124, Drexler went to the line and hit two more free throws to hike the lead to 128-124 with 21.3 seconds left.
Drexler suffered through a horrible shooting night. He made only 4 of 20 shots from the field during the game. But his four straight free throws sealed it.
The Blazers got off to a miserable start, then got worse. What saved them in the first half was that, for most of the first two quarters, the Sonics weren't much better.
Portland trailed 19-10 halfway through the first period before Porter scored eight straight points to haul the Blazers within 19-18. But Seattle finished the period with a 25-20 lead.
The Sonics jumped to a 53-39 halftime advantage and Portland's frigid shooting was the reason.
The Blazers made only 14 of their 47 first-half shots and got a 2-for-10 job from Kersey and a 2-for-9 performance out of Drexler.
It was ugly, but no one will ever remember that part of it. They'll remember the end. Rather, the ends.
“That’s what you call a wild thing,” Seattle coach K.C. Jones said.
And he was right.
BLAZER NOTES: McDaniel made 18 of 36 shots and led the Sonics with 41 points. Portland departed for home immediately after the game. The Blazers will meet the Utah Jazz on Sunday night in Memorial Coliseum.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories
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